Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA)IntroductionWe know that more than 80% of the population in Uganda depends on agriculture production. For the rural population - more than the 85% of the total population - agriculture is the main way of making a living either as pure subsistence farmers or with a little semi-commercial farming. The majority of these subsistence farmers are poor people faced with many constraints that keep them poor such as lack of knowledge and skills, lack of credit, lack of information and knowledge about what to produce and how to produce to earn more money, HIV/AIDS, malaria, insecurity and poor yields. The most features of their poverty include: not having enough food, lack of money to meet health and education costs, low yields, few productive assets, lack of essential services, large families, lack of support from the communities they live in, and so on.The Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA) - a central element of Uganda's poverty eradication strategy - is key to enabling the rural population to improve their livelihood and ensure food security through changing subsistence agriculture to doing farming as a business.
1. What is the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture?The PMA is the plan of the Government of Uganda for fighting and eradicating poverty from Uganda through changing the current subsistence agriculture to doing farming as a business. Subsistence agriculture is producing mainly for home consumption while doing farming as a business (commercial agriculture) is producing with the objective of selling produce to earn money. Commercialising agriculture is hoped to result into many people being able to earn incomes to meet other needs, improve their lifestyle, create more jobs in rural areas, ensure food security and use natural resources sustainably.How can we modernise our agriculture (PMA strategy)?In order to modernise our agriculture we need to recognize the resources we already have such as land, good weather, and people and start by improving our agricultural production with what we already have. On one hand, government will be working closely with us by providing agricultural advisory services, health services, good roads, access to improved seed and knowledge and information about good storage methods, processing and marketing avenues.Modernising agriculture will also need the support of local governments and therefore there is a need for empowering local authorities to ensure they have the necessary capacities to undertake those new challenges. It is expected that the local governments will deliver agricultural services and financing those, in collaboration with local and extern stakeholders, NGOs, CBOs and donor community as well as the private sector.
II. How will modernizing our agriculture eradicate poverty?Modernising agriculture will eradicate poverty through first of all increased production thus ensuring that there is enough food for all our people at all times. Secondly, farmer access to knowledge, improved seed, and other relevant information will lead them to produce more high value crops that sell well in the market. Incomes from sale of produce will help farmers access other household necessities, pay health and education costs and have extra to spare. More jobs will be created in agriculture and agriculture-related activities such as transportation, storage, processing, marketing, and so on. At the end of the day, poverty will be eradicated as a result of:
III. What areas will Government spend money on under the PMA?In order to support everyone involved in the process of modernizing our agriculture and eradicating poverty from Uganda, government will fund the following important areas:
IV. When will the PMA be implemented?The President has already launched PMA activities. This took place in the month of December 2000. The PMA Secretariat, which will be the main coordinating body has already been set up and its core staff have been recruited and the Non-Sectoral Conditional Grant has already be sent out to 24 participating districts.Secondly, some of the components of the PMA like the NAADS are already in advanced stages of operationalisation and are soon going out to try farmer-driven advisory system.
V. Who will be involved in the PMA implementation and what will be their responsibilities?There are 3 key players in the implementation of the PMA namely: private sector, local governments and Central Government. Others include civil society organizations and development partners. In the private sector, farmers are the largest group.Private Sector. Includes subsistence farmers, traders, processors and service providers. They will be directly responsible for undertaking the key activities of operationalisation and success of the PMA which activities include: production, processing, storage and marketing of agricultural inputs and outputs. The private sector will also be responsible for the provision of advisory services through contracting. Local governments (at district, sub-counties and parishes). Under the PMA, local governments will be responsible for a) coordinating production local government agricultural sector plans; b) technical supervision of agricultural advisory services; c) provision of services for the management and control of pests; d) land survey and administration; e) forestry and wetlands management; f) control of soil erosion, bush fires, local hunting and fishing; and g) licensing produce marketing. Central Government. The core function of central government will be to continue to put in place good policies, laws and procedures for successful implementation of the PMA. The different ministries will handle the responsibilities for policies, laws and procedures that fall directly under their individual mandates. Civil Society. These include NGOs, CBOs, individuals, unions, professional bodies and associations that are involved in the promotion and delivery of services. They are a very important interest group who will be involved, in collaboration with other stakeholders, in the process of planning, implementing, financing and delivery of services especially at lower levels of government. Development Partners. Development partners in the PMA include international donors and bilateral partners/governments that support national development activities in the agricultural sector through grants and soft loans. They will play a key role in providing funding to key activities that government intends to fund under the PMA.
VI. What will I benefit from the PMA as individual?The PMA offers many opportunities to individuals groups, companies and communities. The PMA encompasses very many sectors ranging from production, harvesting, storage, processing, marketing, transportation, inputs distribution, advisory services, natural resources management, physical infrastructure provision, construction, etc. Depending on what you do, you will benefit from the support and opportunities that the PMA offers. Take for example the case of someone who is a bicycle repairer; he/she will benefit from the PMA through the money paid to him by people who own bicycles. We know that many people in the rural areas use bicycle as one of the major ways of transporting produce to the nearest trading centre. So, indirectly, more money going into the hands of the bicycle owners means more money for the bicycle repairer who may benefit from increased business as a result of many farmers transporting their produce to town for sale.For further information on the PMA, contact: |