During the last decades, the Uganda government has approved and implemented several initiatives with the main aim of moving the agriculture sector from subsistence farming towards commercialization. The main objectives are to enhance agricultural production and productivity; improve farmers’ access to agricultural markets; create an enabling environment for investment in agriculture; and strengthen agricultural institutions.

Highly liberalized domestic marketing policies articulated by regional agreements and adopted by Uganda as part of the East African Community (EAC) contributed to both an increase and diversification of exports through the creation of an enabling environment for private sector engagement in value chains. However, high production costs at farm-level, especially related to transport and energy costs, still represent a constraint to agricultural growth. The price incentives for producers also vary significantly over time and across value chains, thus complicating production and investment decisions of farmers.

Since 2006, the approved budget allocation for agriculture has been stagnant, averaging around 5 percent of the national budget and well below the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Program (CAADP) target of 10 percent. A large share of the agricultural budget is characterised by administrative costs and significant direct budget support from development partners, which raises questions about the sustainability of this support.

In terms of composition of the agriculture investment during the period 2006-2013, the share of the agriculture-support spending accounted, on average, for 61 percent of the overall expenditures, while the agriculture specific expenditure accounted for the 39 percent and was mostly devolved to support extension services and subsidies. The agriculture-specific spending has been increasing over this period, while agriculture-supportive expenditures relatively decreased. Considering the important role played by the agriculture sector in Uganda, both in terms of value added creation and employment generation, this trend is alarming. The decline in agricultural public expenditure has coincided with an increase in spending on public health and infrastructure.

Download the report: Analysis of public expenditure in support of food and agriculture in Uganda, 2006/07-2012/13.

For additional information on the indicators shown in the graphs and the terminology used, please refer to MAFAP’s Glossary on Public Expenditure and Methodological Guidelines - Volume II - Public Expenditure. For detailed information on the data provided, please go to the MAFAP database.