Agriculture
Agriculture is the major source of livelihood for the people of Uganda. It provides employment to over 80% of Ugandans and therefore is the backbone of the Country. However, 96% of the population is engaged in rural subsistence farming . Much as Agriculture is the lifeline of Ugandans and more so for people of West Niler, its production and productivity levels have remained low in most parts of West Nile. For instance, it was reported that cassava yield in tones per hectare in 1990 was 9.0, but this reduced to 6.68 between 1994 and 1996 while beans yield reduced from 0.80 tones per hectare (1990) to 0.65 tones per hectare (1994-1996) . Yet these are the main food crops in West Nile and have also become major sources of income in the region.
The main causes of low agricultural productivity in West Nile include: poor soils (declining soil fertility); pests and diseases (e.g. cassava mosaic); land fragmentation; poor farming methods; poor planting materials; inadequate extension services; unreliable weather conditions; preference for tobacco production especially in Arua and Koboko Districts. Other causes include unequal access and control over productive resources (land), HIV/AIDS pandemic and inaccessibility to financial services.
The low agricultural productivity in the region has resulted to food insecurity in West Nile. It is a common experience that most families in West Nile barely store enough food for consumption throughout the year. The months of February to June are normally the months of food scarcity when families barely have 2 meals a day. This inability of households to meet their basic food requirements at all times is the most visible sign of poverty in the region. No wonder, the proportion of Ugandans living in absolute poverty shot up to 38% from 35% between 2000 and 2003 , while poverty level in Northern Uganda remains at 63%. Food insecurity results in the loss of human potential to engage in productive activity thus reinforcing poverty in the region. Similarly, food inavailability and utilization by the HIV/AIDS affected and infected population of West Nile simply fan fire leading to higher mortality rates, thus endless poverty.
The low level of food production and productivity also means that, about 80% of the 1,918,140 people who live in the West Nile region have no surplus food to sell so as to raise money for other basic requirements like medical care, clothing and education. This has also resulted into most people living in absolute poverty. Besides, West Nile does not have wide range Income sources due to the fact that 95% of the population does not have access to electric power for agro-processing and other small-scale industries.
Women who form the majority of the agricultural labour input benefit just less than 20% and have less or no control over productive resources like land and proceeds from the sale of their products. Men and the oppressive cultural systems exploit them. Despite the affirmative action put in place by the Constitution of 1995, women’s rights to property, quality life and education are denied with impunity. The HIV/AIDS related problems are more pressing on the women than any body else in the society and yet they are denied access and control over the property of their late husbands or sons. Due to lack of collateral and social connections, women cannot also easily have access to financial services for undertaking productive activities making them more vulnerable in the society. This therefore, provides an opportunity for CEFORD to intervene in capacity building programmes that empower women to demand for their rights and subsequently be heard.
The Government of Uganda, through Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA) aims at eradicating poverty in the Country by transforming subsistence Agriculture to Commercial Agriculture. PMA has 7 priority areas namely: Agricultural Research and Technology development, National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), Agricultural Education, Improving Access to Rural Finance, Agro processing and Marketing, Sustainable Natural Resource Utilization and Management and Physical Infrastructure. Much as PMA is a good poverty eradication strategy, most of its operations are on pilot basis confined in just a few districts and even fewer sub counties within those districts leaving out the most disadvantaged farmers in the sea of poverty. This is therefore a gap that CEFORD can ably fill.