Uganda earns big from organic agriculture

Uganda has one of the fastest growing organic certified lands in Africa. The products grown organically and sourced from Uganda include cotton (lint, yarn and finished garments), coffee (Arabic and Robusta), sesame (simsim), dried fruit (pineapples, apple bananas, mangoes, jack-fruit), fresh fruits (pineapple, apple bananas, passion fruits, avocadoes, papaya (pawpaw), ginger), jack-fruit, vanilla, cocoa, fish, shea butter and shea nuts, bird eyed chillies, dried hibiscus, honey and bark cloth. These products are exported to Europe, USA, Asia and other parts of Africa among others. The numbers of organic exporters in Uganda has been growing and are fully certified or in conversion, from internationally accredited certifying bodies operating in Uganda.

Currently, Uganda has over 400,000 internationally certified organic farmers, the first and second largest certified farmers in Africa and world over respectively. The highest number is found in India. Uganda had the world’s 13th-largest land area under organic agriculture production and the most in Africa. By 2013, Uganda had around 350,000 hectares of land under organic farming covering more than 2 percent of agricultural land. There are 44 certified export companies. Member organizations are over 500 in Uganda and outside the country. The value of trade less organic turnover is currently over US$37 million per annum. The demand for organic products from Uganda is high about US$600 million.

Uganda uses among the world’s lowest amount of artificial fertilizers, at less than 2 percent (or 1kg/ha) of the already very low continent-wide average of 9kg/ha in Sub Saharan Africa. The widespread lack of fertilizer use has been harnessed as a real opportunity to pursue organic forms of agricultural production, a policy direction widely embraced by Uganda. According to International Federation of Agriculture Movement (IFOAM), the global market for organic foods and drinks is estimated to be around US$50 billion, and increases by 10- 20 per cent annually. This sub-sector provides a unique export opportunity for many developing countries, owing to the fact that 97 percent of the revenues are generated in the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OCED) countries, while 80 per cent of the producers are found in developing countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America. As a significant producer of organic products, Uganda benefits from an important source of export earnings and revenue for farmers. In terms of price premiums and income for farmers, the farm-gate prices of organic pineapple, ginger and vanilla are 300 percent, 185 percent, and 150 percent higher, respectively than conventional products.

Uganda has taken an apparent liability – limited access to chemical inputs – and turned this into a comparative advantage by growing its organic agriculture base, generating revenue and income for smallholder farmers. Through organic farming, Uganda not only gains economically, it also contributes to mitigating climate change, as Green House Gas (GHG) emissions per ha are estimated to be on average 64 per cent lower than emissions from conventional farms. Various studies have shown that organic fields sequester 3–8 tonnes more carbon per hectare than conventional agriculture.

Source: africaag.org