Agricultural Growth and Investment Options for Poverty Reduction in Uganda
Date: 06/10/2008
Introduction: By Samuel Benin, James Thurlow, Xinshen Diao, Allen Kebba, and Nelson Ofwono, IFPRI Discussion Paper No. 790, September 2008. Over the past two decades, Uganda has experienced strong economic growth. However, agriculture has not performed as well as the rest of the economy in recent years, and while the incidence of poverty has declined, it is still substantially higher in rural rather than urban areas. The Ugandan government, within the framework of its Plan for the Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) and the Prosperity for All (PFA) initiative, and in support of the upcoming National Development Plan, is in the process of implementing the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), which provides an integrated framework of development priorities aimed at restoring agricultural growth, rural development and food security. This paper analyzes the agricultural growth and investment options that can support the development of a comprehensive rural development component under Uganda's National Development Plan in alignment with the principles and objectives of the CAADP, which include achievement of six percent agricultural growth and allocation of at least ten percent of budgetary resources to the agricultural sector.
