Combining input subsidies with agricultural extension services to boost agricultural productivity growth in Uganda
The main objective of the workshop was to present the results of three studies conducted by team of researchers from MAFAP, the International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) and ATAI. The workshop participants included representative from various MAAIF departments, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives (MTIC), semi-governmental organizations, USAID, GIZ, UNDP, the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) among the others.
The first analysis researches the level and composition of agricultural public expenditures, the second evaluates the expected effects, on agricultural production value and poverty reduction, of increased government spending while the final piece of research assesses the effect of a combination of input and extension use on the yields of several crops. The last presentations summarized ATAI analyses on the main constraints limiting technology adoption by farmers. These presentations were very well received by the audience and stimulated an interesting debate around the concrete changes that could be brought to the extension services to support the current input subsidy policies and make them more efficient.
At the end, the DAES Deputy invited MAFAP to present the results to the next Agriculture Top Policy Management (TPM) meeting which is a committee chaired by the Minister of Agriculture and has the objective of ensuring consistency and coherence in policy formulation, implementation and monitoring between those policies promoted by the MAAIF and others that are defined and implemented the semi-autonomous agencies that operate in the sector.