council for economic empowerment for women...

GENDER AND AGRICULTURE POLICY BRIEF, 1

POLICY BRIEF ON GENDER AND AGRICULTURE

COUNCIL FOR ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT FOR WOMEN OF

AFRICA-UGANDA CHAPTER (CEEWA-UGANDA)

Contact Address:

CEEWA-Uganda

P.O Box 9063, Kiwafu Road, Kansanga, Kampala-Uganda

Tel: +256-414 269507/+256-414 269477

Email: [email protected]

Website: http://www.ceewauganda.org

mailto:[email protected]

http://www.ceewauganda.org/


Table of Contents ACRONYMS ................................................................................................................................................... 3

1.0 INTRODUCTION ....................................................................................................................................... 6

2.0 GENDER RELATED INTERVENTIONS AND GAPS IN UGANDA’S AGRICULTURAL PLANS/POLICIES .......... 7

3.0 GENDER ISSUES IN UGANDA’S AGRICULTURE SECTOR ........................................................................... 9

3.1Background .......................................................................................................................................... 9 3.2Access to Credit .................................................................................................................................... 9 3.3 Land Holding ....................................................................................................................................... 9 3.4 Land tenure and access to Farmland ................................................................................................ 10 3.5 Involvement in Agricultural Activity .................................................................................................. 11 3.6 Agricultural Extension Services ......................................................................................................... 12 3.7 Market Access and Availability ......................................................................................................... 12

4.0 FINANCING FOR THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR ........................................................................................ 14

4.1Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 14 4.2 The Agricultural Budget as a fraction of the Total Government Budget .......................................... 14 4.3Allocative efficiency ........................................................................................................................... 14 4.4 Multi - sectoral approach through PMA ........................................................................................... 15 4.5 Agricultural research and development ........................................................................................... 16 4.6 Agricultural extension services ......................................................................................................... 16 4.7 Agricultural Credit ............................................................................................................................. 17

5.0 CONSTRAINTS TO GENDER RESPONSIVENESS IN THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR ..................................... 18

5.1 Decline in Agriculture sector growth ................................................................................................ 18 5.2. Inequalities in land ownership and use ........................................................................................... 18 5.3 Limited Availability of Farm Inputs ................................................................................................... 18 5.4 Limited markets and market access .................................................................................................. 18 5.5 Inadequate agriculture extension ..................................................................................................... 19 5.6 Lack of gender analysis to inform the policy formulation, planning and budgeting processes in the agriculture sector .................................................................................................................................... 19

6.0 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS ............................................................................................................... 20

7.0 REFERENCES ...................................................................................................................................... 22


ACRONYMS

AIDS Acquired Immuno - Deficiency Syndrome

CEEWA Council for Economic Empowerment for Women of Africa

DSIP Development Strategy and Investment Plan

FY Financial year

GOU Government of Uganda

HIV Human Immune Virus

MAAIF Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries

MFED Ministry of Finance Planning and Economic Development

MHH Male Headed households

NAADS National Agricultural Advisory Services

NARO National Agriculture Research Organization

NBFP National Budget Framework Paper

NPA National Planning Authority

PFA Prosperity for All

PMA Plan for Modernization of Agriculture

PMA Plan for Modernization of Agriculture

RDS Rural Development Strategy

UBOS Uganda Bureau of Statistics

UCB Uganda Commercial Bank

UCDA Uganda Coffee development Authority

UCDO Uganda Cotton Development Organization

WHHs Women Headed Households


EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

CEEWA Uganda is promoting gender sensitivity in all central and local government

plans, policies and programs so that both men and women have equal access to and

benefit equitably in the agriculture sector.

Agriculture is one of the core sectors of Uganda’s economy. By 2005, it employed

about 70% of the labor force (UBOS, 2005).Much of the industrial activity in the country is

agro based and the agricultural sector provides the basis for growth in other sectors

such as manufacturing and services.

Being the largest employer, agriculture employs 83% of women as primary producers

and they contribute 70-75 percent of agricultural production. The sector contributes a

lot to foreign exchange revenue from regional trade thereby helping to stabilize

depreciation of the Ugandan shilling (NPA, 2010).

Both men and women have faced the challenges of accessing affordable credit to

help them invest in the agriculture sector. However, women farmers find it even more

difficult since they do not have collateral and rarely get access to information

regarding existence of programs put up by Government to address the problem of

agriculture finance.

Furthermore, many landless potential farmers (especially the women) cannot easily

access land because of the costs involved, cultural norms and the threats imposed by

the existing overlapping land rights. Despite the fact that women provide most of

agricultural labor, few have rights to own (7%) or control use of land (NPA,2010).

Gender focused activities In FY 2010/11 MAAIF focused on increasing incomes and

promoting equity among farmers in line with the Agriculture Sector Development

Strategy and Investment plan (DSIP) 2010/11 – 2014/15. However, MAAIF and the other

institutions have not taken steps to engender their plans except for NARO which has a

Gender Action Plan.

Gender in Policy statements MAAIF and its affiliated institutions have incorporated

gender issues in their policy statements for 2010/11 and 2011/12 as required by the

Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development Budget Call Circular.

Important to note is that as much as gender sensitive activities are identified they are

not usually allocated budgets.


Policy recommendations include:

The Government should ensure that ender responsive planning, budgeting and

monitoring should be core to all projects. Gender and equity budgeting should

go beyond seeking involvement of women and other marginalized groups to

promoting equitable access and use of agricultural services and monitoring

progress made thereafter. Clear gender mainstreaming strategies should form

part and parcel of the project implementation plan.

The MAAIF should avail extension services to all categories of gender and the

government should invest more in research to develop more gender friendly and

appropriate technologies.

The Government should step up to at least 10% of the national budgetary

resources to the agricultural sector needs to expand delivery of agricultural

services in Uganda. This could include deepening of delivery of extension and

research services to ensure that farmers access and use improved inputs and

technologies to bridge the production and productivity gap at farm level.

Sufficient counterpart funding should be provided in adequate and a timely

manner for marching with the donor funds.

The MAAIF needs to design and implement a gender mainstreaming strategy

cutting across the agricultural production value chains. The strategy would also

ensure gender responsiveness of all agriculture sector plans, strategies, budgets,

programs and projects at both central and local government levels. In addition

MAAIF institutions that do not have gender mainstreaming action plans like CDO,

UCDA, and NAADS must develop them in line with the proposed strategy.

The MAAIF should support women’s extension, training and information needs by

adapting training to women’s capacity and priorities, using innovative methods

of participatory (or peer) learning and increasing the use of women extension

workers.

The government should increase women’s access to financial services by

focusing on the suitability of products from a gender perspective, and linking to

financial institutions that have the capacity to design and provide ethical

products better suited to women’s needs.


1.0 INTRODUCTION

Agriculture is one of the core sectors of Uganda’s economy. By 2005, it employed

about 70% of the labor force (UBOS, 2005).Much of the industrial activity in the country is

agro based and the agricultural sector provides the basis for growth in other sectors

such as manufacturing and services.

Being the largest employer, agriculture employs 83% of women as primary producers

and they contribute 70-75 percent of agricultural production. The sector contributes a

lot to foreign exchange revenue from regional trade thereby helping to stabilize

depreciation of the Ugandan shilling (NPA, 2010).

One of the objectives of the National development plan that runs for a period of five

years (2010/11- 2014/15) is to increase agricultural production and productivity.

This policy brief will highlight gender issues in the agricultural sector, efforts by the

Ugandan government in engendering plans, policies and investments and other

actions in the agriculture sector, challenges facing the agricultural sector in Uganda

and policy recommendations. The analysis was based on desk review of various

documents from the government, civil society organizations and the academia that

are acknowledged in the references section.


2.0 GENDER RELATED INTERVENTIONS AND GAPS IN UGANDA’S

AGRICULTURAL PLANS/POLICIES

The Constitution of the republic of Uganda which is the supreme law of the land, Article

33, provides that “The State shall provide the facilities and opportunities necessary to

enhance the welfare of women to enable them to realize their full potential and

advancement”; “Women shall have the right to equal treatment with men and that

right shall include equal opportunities in political, economic and social activities”; and

“Laws, cultures, customs or traditions which are against the dignity, welfare or interest of

women or which undermine their status, are prohibited by the Constitution”. It is also

known to be the most gender sensitive in the region.

Gender focused activities In FY 2010/11 MAAIF focused on increasing incomes and

promoting equity among farmers in line with the Agriculture Sector Development

Strategy and Investment plan (DSIP) 2010/11 – 2014/15. However, MAAIF and the other

institutions have not taken steps to engender their plans except for NARO which has a

Gender Action Plan.

MAAIF and its affiliated institutions have incorporated gender issues in their policy

statements for 2010/11 and 2011/12 as required by the Ministry of Finance, Planning and

Economic Development Budget Call Circular. Important to note is that as much as

gender sensitive activities are identified they are not usually allocated budgets.

Promotion of labor saving technologies and mechanisms MAAIF has developed and is

promoting appropriate technologies including animal traction and mechanization

which when popularized will help in saving labor and time especially for women farmers

and allowing them to do other productive work. However, these technologies still on a

small scale thus benefiting a few farmers most of whom are men as women are busy

attending to household chores and not as aggressive.

Formation of women farmer groups is one of the vital options to be emphasized. The

sector through NAADs has promoted the formation and institutional development of

farmer groups to facilitate access to agricultural extension services, demonstrations and

learning. Emphasis has been put on promoting the formation of more women farmer

groups since they are the main players in the agriculture sector.

The national biotechnology and bio-safety act of 2012 meant to facilitate the safe

development and application of modern biotechnology also does not address gender

concerns

The policy environment in the last ten years has been shaped by plan for modernization

of agriculture (PMA). Its scope covered several pillars including research and


technology, development, NAADS, rural finance, agro processing and marketing,

agriculture education, physical infrastructure and sustainable natural resource utilization

and management. In 2005, the rural development strategy RDS was formulated with

the overall objective of raising household incomes with a focus on the sub- county level

as a basic unit for plans but most of these are not engendered(NPA,2010)

In 2006, a much broader vision of Prosperity for All (PFA) was formulated arising out of

the NRM election manifesto. Issues raised in this manifesto were also articulated in the

2010 NRM manifesto the goal of the PFA was to improve lives of all Ugandans (including

women and men) in all aspects – higher incomes, improved access to services in a

peaceful and democratic governed country. It however does not provide a detailed

plan on how women’s unique concerns will be put into consideration and was not

accompanied by a budget so implementation remains a challenge.

According to the gender policy, Women's land rights have been recognized in the

Land Act (Cap 227) and Land acquisition Act (Cap 226), spousal consent is a

requirement on all matters relating to land from which the family derives sustenance.

Although there are no laws prohibiting women from owning land, women traditionally

do not own family land in Uganda. Whilst women do most of the agricultural work, it is

estimated that they own only 7 percent of agricultural land. Land generally belongs to

the family or clan and is held by men, though women may have the right to live on

land and farm it. In addition, discriminatory laws governing inheritance result in the vast

majority of women being excluded from land ownership.

According to the Succession Act, property is apportioned among the deceased’s

family members according to fixed proportions and widows stand to inherit 15%. Under

the Act, women cannot inherit their father’s property (section 27). Obstacles to land

ownership, particularly in a traditional mostly agrarian society has a huge bearing on

women’s capacity to become economically empowered.

The Government Land Policy 2010, in its 5th draft version, provides that the government

will undertake further legislative measures to protect the rights of access to inheritance

and ownership of land for women and children and that it will address gender

inequality and ensure equal rights to land before marriage, in marriage, after marriage,

at succession without discrimination.


3.0 GENDER ISSUES IN UGANDA’S AGRICULTURE SECTOR

3.1Background

Nationwide, 72% of all employed women and 90% of all rural women work in

agriculture. Only 53% of rural men do practice agriculture. The majority of subsistence

farmers are poor men and women faced with many constraints that keep them under

the vicious circle of poverty. These constraints include lack of knowledge and skills,

lack of credit, lack of information on what to produce and how to produce to earn

more money, poor yields because of using rudimentary technologies, poor marketing

skills due to lack of knowledge of available markets. Other challenges associated

include HIV/AIDS, malaria, and insecurity. It is important to note that the above

challenges have negatively impacted more women than men. This is mainly due to the

resource ownership and decision regarding resource utilization. However despite these

constraints, both men and women continue to play a critical role in the agriculture

sector, producing, harvesting, processing and marketing (Nabumba, 2008).

3.2Access to Credit

According to a year book on Agricultural finance in the year 2009, both men and

women have faced the challenges of accessing affordable credit to help them invest

in the agriculture sector. However, women farmers find it even more difficult since they

do not have collateral and rarely get access to information regarding existence of

programs put up by Government to address the problem of agriculture finance. This has

resulted in some of the worthwhile initiatives aimed at improving farm productivity

through investment not realizing their goals. Men and women have resorted to use of

SACCOs to get finance but these have been found to be expensive and exploitative

which discourages farmers from applying for credit. In FY 2009/10, Government

allocated Shs 30 billion to Bank of Uganda to be accessed by both male and female

farmers. Accessibility to this credit facility has been a challenge because of lack of

clear guidelines and conditions which favor only large scale farmers and not small

farmers, the majority of whom are women.

3.3 Land Holding

In Uganda, land is regarded not merely as a factor of production, but first, and

foremost, as the medium which defines and binds social and spiritual relations within

and across generations. Land thus remains highly volatile and a political issue and its

control continue to be a critical factor in Uganda’s development. The systems of land

ownership that are recognized by law in Uganda include: Mailo, freehold and

customary tenure. The Uganda National Household Surveys (UNHSs) carried out since

2003, show that Women-Headed Households (WHHs) have low levels of cultivatable

rudimentary technologies. However despite these constraints both men and women

continue to play a critical role in the agriculture sector, producing, harvesting,

processing, marketing and producing food that is consumed at the household levels.


There are indications that the proportion of WHHs in rural areas that are landless has

decreased in the last decade suggesting that women’s access to land has increased

although the access is to smaller areas of land. A National Survey carried out in 2005/06

investigated the total land size owned by different household types. The survey showed

that MHHs hold more than twice the land size held by WHHs (Ubos,2007). This is a

disadvantage to women who do the bulk of farming activities in households most of

which are land based. Larger land sizes have helped the MHHs to commercialize their

agricultural activities thus earning higher incomes and reducing their poverty levels. This

is not the case in the majority of WHHs who own smaller land sizes which cannot

facilitate commercialization. The same survey also showed that even when WHHs have

land, the level of asset depletion through sales to acquire other basic needs is much

higher for them than the MHHs. For example, between 1992 and 1999, while the

percentage increase in land area for MHHs was 27.1%, a decrease in land area of

14.3% was registered for the WHHs (Ibid).

Table 1 Showing Percentage of Men and Women by Land Ownership

Source: UDHS 2011

3.4 Land tenure and access to Farmland

Uganda’s divergent land tenure system and overlapping land rights have impacted

negatively on different gender and on long-term investments in the agriculture sector.

Furthermore, many landless potential farmers (especially the women) cannot easily

access land because of the costs involved, cultural norms and the threats imposed by

the existing overlapping land rights. According to the Sixth Draft of the Land Policy, the

gender structure of the land rights varies across the country but in general it is highly

unequal. For example, women work on the land more than men but have unequal land

rights. The women’s rights tend to be limited to access, while men are more inclined to


enjoy ownership rights. Available literature indicates that only 30% of women have

access to and control over proceeds from land but ownership and control over land is

ultimately with men (Ovonji-Odida et al, 2000). In general terms, women’s access to

land is usually through their spouse or male members of their family. Loss of the spouse

increases the chances of violation of their rights to land. However, in urban areas, some

working women are able to purchase land and in cases where poor women have

taken on the role of family breadwinner such as when widowed, women have full

control of land.

3.5 Involvement in Agricultural Activity

A review of available literature indicates that in 2004 there were more Male Headed

Households (MHH)(73.1%) than Women Headed Households(WHH) (26.9%) involved in

the agriculture sector in Uganda and to date, the situation has not changed much.

Consequently, more MHHs are involved in agriculture than their counterparts the WHHS.

In addition, older people are more greatly involved in agriculture as a means of

livelihood than all the other age categories. It should however, be noted that children

headed households too, especially in the rural areas are highly engaged in agriculture.

Predominantly male tasks in agriculture include the felling of trees, ploughing with oxen

or tractors, digging holes, the purchase and use of chemicals, looking for markets and

the sale of produce. Women usually undertake sowing, harvesting, head loading of

produce, crop-drying, winnowing, seed selection, pig and poultry-rearing and bartering

sunflower seeds for oil. Other tasks, such as weeding, bagging and crop storage, are

almost equally undertaken by both women and men. It is estimated that women do

85% of the planting, 85% of the weeding, 55% of land preparation and 98% of all food

processing (Ubos, 2007).

However, decisions to market are mainly made by men (70%), or are made jointly

(15%). In rural areas, it is estimated that women’s workloads both in the agriculture

sector and household considerably exceed those of men (Ibid).

Traditionally, men tend to be responsible for the cash crops, but male labour is usually

withdrawn if those crops decrease in profitability. When market conditions change,

attracting male labor back to such crops may be difficult. In most districts, the MHHs act

as employers within the agriculture sector while WHHS are largely employees. Studies in

the gender division of labor indicate that women have the prime responsibility for

domestic duties and food production while men spend time on productive activities or

at leisure. Both women and men contribute to agricultural production, with the women

playing a bigger role and in most cases entirely responsible for food production while

the men grow cash crops. Women are found to be responsible for small-scale livestock

rearing while men care for the larger livestock, particularly cattle. Women do most of

the harvesting but in most cases are not responsible for marketing – a male domain.

However, changes in gender roles have been noted with women especially in urban


areas doing more income generating work other than agriculture and yet the men are

not taking on any more responsibilities (UBOS, 2007). Hence, women’s roles and

responsibilities have increased to the extent that time is now a constraining factor.

3.6 Agricultural Extension Services

According to the 2005/06 UNHS the majority of households in Uganda of all types

indicated that they had not accessed agricultural extension. Overall, only 7.4% of

households had accessed extension services. For the few that had accessed extension,

access was slightly higher among male-headed households (7.7%) than female-

headed households (6.8%). Most had accessed extension for 1-5 times a year. Among

the MHHs, access was highest among the married while among the WHHs, all

household types were accessing the services to some extent.

In the study carried out by FOWODE tracing Agriculture Extension grants in Uganda from

a gender perspective the following was found, that very few women benefit directly

from NAADs due to the fact that women never own land. Much as men benefit most of

the work is done by the women still as in the figure 1 below.

FIGURE 1: NAADs benefactors by gender in four districts FY 2009/10

Source: Computation based on Sub - County records (FOWODE)

3.7 Market Access and Availability

Farmers are motivated to produce when they are sure of good yields and markets for

their commodities and a good price. A study carried out by MFPED in 2008 presented

that the majority of households reported availability of a market for most of the

agricultural products within their sub-counties with exception of oranges, mangoes,

pineapples, coffee, tobacco, simsim and rice. These are the high value commodities

The majority of households involved in agriculture in Uganda is engaged in crop


farming; with almost equal representation of adult WHHs (98.4%), (MFPED, 2008) and

MHHs (98.7%). Almost all the elderly headed households, irrespective of sex are

engaged fully in crop farming as a livelihood means, possibly due to the fact that they

cannot offer their labor for other productive activities due to limited physical energy

and age constraints. Most households do allocate land to growing cash crops such as

coffee, cotton, maize, beans and cassava. In many cases, WHHS normally allocate less

land to growing cash crops giving more land to food crop growing and the reverse is

true for the MHHS.


4.0 FINANCING FOR THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR

4.1Introduction

Agriculture interventions are scattered across many sectors and do not give an

accurate picture of the public resources committed to agriculture, it is difficult to

analyze trends in public spending on agriculture. This constraint notwithstanding,

budget allocations are made to the following core agencies: (i) Ministry of Agriculture,

Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), (ii) National Agricultural Research Organization

(NARO), (iii) National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), (iv) Uganda Cotton

Development Organization (UCDO), (v) Uganda Coffee Development Authority

(UCDA), (vi) Local Governments (agricultural extension and production services), and

(vii) Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) - sectoral conditional grants, are by far

the most important indicator of the amount of public resources directly devoted to

agriculture.

4.2 The Agricultural Budget as a fraction of the Total Government Budget

Over time, the approved budget for agriculture (core agencies mentioned above) in

relative terms has declined from an estimated 5.1% of total government spending in

2001/02 to 4.3% in 2009/10. The decline in agriculture’s share of expenditure is in stark

contrast to the strong growth in social sectors such as education, general public sector

management and public administration sectors. Though the share of spending

allocated to agriculture was projected to marginally increase over the next three years;

rising to 5.2% of the total government spending by 2013, much of the proposed

increase in expenditure is driven by a projected rise in development spending

projected to come, directly or indirectly, from donor funding. This shows little

commitment by government to use domestically generated funds for sustained

expenditure on agriculture. The low levels of agriculture spending are grossly

insufficient to sustain any major or substantial investments that can create the

necessary institutional and physical infrastructure required to transform the economy.

4.3Allocative efficiency

Analysis of the allocation of the resources within the agricultural sector shows many

gaps with regard to allocative efficiency. The priorities of the agricultural sector are

defined in the MAAIF Development Strategy and Investment Plan (DSIP). However, the

DSIP has not been used to draw up sub-sector budgets. Advisory services and research

are accorded the highest priority; taking about 59% of the sector budget. However,

many other core public goods remain underfinanced, undermining the potential

impact of research and advisory services. The critically underinvested areas are rural

infrastructure, livestock, plant pest and disease control, regulatory services and

institutional development. For instance, plant pest and disease control has received less


than 1% of total resources, while the proportion of funding allocated to livestock

disease control has continued to fall over the last three years.

The MAAIF headquarters takes nearly half of the entire budget. However, this has been

declining from 70% in 2000/01 to 40% in 2009/10. The high allocation to the

headquarters is partly due to higher wage allocations for senior staff; high transport

costs to Kampala from Entebbe where the ministry headquarters are located; and

other recurrent expenses such as fuel and vehicle maintenance. In addition, there are

value for money concerns as regards procurement of goods and services, especially at

the MAAIF headquarters. For instance, according to a report by Economic Policy

Research Centre (2009), a total of US $225,007.9 (Ug.Shs.427, 515,010) was wasted in the

procurement of vehicles that worked for less than two years and are currently

grounded.

The agricultural sector’s recurrent budget is relatively small and the share of wage to

non-wage expenditures appears well balanced. Though the staff-related costs are

generally low, other expenditures on various ministers, vehicles, maintenance of

vehicles, fuel and lubricants, workshops and seminars and consultancy services

augment the high cost of running MAAIF and its sister agencies. For instance, travel

costs (inland and abroad), cost of vehicle maintenance and fuel account for 23% and

20% respectively of the non-wage recurrent.

The sector’s development spending accounts for around 85% of total sector spending.

However, the development expenditure is not synonymous with capital expenditure as

is usually assumed. For instance, the share of capital outlays in the 2009/10 agriculture

budget was only 12%, which is far less that of the development budget. The sector’s

development expenditure is heavily oriented to non-wage recurrent expenditures

rather than capital expenditures.

4.4 Multi - sectoral approach through PMA

The major argument from policy makers in Uganda is that under-funding of the

agricultural sector (MAAIF) is compensated for by the higher proportion of resources

devoted to the PMA’s multi-sectoral approach. Resources are spent on other sectors

which are presumed to have a direct impact on sustaining Uganda’s long-term

economic development, notably infrastructure and social sectors, which are expected

to support agricultural development.

In FY 2007/08 Ug.Shs 772 billion of the PMA resources was directed towards 181 projects.

Four ministries of Energy and Mineral Development (22.8%), Agriculture Animal Industry

and Fisheries (19.9%), Finance Planning and Economic Development (19.2%) and Works

and Transport (14.0%), accounted for over 76% of the total PMA project relevant

budget allocations. However, although it is certainly true that promoting agriculture

requires investments in areas that are not strictly agricultural (such as infrastructure),


other critical production and productivity drivers like research and technology

development and access to credit have been neglected. In addition, there is no

mechanism to ensure that PMA priorities are adequately captured within the budget

prioritization, partly because several line ministries and agencies do not take the

agreed PMA undertakings seriously. The PMA had seven pillars (priority areas for action),

one of which is “Improving Access to Rural Finance”. The areas of action (some of them

already overtaken by circumstances) included strengthening the legal and regulatory

framework, capacity building for MFIs, privatization of GoU credit projects/programs,

privatization of the (now former) Uganda Commercial Bank (UCB), promotion of other

MFI initiatives and promoting formal banking system involvement in rural finance.

Furthermore, the disbursement rates on PMA projects is very low at 54% of the levels

budgeted. The unbalanced implementation of the PMA is typified by that fact that

the highest level of disbursements is registered with policy and institutional reform (77%),

and lowest with marketing (14%) and rural finance (24%).

4.5 Agricultural research and development

Despite the fact that empirical studies have shown that research and development has

the greatest impact on labor productivity and poverty reduction among all type of

agricultural spending, funding towards agricultural research is declining. Funds

allocated for research through NARO accounted for on average 24% of sector

spending between 2000 and 2005 and 18% between 2006 and 2009. The situation is

further worsened by the fact that NARO is weak at designing research for the real

needs of farmers and actually disseminating technology. As of end 2006, just 55% of

NARO’s research outputs had been disseminated and these had reached less than half

of all crop farmers and 30% of livestock farmers (Action Aid, 2010).

4.6 Agricultural extension services

Agricultural extension services (mainly allocations to NAADS and local governments)

are taking an increasing share of sector expenditures. The overall allocation to

agricultural extension has increased from 25% of total sector spending in 2005/06 to

nearly 43% in 2009/10. Spending on extension is projected to rise further to 49% of sector

spending in 2012/13. Increasing resource allocations to agricultural extension at local

government level shows a good policy shift by government towards supporting

agricultural development in rural areas. Though the success of NAADS remains

contested, two major independent evaluations by ITAD (2008) and IFPRI (2007)

described the program as successful mainly in the area of farmer empowerment and

adoption of improved technologies. The biggest challenge with the NAADS approach is

that there is no common agreement on the concept and practice of agricultural

extension among the politicians who make policies and technocrats who implement

them. The impromptu intervention and suspension of the NAADS programme by the


President in recent years is causing a lot of inefficiencies in the programme’s

implementation. This is denting the success so far registered.

4.7 Agricultural Credit

The government and donors recognize the need to increase the availability of credit to

farmers, but there is general belief among policy makers that credit is a private rather

than a public good. Despite the fact that farmers cite shortage of capital and credit as

their single biggest constraint to improving farming, the government is not investing

enough resources in providing credit to farmers. Only 4% of the PMA funds are

allocated towards rural finance services, which include increasing access to credit.

Worse still, most financial institutions have not developed suitable lending instruments for

agriculture, in that agriculture receives less than 10% of lending from commercial

institutions. Consequently, most farmers cannot access credit from such institutions

because they lack the required collateral security for the loans. Without access to

credit, many farmers are unable to invest in future production, to expand their farming

or take a risk. This mainly affects mostly women since they do not have collateral

security.


5.0 CONSTRAINTS TO GENDER RESPONSIVENESS IN THE AGRICULTURE

SECTOR

5.1 Decline in Agriculture sector growth

In the recent years, the proportion of people engaged in agriculture has increased

from 6.5 per cent in 2002/3 to over 7.3 per cent in 2009/10 (MAAIF, 2010). However, this

increase has not been matched by real growth in agricultural output which has

declined from 7.9 per cent in 2005/06 to 2.4 per cent in the FY 2009/10. The decline has

contributed to low earnings among the farmers in the rural areas exacerbating poverty

levels, food and nutrition insecurity as well as loss of interest in the agriculture sector. It is

therefore true that for the agriculture sector to fulfill its potential role, gender disparity

must be addressed and effectively reduced through targeted policy interventions.

5.2. Inequalities in land ownership and use

One of the most significant gender-based constraints that women and WHHs face is

ownership and control of agricultural land. Although the Land Act 1998 as amended

provided a conducive framework for enhanced tenure security, implementation has

been a challenge particularly with regard to women. In the Act, women are legally

entitled to own land, but in practice, ownership and control is contingent on social

rather than material relations. The asymmetry in control over land has direct implications

for the productivity of women’s labour, willingness to invest in land, capacity to

influence land use priorities and their poverty status. (Catherine Dolan, 2002).

5.3 Limited Availability of Farm Inputs

High cost and limited availability of improved farm inputs. The use of agricultural

improved inputs remains low generally and particularly among women farmers. This is

due to lack of access to or non-availability, of inputs lack of knowledge about inputs

and the cost barriers. (Catherine Dolan,2002).Increased use of improved inputs is key to

enhancing yields and production at farm level and ultimately increasing individual and

household incomes.

5.4 Limited markets and market access

WHHs and women allocate most of their land primarily for food production while MHHs

and men allocate a significant part to producing cash crops or high value

commodities. Long distances to the village markets, low prices paid for food crops

especially at harvest periods, the high market dues demanded by the local

government councils are key constraints to market access for both men and women

farmers(Ibid). The drive to transform the agriculture sector from being subsistence to

commercialized agriculture will only be possible when the Government and other non-

state actors pay attention to these critical constraints to market availability and access.


5.5 Inadequate agriculture extension

Access to agriculture extension services is generally low among all household types

more significantly among WHHs. Agricultural production and productivity cannot

increase without a substantial increase in access to extension services by all household

categories. For example in the FY 2010/11, NAADS was expected to extend direct

support to 100 farmers per parish, this is a limited number given that the majority of the

rural populations are involved in agriculture.

5.6 Lack of gender analysis to inform the policy formulation, planning and

budgeting processes in the agriculture sector

Various reviews of agriculture sector plans and budgets reveal that there is no

conscious effort by sector planners and policy analysts to carry out a gender analysis

before formulation of policies, strategic plans and programmes and associated

budgets. Lack of gender analysis limits gender responsiveness in setting priorities and

budget allocations in the sector. For example, the 2010/11 NBFP reflected a gender

bias in the selection of crops to benefit from funding under the NAADS programme. The

selected crops included rice, maize, wheat, tea, coffee cocoa, and some implements

like hoes and spray pumps to address food security and reduce poverty. These priority

investment crops require large scales of land and financial capital, are labour intensive

and purely male dominated. Therefore majority of women (80% doing agriculture did

not benefit from these and yet women have a central role to play in household food

security.


6.0 POLICY RECOMMENDATIONS

The Government should ensure that ender responsive planning, budgeting and

monitoring should be core to all projects. Gender and equity budgeting should

go beyond seeking involvement of women and other marginalized groups to

promoting equitable access and use of agricultural services and monitoring

progress made thereafter. Clear gender mainstreaming strategies should form

part and parcel of the project implementation plan.

The MAAIF should avail extension services to all categories of gender and the

government should invest more in research to develop more gender friendly and

appropriate technologies.

The government should step up to at least 10% of the national budgetary

resources to the agricultural sector needs to expand delivery of agricultural

services in Uganda. This could include deepening of delivery of extension and

research services to ensure that farmers access and use improved inputs and

technologies to bridge the production and productivity gap at farm level.

Sufficient counterpart funding should be provided in adequate and a timely

manner for marching with the donor funds.

The MAAIF needs to design and implement a gender mainstreaming strategy

cutting across the agricultural production value chains. The strategy would also

ensure gender responsiveness of all agriculture sector plans, strategies, budgets,

programs and projects at both central and local government levels. In addition

MAAIF institutions that do not have gender mainstreaming action plans like CDO,

UCDA, and NAADS must develop them in line with the proposed strategy.

There are significant gender gaps with respect to women’s ownership of assets

especially land and its control and decision making regarding its use. The

National Land Policy which obligates the Government to provide for joint or

spousal co-ownership of family land and home should be passed by Parliament

and implemented. In addition, the Marriage and Divorce bill which proposes to

allow married persons and cohabitants to make arrangements as to how

property will be owned during and after relationships must be considered and

passed by Parliament.

The MAAIF should support women’s extension, training and information needs

by adapting training to women’s capacity and priorities, using innovative

methods of participatory (or peer) learning and increasing the use of women

extension workers.

The government should increase women’s access to financial services by

focusing on the suitability of products from a gender perspective, and linking to

financial institutions that have the capacity to design and provide ethical

products better suited to women’s needs.


It is recommended that MAAIF and its institutions should go beyond identifying

gender related activities in their strategic plans and policy statements to

allocating specific budgets to these activities. This process should be informed by

a gender analysis of the agriculture sector to inform the budget priorities.

The MAAIF should consider providing free or subsidised farm inputs to poor

households, particularly the WHHs that have low incomes and hence cannot

afford to purchase them. In this regard, individual farmers and farm households

should be encouraged to form cooperatives/ groups that purchase inputs in bulk

which lowers the cost of operations.

The government of Uganda should make gender everybody’s responsibility

through awareness-creation for stakeholders at all levels to address the

prevalent gender stereotypes and strengthen gender capacities of policy

makers, planners and implementers.

The Government should focus on encouraging donor funded projects that are

larger and impactful with adequate reach geographically and in terms of

number of beneficiaries targeted and quantity of inputs and technologies

provided. The way donor funded projects in the agricultural sector are

packaged should be reviewed to enhance reach, impact and sustainability.

Rather than soliciting for small discrete projects that have limited impact,

Improving collaboration between MAAIF and Local Governments. Since more

resources will continue to shift from central to local governments, mainly to

NAADS, it is vital for MAAIF to improve collaboration with the local governments

to ensure effective implementation of agricultural programmes.


7.0 REFERENCES

1. Action AID, Civil Society Budget advocacy Working Group, Fowode, (2012)

Agriculture Financing and Sector Performance in Uganda. A Case Study of

Donor funded Projects.

2. Budget framework Paper 2010/2011

3. Government of Uganda,(2012)National biotechnology and bio-safety bill

4. MFPED, 2002. Deepening the Understanding of Poverty. Second Participatory

Poverty Assessment Report. Uganda Participatory Poverty Assessment Process,

Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development, Kampala.

5. MFPED, 2008. Gender Disaggregated Data for Agricultural Sector. National

Service Delivery Survey Data 2004.

6. National Planning Authority, 2010, “National Development Plan 2010/11- 2014/15

7. NRM Election Manifesto 2006

8. NRM Election Manifesto 2010

9. Ovonji-Odida, I. Muhereza, F.E. Eturu, L. Willy, L.A, 2000. Land, Gender and

Poverty Eradication: Is there a case for Spousal Co-ownership of Primary

Household Property? Land Act Implementation Project, Kampala, Uganda.

10. UBOS, 2006. Uganda National Household Survey 2005/06. Socio-economic

Module. Uganda Bureau of Statistics, Kampala. December 2006.

11. UBOS, 2007. Uganda National Household Survey 2005/2006. Agricultural Module.

Uganda Bureau of Statistics.

12. World Bank, 2007. Uganda Moving Beyond Recovery. Investment and Behaviour

Change for Growth. Country Economic Memorandum. Volume II. Kampala.

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