Agriculture in UGANDA

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Agriculture in Uganda Agriculture is still the main stay of the Ugandan economy although the contribution of agriculture has been declining over the years; the sector has continued to dominate the Ugandan economy. It contributed about 23.9 pct. of the total GDP in 2013. Agriculture also provides approximately 82 pct. of the employment and most industries and services in the country are dependent on this sector.

The recent history of Danida’s agriculture support The Agricultural Sector Programme Support phase 2 (ASPS II) was implemented in the period 2005-2010 with a budget of DKK 294 Million. The main objectives of ASPS II were to increase incomes, improve household food security and improve the quality of life for economically active low income small farmers. The programme support focused on research and technological development, provision of advisory services, agricultural education, business support to micro, small and medium enterprises, access to rural financial services through micro-lease and co-guarantee arrangements, natural resources use and management, agro-processing and marketing, deepening decentralisation, gender mainstreaming and HIV/AIDS issues in agriculture as cross cutting themes and restoration of farming livelihoods in post conflict environments in Northern Uganda.

The Public Sector Agricultural Support (PSAS) component of the U-Growth Programme
The current Danida programme supporting public sector agriculture in Uganda is the Public Sector Agricultural Support (PSAS), which is a component of the U-Growth programme. The main objective of the PSAS is to support the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries (MAAIF) in its preparations to receive sector budget support and subsequently to support implementation of the agriculture Development Strategy and Investment Plan (DSIP) of the Ugandan government. The PSAS objective is aligned with the DSIP’s objective to support the public sector to carry out its agreed mandate and to pursue its vision of a competitive, profitable and sustainable agricultural sector that accommodates all farmer categories in different production zones. The PSAS will be implemented in the period 2010-2013 and has a budget of DKK 5 million, with additional DKK 41 million that remains to be allocated for supporting public sector functions in the agricultural sector.

The PSAS consists of three different types of technical assistance, namely;

1. A long-term international advisor in MAAIF's Agriculture Planning Department with the objective to improve the planning in the sector towards a joint budget support.

2. Short term consultancies to formulate bankable programmes to insure that the core priorities in the DSIP receive funding.

3. Short-term technical assistance to assist MAAIF in building capacity in strategic areas such as financial management, budget process, better functioning Sector Working Group and finalisation of agriculture DSIP.

Partners The main partner of the PSAS is the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industries and Fisheries. The programme is implemented in close cooperation with other donors in the sector, namely;
• World Bank (WB)
• Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
• European Union (EU)
• International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD)
• African Development Bank (AfDB)
• United States Agency for International Development (USAID)
• Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)