Tag: Agriculture

Lessons from China’s Agricultural Revolution for Uganda’s Rural Transformation

Posted on By Nnanda Kizito Sseruwagi

As a late-developing country, there are remarkable lessons Uganda can draw from China’s transformative journey in alleviating widespread poverty and modernising agriculture. Over the last four decades, China has lifted 800 million people out of poverty, a feat unparalleled in history. Part of the strategy through which this rapid and broad transformation was achieved came via agricultural modernisation and well-targeted poverty alleviation schemes. In Uganda, we still have a majorly agrarian-based economy, with over 70% of the population earning a livelihood from agricultural production. Even then, only 23.7% of the GDP of the country comes from agriculture, with services and industry contributing the rest. This underperformance by agriculture is mainly due to the use of backward farming methods, which subsequently lead to low productivity, which problem China overcame, and can thus provide compelling lessons.

Conceived in 1978 and established in 1982, the Household Responsibility System (HRS) is the current arable land system in rural China, and is highlighted as the foundation of China’s agricultural modernisation. Its major contribution was that it incentivised farmers by granting them long-term user rights on land, which led to increased productivity. This saw an 8.2% annual growth registered from 1978 to 1984, thus causing a significant improvement in the incomes of rural dwellers. Besides this, China managed to develop high-yield varieties of crops by investing immensely in mechanisation and agricultural research and design (R&D). While Uganda’s rate of agricultural mechanisation stands at around 10%, China ranks at 72%, which explains its high yields. And whereas China invests about 5% of its agricultural GDP on R&D, Uganda spends less than 1%.

Farmers usually make big post-harvest losses because they do not have access to secure storage facilities and are disconnected from markets due to dilapidated rural roads. China, therefore, invested heavily in developing rural infrastructure, which reduced post-harvest losses and connected farmers to markets. Today, even the remotest areas have access to markets, and food production has seen significant improvement and stability. As early as 2018, roads had been paved in 98% of China’s villages. The internet age also opened opportunities for farmers to practice digital agriculture through mobile apps, which link them directly to consumers, hence increasing profits by cutting out predatory middlemen from the trade loop.

In 2013, China began the serious implementation of programs directed towards poverty alleviation. They used a multifaceted strategy, combining well-curated projects of agricultural modernisation with targeted interventions in key areas. Poor households were carefully selected by authorities, and solutions tailored to their needs and challenges were applied. Some communities got a fiscal push through microcredit injected into their businesses, while others received vocational training to skill them for productive enterprises. Other highly disadvantaged communities were relocated to areas with more economically viable employment opportunities. Thus, by 2020, over 9.6 million people had been relocated by the Chinese government to areas with better access to services from their previous settlements, where living conditions were inhospitable and economically backwards. Since rural areas often suffer structural barriers to progress, such as poor healthcare and dysfunctional educational infrastructure, the Chinese government also invested in rural education and healthcare to increase school attendance and literacy rates.

The strategies employed by Uganda’s government have so far not succeeded in alleviating poverty or transforming agriculture. From NAADS to OWC, and recently PDM, change seems to happen only in the vocabulary of government programs, not the conditions of those targeted. We still have 21% of the population surviving below the international poverty line, most of whom are part of the 80% rural residing population of the country. Uganda’s farmers remain mostly peasant and dependent on the probabilities of nature, like rain-fed agriculture, for economic survival.

One of the main obstacles preventing wide-scale commercial agriculture in Uganda is the complex land tenure system, which divides land into customary, freehold, leasehold and Mailo land systems. This mix has rendered insecurity and land disputes commonplace, thus not only hindering business but also tying down capital in court battles due to the countless suits registered over land annually. China’s HRS system, where land is state-owned, can be a good model for Uganda to benchmark reform. Pilot projects can be launched whereby farmers are given long-term user rights over large parcels of land to try out technologically advanced farming methods for improved productivity.

We cannot hope to have transformation when only 20% of rural roads are paved. The government must invest in transport infrastructure linking productive agricultural hubs to markets in urban centers. We also must have food processing factories to add value to our harvests and export to the international market. But roads and railway lines are simply hard infrastructure. We must also invest and harness soft infrastructure like the internet, because e-commerce platforms are key in revolutionising market access for farmers, as happened in China.

All this must be done while paying attention to Uganda’s unique political and economic context, since factors like Uganda’s highly heterogeneous ethnic spread can demand attention for localised approaches to poverty alleviation programs and land reforms.

The writer is a senior research fellow at the Development Watch Center.

Celebrating Fruits of China’s South-South Cooperation Projects in Uganda

Posted on By Joshua Kingdom

In June this year, a three year South-South Cooperation (SSC) agriculture project between the governments of Uganda and China as well as the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) will come to a close. As we look to a renewal that is almost certain, we can take a moment to reflect on the remarkable milestones arrived at during the years in which the partnership has run.

Having commenced by the agreement titled “Technical Assistance Under the South-South Cooperation with the People’s Republic of China in Support of the Development Strategy and Investment Plan 2010/11-2015/16 in the Republic of Uganda” back in 2012, and further extended one more time before its current dispensation, the SSC’s endurance owes to its results which cannot be overstated.

During the first and second phases therefore, there was an introduction of crop varieties that best responded to the needs of local farmers, the most impressive of which is perhaps proso millet. Its attributes made it more suitable for planting than the local finger millet– it grows for a shorter time (75 days rather than 90), requires less grains in planting (5kg per acre instead of 25), bares more yield (up to three times), and is drought resistant. Also witnessed, was astounding realizations in cases that involved diary farming where cows are reported to provide at least seven liters each per day up from just two.

The present SSC is not only interesting because it builds on these numbers however, but also because it makes part of a broader framework in which China has in recent years led an effort of helping contribute to the faster realization of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Dubbed the Global Development Initiative (GDI), this program singles out eight SDGs that Beijing feels require specific attention for the sake of the developing economies post Covid-19. This is further true now that 2030 is not far off.

In his 2022 address to the ministerial meeting of the Group of Friends i.e. the umbrella of nations and organizations that support the GDI cause, Chinese Foreign Minister (FM) Wang Yi, among other things outlined improvement in agricultural practices as key in realizing SDG 1 (ending poverty). To this end, he highlighted that, his country would world over restart the SSC which had up to that point concluded.

The FM further spelled out bold measures to accompany this arrangement that Uganda has since benefited from e.g. an agreement for technical support entered by China’s Academy of Agricultural Sciences and its International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development with FAO along with donation of data imperative for policy making to the United Nations like on arable land and forest coverage provided by the SDGSAT-1 satellite.

Interwoven around four objectives (development of aquaculture value chain, supporting livestock improvement, establishment of a technological transfer base, and development of high yield rice and foxtail rice) thus, it comes as no surprise that the period between 2022 and 2025 has been even more successful.

The SSC project during this time in the country has ensured that farmers in the areas of focus have very highly educated experts at their disposal for consultation something that greatly turned around their fortunes. In terms of the broader picture, there have been several collaborations between in-line institutions and their colleagues in China. Most notably, joint research by Shanghai Agro Biological Gene Center and the National Agricultural Research Organization resulted into the release of WDR-73, a genetically modified variety of rice that is incredible in its yield and doubles as drought resistant.

Food and Agriculture Organisation Uganda country Representative  Antonio Querido (maroon shirt) with Chinese ambassador to Uganda Zhang Lizhong (3rd right) the fingerling stocking activity at Aquaculture Research and Development Centre in Kajjansi on June 12, 2023 (Photo: Daily Monitor/ABUBAKER LUBOWA )

There has also been several sponsored visits of Ugandan officials to different regions of China for purposes of benchmarking best practices as well as in brokerage of associated policies. While attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last year thus, the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry, and Fisheries Hon. Frank Tumwebaze entered an agreement with the General Administration of Customs of the Republic of China that allowed Uganda to export aquatic life and Chilies to the over 1.4 billion people market of China.

According to the minister, this was also the first time that Uganda would be exporting the second product to any part of the world there demonstrating China’s commitment to walk the talk. Therefore, as we approach the end of this partnership, considering the multitudes of success it came with, celebrations are in order. Viva  China-Uganda Cooperation.

The writer is a research fellow at the Development Watch Centre.

 

How to Modernize Uganda? Lessons from China’s Agrarian Change

Posted on By Nnanda Kizito Sseruwagi

Mathias Walukaga in Ekyatusomosa Lweera, Herman Basudde in Mweraba Ngenze, and Kazibwe Kapo in Sigwa Jajja Wo all sing about a common Ugandan phenomenon – the migration of people, often as individuals, on a lonely search for economic opportunity, from rural to urban centers. Whereas the central message in each of their songs is different, they all sing about work and in the process aspects of rural-urban migration filter through the message, showing how one’s fortunes usually change for the better when one leaves their villages to work in towns.

In the broader processes of national development and transformation, massive rural-urban migration, as opposed to individual migration, facilitates structural transformation in the economy, society, and politics. No country developed without experiencing increased migration of people from rural areas to urban centers with the attendant shift from subsistence agriculture to industry and service delivery as the major sources of employment and livelihood. The message in Walukaga, Basudde and Kazibwe’s songs is that rural-urban migration is economically transformative.

China is a notable example of a country which developed by systematically organising its rural–peasant population within national projects of state modernization which saw its rapid socio-economic transformation.

China harnessed its vast rural labour force for national development to enable it to transition from an agrarian economy to a global industrial powerhouse in what is known as the Great Leap Forward. Whereas the social and human consequences of the Great Leap Forward were an astronomical failure, in the end, the Leap set China on a course for long-term industrial growth. I am not suggesting the adoption of a Great Leap Forward for Uganda, but I carry the understanding that forms of violence have been central to the development process in all nations. Karl Marx, by far the greatest political economist, was cognisant of the brutality of the process of development as involving forced dispossession and coerced transformation of peasants into providers of free labourers in the process of “primitive accumulation.” Marx did not think that the peasant should be saved from this fate since the peasantry was “a relic of a past mode of production now on its way out: unproductive and, mostly, politically backward.”

More recently in the early years of this century, China set out to stimulate economic growth with rapid urbanization as its key strategy. How did China turn rural land into urban centers at an accelerated pace?

Firstly, unlike in Uganda where leaders are preoccupied with politics and power, one of the most preoccupying issues among leaders in the People’s Republic of China is solving “China’s Agrarian Question.” China’s leaders share a long-standing ideological goal of driving industrialization and urbanization.

Like China, Uganda urgently needs to modernize the countryside, reduce poverty and transfer rural peasants into the urban economy. This process will enable us to shift large droves of our population from tilling the earth in villages to being integrated into higher-value employment in industry and service sectors.

Countries which have most of their people employed in sectors of service delivery and industry are wealthier as opposed to those reliant on agriculture for employment. The current disaster in Uganda and many African countries is that agriculture still employs over 70 percent of our labour force which definitely contributes the least to our national wealth/GDP. In contrast, the world’s biggest economy – the United States has over 77% of its GDP derived from the service sector, 20% from industry and just 1-2% from Agriculture. In China, the GDP is distributed between the service sector, industry and agriculture at approximately 54.6%, 38.3% and 7% respectively.

To return to the question of how China increased urbanization in recent decades, let’s first observe the fiscal reforms of the early 1990s. The Chinese government reorganized national budget allocations by reducing the financial support it extended to local governments. This forced lower-level governments to find means to be financially self-sufficient. This consequently fundamentally altered how local governments managed revenue generation and land use in the countryside.

Additionally, local governments turned to land as a primary source of revenue. In China, rural land is collectively owned by village communities whereas land in urban areas is owned by the state. Under the new fiscal system, local authorities began systematically converting rural land into urban land which allowed them to lease the newly classified land to developers for a profit. This became an essential strategy for generating revenue since land sales to private investors and construction companies provided large sums of money that could be used for local development projects.

These policies increased pressure on rural land and the consequent economic challenges in the countryside propelled more people to migrate to cities in search of better opportunities. Indeed, this was a migration trend that had already been underway with China’s broader economic reforms, which opened it to foreign investment and turned the country into the “factory of the world.” As industrialization expanded, the cities became economic hubs that offered higher job opportunities and wages compared with the countryside. The mixture of rural economic distress and the pull of urban job opportunities accelerated rural-urban migration.

The rapid urbanization fuelled by land conversion and migration contributed to China’s economic boom, as its cities became the centers of industrial production, commerce, and innovation that we know today.

Whereas these processes faced widespread resistance from villagers, as would be expected, they were and are inevitable and necessary processes of modernisation. This is how China uprooted its peasants from agrarian modes of livelihood.

The more I commit to understanding development discourse, I find that the only way for underdeveloped countries to achieve socio-economic transformation is through undergoing ruthless processes of converting their mass populations of peasants involved in farming into workers in industries and service sectors. I have not yet known any process where this happened in peace and harmony. Except for a handful of countries that sat on mega oil reserves which simply pumped oil out of the ground to grow their economies, all the world’s nations, regardless of how much mineral resources they had, had to undertake significant land reforms in the process of “depeasantization.” That’s the missing conversation in Uganda’s political talk.

The writer is a senior research fellow at Development Watch Center.

 

 

 

 

Green Beans, Red Tape: EU Climate laws may have unintended effects on Ugandan Coffee Farmers

Posted on By Shemei Ndawula

For the past three years the European Union has been drafting and polishing a set of legislations that will potentially have great impact on the lives of many Ugandan coffee farmers once they come into effect at the end of this year. As a country, we have relied on Coffee as our major export cash crop for decades. Right from colonial times when Uganda boosted of a surplus budget most of the national revenue came from agricultural exports of coffee and Cotton. At the moment we export close to 1 billion USD worth of coffee annually mainly to the European markets (Italy alone takes up to 33% of coffee exports).

The legislation, a result of climate change campaigns seeks to implement a stringent import cap on goods like coffee, cloves, rubber from non European countries if their importers can not prove that the land on which they are grown is a product of deforestation. This is definitely a good idea because the rate of deforestation across the globe is worrying. Uganda; thrust to the forefront of the war on climate change because of our location along the equator needs to take more intentional steps towards mitigating widespread deforestation. We are already experiencing record breaking levels of water rising in Lake Victoria as well as flash floods and mud slides in different parts of the country.

However, what this legislation misses out on is that most coffee growers in Uganda are smallholder farmers who are already struggling to meet the quality controls in regards to bean quality and organic farming practices. It will be impossible for the same farmers to put in place the necessary tracking mechanisms to prove that their farmlands comply with the legislation and convince the European Union that they meet the required standards. Needless to say that many of the smallholder farmers are either semiliterate or illiterate and will require a significant amount of time for training and adjustment of their farming practices to fully comprehend the purpose and subject of the legislation let alone implement them.

In fact, many of the prominent coffee producing regions like the Bugisu sub-region and the Kasese region are surrounded by forest reserves with the farmlands coexisting within the trees. In many ways this is a standard farming practice because the root system of the trees holds the soil so that the fertilizers used in the coffee are not swept away by the rain and the fallen foliage from the trees acts as mulch. My family has had a similar agricultural scheme for decades  at our farm in Kasangati(in the outskirts of Kampala) where the coffee is grown alongside timber trees.

It is imperative for the European governments to understand that the most likely scenario that will play out when the legislation comes into effect may not be increased compliance in Africa but rather most multinational coffee exporters will shift their focus to more developed countries like Brazil which can comply with the necessary red tape.  This can spur a domino effect with coffee farmers when deprived of the coffee market resorting to cutting down the trees on the farms to cover their daily needs.

As a profession relying heavily on nature, Ugandan and African farmers have got all the reasons to lead the war on climate change. Our agricultural systems are heavily dependent on weather patterns and many farmers are one or two bad weather seasons from a crisis.

Additionally, setting up these traceability mechanisms will also come with unprecedented compliance costs to provide verifiable proof that the coffee supplied to the European market comes from none deforested areas. This will involve adopting traceability systems, certification processes and quite possibly new farming methods.

The European Union may be better served by simply equipping the farmers with the necessary skills and technology to implement sustainable farming practices. European research has made leaps and bounds in sustainable high impact farming and technological sharing between the two countries would be a huge boon for the coffee sector.

This has been done before by the Chinese in Uganda who set up a large rice growing scheme in Lukaya along the Lwera stretch to set a practical farming standard for Ugandan rice growers to emulate. In the end, Ugandan farmers earn better from their agricultural investment while the Chinese import better quality grain for their population.

The EU’s legislation banning coffee imports from deforested areas is a commendable step towards global environmental sustainability. It unfortunately however;  presents significant challenges for Ugandan coffee farmers  who must navigate increased compliance costs, potential loss of market access, and broader socio-economic implications. To address these concerns, the European Union countries need to implement a multifaceted approach involving international aid, government support, and market diversification strategies. If together we can foster sustainable agricultural practices and provide the  necessary support, it is possible to mitigate the adverse impacts on Ugandan farmers and ensure a more resilient and sustainable future for the coffee industry.

Shemei Ndawula is a senior research fellow at the Development Watch Centre.

Ugandans Increasingly Benefitting from China’s Agricultural Initiatives

Posted on By Admin

By Moshi Israel

Development assistance comes in many forms and at various levels. It can be extended to governments and its institutions, to private institutions and to local communities. China has been involved in all forms of development assistance to Uganda.

It is important for local communities to benefit from development aid because they are at the center of national development strategies. The local communities in Uganda largely depend on Agriculture to make ends meet. It is the reason why Agriculture is the backbone of Uganda’s economy. Agriculture is a lucrative venture in Uganda despite obvious obstacles. The sector employs 70% of the population, contributes half of Uganda’s export earnings and a quarter of its gross domestic product (GDP).  Therefore, investment in local communities and in Agriculture is paramount to shaping Uganda’s economic development.

The Chinese government and private sector are having a profound imprint on Uganda’s progress to a middle-income country. China’s extended hand of friendship has touched the very core of Ugandan society and testimonies from the beneficiaries are everywhere for all to see.

China has strengthened its already cordial relationship with Uganda by increasing its presence in the country and injecting much needed aid into the very backbone which keeps Uganda’s economy standing straight. Uganda has received project aid in form of interest free loans and grants from her Chinese friends.  Projects like Kibimba and Doho rice schemes, are one of many initiatives that validate Uganda-China Partnership.

Rice farming has been a leading project of interest by china in Butaleja district in Uganda. Here, the local communities attest to milestones achieved due to direct collaboration with China.  A number of local farmers have benefited from hybrid rice farming in the district. Rice farming has radically shifted the fortunes of local farmers and enriched the community. Locals have attested to being elevated from absolute poverty. Some have been able to build homes, educate their children and purchase previously unaffordable luxuries. Women are also increasingly contributing to household incomes by participating in rice farming. China has also purchased state of the art machinery to further modernize farming in the area. This machinery is set to arrive in Butaleja district anytime. Farmers are also supplementing rice farming with the growing of fruits such as mangoes and water melons for commercial purposes. Butaleja has become a reputable hub for rice and is supplying their products to other regions.

Additionally, as they say, one good turn deserves another. The best practices of rice farming in Butaleja have the potential to be replicated in other regions of Uganda which would boost the Agricultural sector nationally. Besides, some farmers in Butaleja already export their products to neighbouring Kenya.

Then there is the tripartite partnership Uganda has with China and FAO. The three partners plan to implement phase three of the FAO China-Uganda South-South Cooperation (SSC).This three-year $12m (Shs44b) project would benefit over 9000 farmers. The project aims at improving crop, livestock and fish production. Consequently, 3000 women, 1,000 livestock farmers and 100 fish farmers in 30 districts are set to gain from technical instruction and knowledge-sharing with Chinese experts. According to the project head, Mr. Zhang Xiaoqiang, the beneficiaries will be selected in collaboration with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries and district agriculture officials. Furthermore, during the event at the Kajjansi Aquaculture Research and Development Center, H.E the Ambassador, Zhang Lizhong, assured Ugandans that the project is one of many vital collaborations between Uganda and China, and the latter will continue to support Uganda by sending experts to share knowledge with local farmers.

In the long term, thousands of youths and women will have improved livelihoods by earning an income without overcrowding the already bloated formal job market that has left many Ugandans frustrated.

China has also aided in the setup of Wakawaka fish landing site and] Kajjansi Aquaculture Training Center. Coffee, fish, cotton, tea and various food products are among Uganda’s major exports. The country is a food basket in the region.

China has a very good eye for opportunities and identifying the agriculture sector of Uganda as a major recipient of development assistance is a wonderful exhibition of their mature diplomacy and tact. This is how local communities tell the difference between serious allies and opportunists. A true friend seeks to improve those areas about you that are vital for your progress. This is what the agriculture partnership between Uganda and China is yielding.

Once, every local farmer can access modern ways of farming and implement them to their logical end, then Uganda is on its merry way to unprecedented economic development. Uganda’s tax base is limited due to rampant poverty. However, if the common people can utilise their naturally endowed land and earn a living with a decent income, then the tax base dramatically changes for the best and the country at large benefits.

The partnership between Uganda and China underlines one important tenet; there is no national development without uplifting local communities. It is good news that China understands and appreciates this fact.

The Writer is a Research Fellow with Development Watch Centre

 

 

EU’s Green Agricultural Fund: A Golden Opportunity for Uganda’s Sustainable Agriculture

Posted on By Shemei Ndawula

Globalization, to the average East African may sound like a distant abstract concept reserved to high powered political boardrooms and civil conference halls as a paperweight occasionally pulled out to spice political, economic and diplomatic discourse. It was thus with panic induced apprehension and fear that we; in Kampala and other parts of Uganda a little over a year ago kept nervously glancing at supermarket shelves to see the prices of common household groceries like bread and wheat skyrocket due to the tensions in Eastern Europe. The President, in his characteristic tongue in cheek humor impressed upon the masses that “if bread is expensive, you eat Cassava” as was widely quoted by local dailies.  For a country with one of the lowest costs of living in Africa, these were unprecedented times and the tension in Kampala streets was almost palpable.

This is why the move by the European Union and the Danish Investment Fund for Developing Countries to set up the African Business Initiative (aBi) Green Challenge Fund was such a significant gesture of friendship from the two development partners to Uganda. This fund, aimed at directly benefiting small holder and medium scale farmers as well as other partners along the value chain envisions a revolutionary approach to Agribusiness in Uganda to both promote food self sufficiency and stem the negative impacts of climate change.

Statics by the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative Index 2021 report reveal that Uganda is the 12th most vulnerable country in the world to the effects of Climate change and incidentally also the 49th least prepared to combat these effects. Growing up, I remember there was a common saying that in Uganda, the soil is so fertile that one can simply drop a seed on the ground and it will grow. Interestingly, Uganda is the 9th biggest country (by land mass in the wider East Africa) with 50% of all arable (farmable) land. Of this land, more than 50% is in Northern Uganda. This means Uganda with a population of less than 40 million people has got the latent potential to feed 200 million with its natural agricultural resources. This begs the question of why the country is in the midst of a food crisis while sited on such abundance? How could Uganda, described as “the food basket of Africa” rely so heavily on imports that the citizens are advised to “eat cassava” as a substitute to the highly inflated price of bread? This is comically reminiscent of the famous line, ‘water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink’, in Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s poem, ‘The Rime of the Ancient Mariner’.

This is why the efforts of the European Union to spur an agricultural revolution in Uganda through extending credit facilities with focus on the commonly financially marginalized groups of the women and the youth (incidentally also making up the majority of the population) can tap into the latent potential of the country and kickstart the trek to middle income status and also regional food security (and perhaps later prosperity through surplus). This role of the Royal Danish Embassy (contributing over 7 million USD in both financial assets and technical assistance) is also quite instrumental in lieu of their standing as one of the most prosperous and efficient agricultural producing countries in the world. They are best placed to show Ugandan farmers what to do, how to do it and also connect them to international markets to show them why. As someone who regularly imports floriculture products from Denmark, I can testify that there’s a lot we can learn from the Danish to improve our farming practices.

The aBi Green Challenge Fund incidentally fits into the vision of  former head of the National Planning Authority Dr Kisamba Mugerwa which he laid in the blueprint for this revolution in his ‘Plan for Modernization of Agriculture’ which envisions a multisectoral approach to transforming Uganda into the agricultural hub of Africa which; a brilliant concept on it’s own would be largely realised through grassroots schemes like the Green fund which promote the modernisation of the Agricultural industry by directly advancing credit facilities to the farmers and also offering technical assistance and guided so that the credit is effectively utilised in an efficient, sustainable and environmentally friendly way on top of implementing highly advanced post harvest handling and processing which adopts the aBi platform not just as a credit tool but an essential mechanism in identifying and benchmarking modern and efficient agricultural trends elsewhere as well as securing development partners who can invest in the sector.

As the world goes green and looks to environmental solutions to the energy crisis, it is interesting how African governments are moving through international boardrooms peddling crude oil, a finite resource, while seated on priceless untapped agricultural potential. If we as a country can partner with the China National Oil Company to explore the oil deposits in the Albertine basin, why can’t we also source Chinese companies to invest in Wheat growing in the West Nile basin or diary farming in western Uganda?

The current global food crisis is the perfect time to scout for partners in agricultural development for as the world grapples with shortfalls in essential items like wheat and the realization that it can no longer rely on the Eastern European monopoly on dry grains, the negotiating power of African countries with the potential to bridge this supply gap has possibly never been better. In addition, the current power shift in global politics from a Unipolar to a Multipolar power paradigm means a lot of “new” world powers will be looking at establishing new trade and political alliances which gives African nations unprecedented opportunities to negotiate bilateral partnerships and markets for agriculture. With the help of development partners like the European Union and the Royal Danish Embassy, this economic crisis can be turned around into Uganda’s ticket to a greener, healthier and more sustainable economy.

Shemei Ndawula is a research fellow at the Development Watch Centre.

A Review of China’s Support to Uganda’s Agriculture Sector

Posted on By Abdurahim Ssemanda

“Only when the granary is full will people learn etiquette; only when people are well-fed will they know honor and shame,” says an ancient Chinese adage. One can argue that China put this saying in practice while nurturing her Sino-Africa relations by supporting agriculture sector.

In Uganda’s context, China has been playing a key role for almost 50 years. Indeed, in 1973 and 1987, China invested and supported establishment of Kibimba (Now Tilda Uganda) and Doho Rice Schemes. This increased Uganda’s rice production capacity on top of creating employment opportunities for the many people.

Through the South-to-South Co-operation, China has invested heavily and supported the Uganda’s agriculture sector. In 2009, working with United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), China introduced a new programme FAO-China South-South Cooperation (SSC). Beijing backed this program and created a FAO-China Trust Fund with $30 million to support agriculture in Uganda.

In 2015, China launched Uganda’s FAO-China South-South Cooperation (SSC) phase II and injected $50million further supporting the country’s agriculture sector. This program received another $50million boost in phase III which was launched in 2021.

During the first two China-FAO SSC phases, China sent 47 Chinese agricultural experts and technicians on a two years mission. The experts are credited to have helped in skills development and exchanges. In particular, they helped to improve technologies used in production of rice, grapes, cherry tomatoes, foxtail millet, and apples. Also, the experts exchanged skills with Ugandan farmers in animal reproduction such as goats, pigs, and in fisheries. This project focused on exchanging mechanization, agro-processing and value-addition.

A June 2020 study entitled “Access and Adoption of Hybrid Seeds: Evidence from Uganda” published in Journal of African Economies credited Chinese agriculture support to Uganda that it has improved innovated agricultural practices. The study further reveals this has helped in addressing poverty challenges in Uganda’s rural areas.  

In October this year, working with Ugandan authorities, China will be Launching phase III of China-FAO SSC. This time, China will inject 2.39 million U.S. dollars in the program. Under phase III, China will send to Uganda 18 Chinese agricultural experts and technicians to agriculture sector. This project seeks to advance and support appropriate and effective technologies with aim of boosting the countries food security. More than 9,600 farmers of whom at least 30 percent will be women are expected to benefit during this phase while more than 200 Ugandan agricultural personnel will receive technical training.

From grassroots, several Ugandan farmers have already benefited from China funded Phase I and II of China-FAO SSC. Under the said two phases, farmers in districts such as Amuriat, Budaka, Kabale, Mbarara, and Wakiso among others. In Kabale, agricultural technology demonstration hubs have been established there which is boosting horticulture. China has also been supporting fish farming in the country. For example, China funded the construction of Kajjansi Aquaculture Training and Development Centre which is key in aquaculture research in Uganda.

Also, China funded construction of Wakawaka fish landing site. All this has seen increase and sustained fish production in Uganda. Uganda’s Fisheries sector is one of Uganda’s leading foreign exchange earners. The sector accounts for about US$200 million annually. The sector is also employing estimated 1.5 million people such as fishermen, boat owners, fish mongers, transporters and processors among others.

On Continental level, China’s support to African countries agriculture sector is also visible. During the 8th Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) held on 29th November 2021 in Senegal, supporting African countries agriculture was among the nine key areas Chinese president Xi Jinping pointed at where China would cooperate with African countries. The other eight areas are health, poverty reduction and trade promotion, investment promotion, digital innovation, green development, capacity building, cultural and people-to-people exchange, and peace and security.

Globally, China’s voice in promoting and advancing programs meant to fight famine has been loud. While attending this year’s G20 summit in Bali, Indonesia, China’s State Councillor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi made a plea calling for a strong cooperation to ensure a successful global food security agenda and reduce suffering of many due to hunger. Today, many countries are struggling with hunger. Recently, United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guteres expressed concern stressing that global hunger levels are at a new high. Guteres observed that in two years, the number of severely food insecure people has doubled from 135m to 276m today.

Also, among others, China’s Global Development Initiative seeks to address challenges like famine to ensure continuous development, with the aim of helping all people realize their dreams. The discussion above is a pointer that food security is key for national and global security and development. Aware that we can only attain food security by supporting and improving agriculture sector, recognising China’s contribution in supporting Uganda’s and Africa’s agriculture sector is prudent.

Ssemanda Abdurahim is a Research Fellow at Sino-Uganda Research Centre.