Dorothy Nakaweesi
10 May 2005
Kampala — Food policy researchers have expressed shock at the continued low agricultural production, despite continued efforts and investments in food production over the last 40 years.
The findings are alarming given that agriculture is the primary source of livelihood for about 65 percent of Africans and represents 30-40 percent of the continent's gross domestic production and accounts for almost 60 percent of its export income.
The reduction is attributed to the fact that over 80 percent of the agricultural production is on smallholder farms, whose reliability and production has continued to decline.
Mr Mulinge Mukumbu, the Country Director of Land O Lakes said: "The future of the sector remains in the strength of integrating the smallholder farming as a business through adopting modern technologies, increasing production and uplifting the household incomes".
He was presenting a paper titled: Future of Smallholders Farming in East Africa during a conference of researchers from 12 countries under the Eastern and Central Africa Programme for Agricultural Policy Analysis organised by the International Food Policy Research Institute at the Imperial Resort Beach Entebbe May 2.
He said most smallholder farmers lack market information and the available technology they would apply on their farms to grow big.
He also said most smallholder farmers produce for consumption because market prices are unstable and not high enough to encourage them to produce for commercial purposes.
The researchers discussed several measures on how to turn smallholder farming into a viable business venture.
They said stable food markets should be created so that smallholder farmers plan ahead for their production.
There is also need for conducive regulatory policies, which should be implemented. Reliable information on what the market needs and prices should also be disseminated on time.
Other measures include access to knowledge and affordable appropriate technologies, good physical infrastructure including good roads, water for irrigation, power, telephone services for communication and storage facilities.
However, the researchers said to address the good policies all the actors have to take a collective responsibility and roles.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2005 The Monitor. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
