Uganda
Uganda: Agriculture
Key facts
Uganda lies at the heart of East and Central Africa, sharing borders with some of Africa’s most economically significant counties. Uganda is bound on the west by mineral-rich DR Congo, on the north by southern Sudan, on the east by Kenya, and on the south by Rwanda and Tanzania. Though landlocked, few countries on the continent can match the strategic location Uganda offers to investors.
Like many parts of Africa agriculture remains the dominant economic activity in the country, accounting for approximately 45 percent of GDP and providing a livelihood to over 80 percent of the population. Agriculture in Uganda is, in the main, labour-intensive, practised on smallholder family-operated farms using rudimentary technology. Only 30% of Uganda’s 18 million hectares of arable land is currently under cultivation.
Although generally tropical in nature, the climate differs between parts of the country. All regions, however, except for the north-eastern border area and small areas in the southwest, usually receive sufficient rain to permit crops to grow once or even twice a year. In addition to favourable climatic conditions, Uganda is blessed with an abundance of unpolluted fresh water resources, including half of Lake Victoria, the River Nile, numerous other rivers, and 160 smaller lakes. Excellent natural endowments of fertile soils, favourable climate, adequate rainfall, and plentiful water source make Uganda a low cost producer of a variety of agricultural products while Entebbe International Airport offers a link to the major markets of Europe.
Coffee provides Uganda with the bulk of its export earnings; normally between 20 and 30 percent. Indeed, Uganda is Africa’s second largest producer of the product. Cotton, considered Africa’s best, and tea are also important cash crops.
Significant staple crops include plantains, which dominate Uganda’s internal market, cassava, sweet potatoes, dry beans, and maize. In recent years, however, the fruits and vegetables sub-sector has become increasingly important to national economy in recent years and represents a large share of non-traditional agricultural exports. Uganda has a strong competitive advantage in hot peppers, green chillies, dudhi, okra, avocadoes, pineapples, apple bananas, passion fruits, and mangos.
Following in the footsteps of its neighbour, Kenya, Uganda is beginning to benefit significantly from flower exports. Today, total investment in the floricultural sector stands at approximately US $60 million.
The major livestock species in Uganda include cattle, sheep, goats, pigs, rabbits and poultry. Livestock production is an important sub-sector of agriculture contributing about 7.5 percent to total GDP. From an economic standpoint, cattle are the most important livestock with significant contributions.
Government Initiatives
- Government support through credit to private farmers, export incentives and marketing.
- Many financial and non-financial incentives for foreign investments
Opportunities
Traditional cash crops: There are opportunities for large scale farming, processing and packaging of coffee, cotton, tea, tobacco, and cocoa, for domestic, regional and international market.
Non-traditional agriculture: Expansion of the rose industry; expansion of other floricultural plants, for example bulbs, tubers and live plants; production of propagation material; establishment of soil analysis laboratory and services; manufacture of green house plastics; manufacture of packaging materials and production of currently imported inputs – fertilisers, herbicides, and pesticides. For fruits, priority areas include the commercialisation of apple banana production – with a view to export to European markets; and the processing of jackfruit into other products and for export, especially to the South-East Asian countries, where it is considered a delicacy. Potential also exists for the production of solar-dried bananas, pineapples, mangoes, and papaws for export. General processing is also high up on the agenda.
Other: Plenty of opportunities in the aquaculture sector – both production and processing. Uganda is rich in Nile Perch and Wild Tilapia.