Organic Agriculture in Uganda
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ACODE Policy Research Series No. 11, 2005 ACODE Policy Research Series No. 11, 2005 ACODE Policy Research Series No. 11, 2005 ORGANIC AGRICULTURE IN UGANDA THE NEED FOR A COHERENT POLICY FRAMEWORK Eunice Musiime* Boaz Keizire** Moses Muwanga*** ACODE Policy Research Series No. 11, 2005 * Eunice Musiime is a Research Fellow with Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment(ACODE), under the Intellectual Property Rights and Biotechnology Policy Programme. ** Boaz Keizire is a Senior Principal Economist with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. *** Moses Muwanga is the National Coordinator of National Organic Agriculture Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU). ACODE Policy Research Series No. 11, 2005 ACODE Policy Research Series No. 11, 2005 Table of Contents List of Acronyms ............................................................................ ii Acknowledgements ........................................................................iii 1.0 Introduction: ...........................................................................1 2.0 Background to the Agricultural Sector: ...........................................2 3.0 Organic Agriculture as a System of Farming ......................................3 3.1 Linkages between Organic Farming, Food Security, Household Income & Poverty Reduction ......................................................................5 3.2 Organic Agriculture and Food Security.............................................5 3.3 Organic Agriculture and Income ....................................................6 4.0 Major Policy Trends and their relevancy to Organic Agriculture .............6 4.1 Agricultural Production ..............................................................6 4.2 Advisory Services .....................................................................7 4.3 Agro Processing and Agro-Marketing ...............................................8 4.4 Agro-Research in Relation to Organic Farming ...................................9 5.0 Status and Trends in organic exports ............................................ 10 5.1 Premium Prices and Farm Incomes in Organic Agriculture: ................... 11 5.2 Harnessing the competitive advantage ......................................... 13 6. 0 Organic Agriculture under threat? .............................................. 14 6.1 Policy shift towards GMO .......................................................... 14 6.2 Emerging International trade regimes........................................... 14 6.3 High Costs of Certification ........................................................ 15 7.0 Developing a Policy and Strategies for Organic Agriculture ................. 15 7.1 Direct Support to Organic Farmers .............................................. 16 7.2 Organic Research and Development .............................................. 16 7.3 Extension in Organic Farming ..................................................... 16 7.4 Promoting the Development of Regulatory Framework for Certification ... 16 7.5 Declaration of GMO production free zones ...................................... 17 7.6 Training and Education ............................................................. 17 8.0 Conclusion ............................................................................ 18 Bibliography .......................................................................... 19 i ACODE Policy Research Series No. 11, 2005 List of Acronyms ACODE Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment AGOA African Growth and Opportunity Act BIOEARN East African Regional Program and Research Network for Biotechnology, Biosafety and Biotechnology Policy Development. GEF Global Environment Fund GMO Genetically Modified Organism IFOAM International Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements MAAIF Ministry Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries NAADS National Agricultural Advisory Services NARO National Agricultural Research Organization NOGAMU National Organic Agriculture Movement of Uganda OA Organic Agriculture PHC Population and Housing Census PMA Plan for Modernization of Agriculture SSA sub-Saharan Africa TRIPs Trade Related aspects of Intellectual Property Rights UNEP United Nations Environment Programme ii ACODE Policy Research Series No. 11, 2005 Acknowledgement The Organic Agriculture research report would not have been possible without the intellectual leadership of Mr. Godber Tumushabe, the Executive Director, of Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment. The researchers are also grateful to Mr. Charles Walaga for reviewing the first draft. We also wish to thank ACODE staff Mr. Ronald Naluwairo, Ms. Damalie Nyanja and Mr. Ivan AmaniGaruhanga who reviewed and edited this report. Finally, we wish to thank the Humanist Institute For Development Cooperation (HIVOS) for extending the financial support to ACODE and National Organic Agriculture Movement of Uganda to undertake this study, which we hope will go a long way in promoting the development of Organic Agriculture in Uganda. iii ACODE Policy Research Series No. 11, 2005 1.0 Introduction At the moment, there are two main factors defining the nature and focus of agricultural policy reforms in many sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) countries. First, the continuing shrinking of public investments in the agriculture sector is making it absolutely necessary to enlist the full-scale involvement of the private sector in agricultural related activities including agricultural research, seed production and distribution, agricultural advisory services and agricultural marketing. Secondly, the growing emphasis on biotechnology in general and GMOs in particular largely driven by an ever-expanding investment portfolio from key donors and big multinational companies is shifting the policy focus of many countries from other forms of agricultural production and putting a lot of emphasis on modern biotechnology. More than ever before, modern biotechnology is being trotted as the immediate solution to problems facing African agriculture. As a result, organic farming as a form of agriculture production is slowly being pushed off the agenda losing the policy debate to the aggressive public campaigns to promote modern biotechnology. In this paper, we argue that the continuing narrowing of the agriculture policy debate to GMOs is a potential threat to national food security, and a potential threat to food security and livelihoods of many smallholder-farming communities, especially in developing countries. Consequently, as the search for practical and workable solutions to the problem of food insecurity and poverty eradication in Africa continues to preoccupy policy makers, the need to bring back to the policy arena the growing but often neglected importance of organic farming becomes very compelling. This study therefore is aimed at achieving three specific objectives. First, it is aimed to demonstrate that in countries where supporting scientific, institutional and regulatory infrastructure is in its infancy, the growing policy emphasis on biotechnology and in particular GMOs could undermine food security and threaten agricultural driven poverty eradication. Second, the study is aimed at providing compelling evidence to policy makers that organic agriculture provides the most immediate opportunities for increasing agricultural productivity and enhancing food security of small holder farmers in many Sub-Saharan African countries. Thirdly, the study is intended to act as an advocacy instrument for ensuring that organic agriculture is put back at the centre of the national and international agriculture policy debate and poverty eradication. 1 ACODE Policy Research Series No. 11, 2005 2.0 Background to the Agricultural Sector The Agricultural sector remains the backbone of the Ugandan economy. The share of agriculture to GDP has been fluctuating between 40% and 50% in the last 10 years (see Table 1). The latest data so far shows that the share of agriculture to the overall GDP stood at 39.2% by the fiscal year 2002/20031. Out of the 25 million Ugandans2, 80% live in rural areas and 88% of these depend on agriculture for household income and food security. It is also estimated that there are 5.2 million households and out of these, 73.9% or 3.8 million are engaged in agricultural activities3. A big population of these farmers and or farming households is largely subsistent in nature. Most agricultural holdings in Uganda are characterized by small land holdings with a few who have isolated commercial holdings. Recent policy trends have emphasized shifting from the traditional subsistence agriculture to a commercially oriented farming4. In the last decade or so, farmers had concentrated on food production for household consumption and very little, if any, for sale. Despite the policy shift or emphasis to commercialization of agriculture, the sector has diminishing opportunities to generate wealth as a result of declining world prices for the major cash crops such as coffee, cotton, tobacco, tea, and food crops such as maize and beans. Table 1: Agriculture in the Economy 1990-2002 Year Total GDP Agricultural GDP Agr. Share of GDP Ug.shs Billion 1990 1,985 1,061 53% 1991 2,088 1,086 52% 1992 2,182 1,116 51% 1993 2,320 1,170 50% 1994 2,555 1,246 49% 1995 2,768 1,291 47% 1996 2,906 1,299 45% 1997 6,594 2,727 41% 1998 7,186 3,005 42% 1999 7,666 3,184 42% 2000 8,038 3,302 41% 2001 8,528 3,461 41% 2002 8,977 3,571 40% Source: MAAIF Development Strategy and Investment Plan (2004/05-2006/07) The key issues