Trade Minister Speaks at the NAADS Planning Meeting
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| Hon. Omwony Ojok |
Speech by the HON. Minister of Tourism Trade and Industry at the NAADS GOU-Donor Planning Meeting, 17-18 NOVEMBER 2005
I feel honoured to officiate at the Fifth Annual NAADS Government of Uganda-Donor Planning meeting. On behalf of the Government of Uganda and on my own behalf, I warmly welcome you Stakeholders to this important meeting in the implementation of the NAADS programme.
Government formulated the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP), which was revised in 2004, as the overall policy framework to guide public investment in key areas designed to cause eradication of poverty in our country. During the last five years, Government has operationalised the Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA), and some of its components, that were designed to cause the desired changes in agricultural development and have a positive impact on poverty. The National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) programme constitutes one of these components aimed at improving farmers’ access to information, knowledge and technologies.
The NAADS programme that was initiated in 2001 is now in its fifth year of implementation, covering 49 districts and 344 sub-counties. Early this year, a Mid-Term Evaluation of the NAADS Programme was undertaken, culminating in the mid-term review in May/June 2005. During this process the performance of the programme was assessed. Key findings included:
- NAADS is increasing the availability of agricultural advisory services more efficiently than previous extension systems attesting to its greater efficiency and effectiveness in reaching farmers and assisting them to overcome barriers to improved technology access and adoption;
- A high degree of farmer participation and decision making leading to a greater demand for advisory services;
- Improvements in farm level yields and household incomes;
- High return to investment;
The review gave the strong indication that NAADS provides farmers with a real opportunity to increase agricultural productivity and farm incomes in the short to medium term as long as provision of support and resources is sustained. To Government, these were indeed welcome findings.
In spite of the progress being registered in the NAADS implementation, agricultural development still poses the biggest challenge to Government. Under the PMA process, we are still grappling with effective farmer participation in, and access to markets and; access to capital for investment in production among others. About 85% of the 3.8 million households in this country are rural-based and depend on agriculture for their sustenance. As we continue to strive to bring them into the mainstream market economy, adjustments will be needed within the PMA process and other policy initiatives, to achieve our own national as well as the Millennium Development Goals.
Government is cognizant of the fact that some of the PMA components and investment areas are gradually being operationalised. For instance, while productivity increases are beginning to be realised as a result of increased farmer access to technologies and advice under NAADS, effective integration of production to agro-processing and organized marketing of agricultural products remains a challenge. A number of actions are being put in place to ensure that the PMA’s marketing and agro-processing strategy (MAPS) is translated into desired activities as soon as possible. In the meantime, the NAADS programme must intensify farmer institutional development to lead to the formation of sustainable market-led production and marketing associations that will effectively establish linkages to agro-processing and marketing outlets inside and out of the country within the MAPS.
Government is also aware that while the NAADS programme is increasing farmer awareness and capacity in the use and management of improved technologies for improved production, ensuring farmer uptake and sustained use of these technologies has remained a major challenge. Implementation of the Micro finance component of the PMA that was designed to ease farmer access to investment capital has not resulted in the development of suitable credit products for investment in agricultural production. Consequently, farmers’ newly acquired knowledge is not being translated into increased farmer investment to acquire improved technologies, for increased productivity, profitability and household incomes. However, with the operationalisation of the Rural Development Strategy (RDS), these above challenges will be partially eased.
Agriculture remains by far, the leading employer and driver of our nation’s economic development. For this reason, Government is continuing to make deliberate and concerted efforts to remove the constraints to agricultural development and commercialisation. As we deliberate at this fifth annual GoU-Donor Mid-term Planning meeting, I would like to reflect on two of these initiatives that the NAADS programme is playing a central role in their operationalisation and implementation:
- Zoning of agricultural production strategy aimed at consolidating production in areas of comparative and competitive advantage to cause integration of production, agro-processing and marketing, and exploit improved market access and marketing efficiencies;
- The Rural Development Strategy aimed to increase the impact of Government’s agricultural productivity programmes. Under this strategy, Government is making resources available to the NAADS programme for integrated support to developed farmer groups to enhance their capacity to scale-up, and increase adoption of improved agricultural technologies. In addition, by providing support for the development of these farmer groups into higher-level producer associations, the much needed farmer organization for access to markets will be achieved.
These two Government’s initiatives, both aimed at ensuring achievement of the PMA’s objectives, demand that my Ministry, the Ministry of Tourism, Trade and Industry (MTTI) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) work more closely than ever before. While productivity increases are beginning to be realised as a result of increased farmer access to technologies and advisory services under NAADS, effective integration of production to agro-processing and organised marketing of agricultural products remain a challenge.
The PMA’s Marketing and Agro-Processing Strategy (MAPS) based in my Ministry but with different lead roles by the different actors, including NAADS for farmer organisation and dissemination of agricultural market information, has been finalised. Both the zoning of agricultural production and the rural development strategies have a bearing in the implementation of the MAPS. In this context, and the wider implications for integration of production, agro-processing and marketing, the NAADS programme must continue to be supported to receive the necessary resources, and implement the required activities.
Other dimensions of integrating production, agro-processing and marketing include agricultural product standards; generation of relevant agricultural market information; harmonisation of tariffs; as well as development and exploitation of not only domestic but regional and international markets. My Ministry will work closely with MAAIF under both the zoning of agricultural production strategy and MAPS to facilitate the translation of the intermediate outcomes of the NAADS programme into concrete impacts that will cause the desired changes in our country’s agricultural development.
The integration of production, agro-processing and marketing cannot be attained at the national level alone. The recently concluded restructuring of local governments, and the creation of an expanded production and marketing department is intended to ensure that the issue of marketing of agricultural products is addressed at all levels of government. In a number of districts where NAADS is operational, the full integration of the production and marketing functions under one department has not been fully realised. This must happen to allow commercial officers to play a clear role in enterprise selection, development and promotion under the NAADS programme.
Government has reviewed and revised both the PEAP and the PMA, the policy framework under which the NAADS is implemented. The onus is upon the relevant ministries including MTTI and MAAIF to ensure that the NAADS programme can be implemented in such a way that poor farmers increase their farm productivity and realise increased household incomes. In doing this they can be able to move out of poverty into more productive and profitable agriculture as spelt out in the PEAP and PMA goals.
On behalf of the Government of Uganda, I wish to recognise the support that all the development partners have provided to the PEAP, the PMA process in general and NAADS in particular. It is now my privilege and honour to declare this fifth annual GoU-Donor Mid-year Planning meeting.
FOR GOD AND MY COUNTRY
