In terms of the economy, the agricultural sector falls under the primary sector (raw materials), which is the main source of agricultural raw materials and supports activities associated with crop, livestock, fishing and forestry sub-sectors. Agriculture constitutes about 44% of the share of the total area of Uganda, and it contributed about 25% to the total GDP in the FY 2016/17, 22.8% of the GDP in 2017/18 and reduced to 21.9% in 2018/19 (UBOS, 2019). It is also the major employer of over 66% of the population, 80% of the women and the 63% of the youths. Despite contributing to the GDP and population wellbeing, the sector has had a major impact on the environment in terms of land degradation, deforestation as well as biodiversity loss.
Agricultural land refers to the share (the proportion) of land area that is arable including land under permanent or perennial crops and permanent pasture. Arable land is generally referred to as land that is cultivable. According to the World Bank (2020), the total arable land area is about 6,900,000 hectares(ha). Hence, the available arable land per person as of the year 2020, stood at 0.15085 hectares. Due to increasing population size, trends in per hectare arable land for Uganda has been steadily decreasing over a period of 55 years. The highest per capita arable land figure was registered in the year 1964 – 0.490 ha (1.2 acres) per person. The average size of arable land holding per household engaged in farming increased from 1.10ha per household in 2008 to about 1.35 ha a per household by 2019 and the crop sub-sector constituted about 15.4% (cash crops, 2.4% and food crops, 13%) of the GDP. This sector
has, however, greatly contributed to vegetation change and land degradation through land conversion from natural vegetation e.g. forest and wetland to agricultural fields and through poor land management practices. The major threats to wetlands are conversion to small scale agriculture, establishment of housing settlements in urban areas, illegal industrial developments and public infrastructural developments. The livestock sector contributes between 1% and 1.5% to Uganda’s export trade value and Uganda is a net exporter of livestock products and live animals. Livestock exports are dominated by dairy products and eggs (USD 80 million), with meat and meat products (USD 6.2 million) playing a minor role.
Greening Eco Diversity is committed to ensuring agricultural modernisation. The organisation’s activities under the agricultural sector are not limited to;
Data collection, analysis and dissemination
Data collection, analysis and dissemination of data on agricultural projects through use of various tools like interview guides,
questionnaires, focus group discussions, observation checklists and methods like interviewing, questionnaire surveys, documentary
reviews among others and analysing using both qualitative and quantitative methods and findings disseminating them to relevant authorities.
Education
Sensitization of the communities on the importance of agricultural
modernization such as commercial farming, poultry breeding, irrigation schemes capital intensive technology in order to help them increase on their output hence income enhancement
Livelihoods support
Through assisting in undertaking programmes for employment generation, growth and diversification of agriculture and other food-based industries to increase food production and export of food products both in primary and processed including the field of
horticulture, animal husbandry, fisheries poultry and other food related areas.
Food security
Assist in creating programmes for skilled employment through
biological software industries such as manufacture of bio-fertilizer
and bio-pesticides and establishment of bio-mass refineries and agricultural promotion and bio-mass related activities for food
security and incremental incomes.
Agricultural modernization
Help communities advance modern farming methods through enabling them shift from subsistence to commercial, help them
access modern farming equipment like tractors, ploughing machines, harvesters and agricultural inputs such as fertilizers,
seeds etc.
