By Andrew Besi
Cultivators of the earth are the most valuable citizens. They are the most vigorous, the most independent, the most virtuous, and they are tied to their country and wedded to its liberty and interests by the most lasting bands.” Thomas Jefferson
All the human and animal manure which the world wastes, if returned to the land, instead of being thrown into the sea, would suffice to nourish the world.” Victor Hugo
Agriculture, in its most raw form, in Uganda, like anywhere else in East Africa, has been practiced for nearly 500 years. But in its more traditional form, agriculture in Uganda and indeed in East, Central and Southern Africa is attributed to the arrival, in the 19th century, of Europeans to our beautiful lands.
In Uganda, it was the arrival of Sir Hesketh Bell in 1905 that cemented what in political economy is called the ‘Peasant economy”! Indeed, the foundations for this peasant economy had been laid by his predecessor who forcefully introduced the growing of cotton and other so called cash crops to Uganda.
The result of this policy was that by the time of our political Independence on October’s 9th day in 1962, each political district had its own co-operative union which built stores; and with government money built cotton ginneries, tobacco dryers, tea and coffee washers etc. However, these cooperatives did not do much in terms of “value addition” to these cash crops.
All they did was thrash, dry, spin and export raw material to British and European industries.
What little of our commercially viable agricultural industry including the cooperative unions was run down by Idi Amin’s disastrous 1971 -79 reign.
As a result, throughout the 80s, production levels were lower than in the 60s. Agricultural production used unimproved methods of small, widely scattered farms, with no or minimal capital outlay.
Since 1987, the NRM government has been implementing economic reforms. These reforms have centered on economic liberalisation and privatisation of non performing public enterprises. These reforms were the basis for the launch in 1997 of the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP). The goal of PEAP was to lower Uganda’s poverty level to not more than 11% by 2017.
To attain this, as one of its components, PEAP had within it a Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA) which promised a “profitable competitive, sustainable and dynamic agro-industrial sector.”
To achieve this, PMA was designed to enable the rural population to improve their livelihood and ensure food security through changing subsistence agriculture to farming as a business.
In a 2004 paper by R.Munyonyo, PMA was critiqued for not adequately taking into account the unfortunate uniqueness of smallholder farmers. The author championed an “agricultural sector that is managed and maintained by the smallholder farmers, follows conservation-oriented development strategy, utilizes knowledge from natural ecological systems and traditional farming methods, adopts Integrated Pest Management, offers friendly credit, puts in place a research system and marketing strategy in favor of smallholder farmers’ needs, and adopts a clear option for women farmers and traditional crops.” In other words, like Hugo, do not throw away anything that is a byproduct of our agricultural processes. Instead let this “waste” nourish the world and earn us more.
This in many ways informs the subsequent formation of National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) as well as Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) in 2001 and July 2013 respectively. Both are pillars of PMA.
OWC developed after a realisation that while NAADS had promoted the use of improved production technologies and high yielding crop varieties, only a few farmers were using them even within sub counties where it operated.
Working with departments such as National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), National Animal Genetic Resource Centre and Data Bank (NAGRC & DB) etc, AND by tying these interventions to progressive trade policies as championed through Ministry of trade, the agriculture sector – as envisioned in
our National Development Plan III is on course to deliver Uganda to middle income status.
How? By focusing on “mobilizing and supporting small scale farmers along the four-acre model concept; increasing exports of specific commodities; support to individuals and companies for seed production, planting and breeding materials; promoting use of fertilizers and appropriate irrigation technology to beat climate change challenges; mechanization,Investments in Research and pest/disease control; Regulation and surveillance, Value addition and revival of the fish industry.”
Our most vigorous, most independent, most virtuous citizens will through embracing modern agricultural practices, shaped by our progressive policy transition Uganda’s liberties and interests to Prosperity for all.
Indeed, Uganda’s agricultural future, like others, is secure.
The writer is a Communications Assistant at Ministry of ICT and National Guidance.
