Background
Agriculture is at the centre of livelihoods, revenues, food and nutritional security, as well as trade and regional integration in Uganda. It accounts for about 22% of GDP, 34% of export earnings in 2018/2019, and employed approximately 70% of Uganda’s working population. Infact, with vast arable land and its unique position, Uganda has the potential to take up leadership as the breadbasket of the region. Despite the great potential, the sector is characterised by poor competitiveness, as well as several constraints that limit inclusive participation in regional trade, limiting the great economic benefits that it is supposed to achieve.
The key question is how Uganda can consolidate its comparative advantage as a regional agricultural powerhouse and diversify its export base, through addressing issues of productivity(in terms of capacity, standards and quality), cost of doing business or trading, eliminate trade barriers and strengthening the private sector to build its competitiveness in the EAC, COMESA and continental trade. In this regard, the Uganda Agribusiness Alliance supported by the Government of Uganda, in conjunction with Uganda Development Forum, the National Planning Authority (NPA), the Feed the Future East Africa Market Systems (EAMS), Trade in Agriculture Safely and Efficiently (TRASE), and USAID Policy LINK will be convening national dialogue on the 14th of October under the theme, “ Exploring Uganda’s Competitiveness in Regional Agriculture Trade” to stir dialogue, learning and concerted approaches to drive change amongst key public and private sector stakeholders
The USAID Policy LINK project, as part of its “Strengthening Competitiveness in Regional Agricultural Trade” (SCRAT) activity, carried out a competitiveness analysis focusing on evidence and learning, to identify critical elements for agricultural trade competitiveness and propose solutions or alternative approaches to solve key challenges in regional trade. The countries of focus for the Study included Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, South Sudan, Uganda, and Zambia. Similarly, Feed the Future East Africa Market Systems (EAMS) program has carried out studies on market systems and value chain analysis, identifying key constraints and possible solutions along key commodities in the region. Trade in Agriculture Safely and Efficiently (TRASE) also carried out policy and institutional analysis assessing the various levels, gaps and opportunities related to sanitary and phytosanitary standards in the region. The findings of these collective studies the above dialogue plus a series of national dialogues in select countries in the region, and that will culminate in a regional policy dialogue that will provide a platform for further regional discourse and joint solutions to increase intra-regional agricultural trade and competitiveness.
Objectives
The purpose of the Dialogue is to provide an opportunity for key stakeholders to reflect on and prioritize critical agricultural trade competitiveness issues affecting the country. The Dialogue will also enable stakeholders to then commit to strategic actions for improving trade competitiveness, informed by evidence from recent studies (from the convening partners) and taking national economic priorities into consideration.
The country dialogue will ensure that key study findings and recommendations are validated, and issues are contextualized as well as aligned with Uganda’s specific country dynamics, uniqueness, and agricultural strategies. This is especially with regards to Uganda’s preparedness to actively participate competitively in increased intra-regional trade. Specifically, the meeting will provide an opportunity for key national stakeholders to:
Reflect on the implications of the findings and what this means for agricultural trade, investment, programming and action in Uganda
Build consensus around critical issues that require action and what needs to be done to trigger systems level change in Uganda to improve the country’s trade competitiveness and realize its national agenda.
Build consensus around priority value chains (that have the potential to drive competitiveness) and to prioritize country level strategic intervention, approaches, joint actions, and partnerships to address systemic issues in the short term, medium term, and long term.
- Agree on specific tangible actions to move forward with (to inform programs and investment) based on evidence generated through the analyses
- Explore strategies for COVID resilience, response, and recovery to improve trade competitiveness.Initiate a platform for future broader stakeholder collaboration, dialogue and action to address trade challenges affecting Uganda informed by evidence.
- Arrange for the development of an action plan and advocacy agenda, to guide implementations or follow up on the specific action areas – after the platform has been established. Agree on a pathway for developing the action plan to follow up on actions identified during the national dialogue
Continuous Engagement
The overall approach to facilitating the virtual meetings will be to use open, interactive and participatory methodology.
At the initial dialogue, a tentative roadmap will be agreed upon by all stakeholders for continuous engagement that will include:
Consolidation of key actions that are currently being undertaken, actions that need to be taken and highlighting the gaps that remain
Agreement on the collaborative approach for addressing key actions and gaps.
Continued planning, review, and taking stock of the agreed actions to monitor and strengthen implementation.
Agreement on the mutual accountability framework that will guide the implementation process.
The overall approach to facilitating the virtual meetings will be to use open, interactive and participatory methodology to reference the evidence from the study and options presented, to draw on the participants’ knowledge towards in/validating the findings and proposing key recommendations or actions to address the challenges.
Expected Outcomes
Consolidation of critical factors that drive agricultural trade competitiveness in Uganda.
Prioritization of country level interventions and identification of specific partners that can drive the implementation of specific solutions and approaches that drive systemic changes in support of increased regional trade and agriculture competitiveness. This can be at a preliminary level, informing the development of Action Plans/ follow up actions.
Create ongoing agricultural trade fora/platform for private sector actors to engage with policy makers for advocacy, partnerships and concerted efforts on policy and other measures to advance competitive trade. This will also include actions towards the development of an advocacy plan, and nations strategies to address the key issues from this meeting.
Participants
The event will bring together decision-makers, leaders, practitioners and experts from the public, private and development sectors in Uganda and beyond . These include; key identified stakeholders as per the list below:
Key Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies
Development Partners supporting agriculture and trade
Country and regional business, as well as sector associations (Agriculture and Trade)
Agribusiness apex organisations and select private sector actors across key value chains
Public and private trade promotion and trade facilitation agencies/ institutions, financial services, technical services and ancillary services providers
Research institutions/think tanks
Agenda
8:30 – 9:00 a.m. | Login
9:00 – 9:15 a.m. | Welcome and Opening Remarks
Dr Joseph Muvawala, Chairperson, National Planning Authority or
Hon. Victoria Sekitoleko, Chairperson, Uganda Agribusiness Alliance (UAA)
9:15 – 9:45 a.m. | Reflections on Uganda’s Agricultural Trade Competitiveness Presentation by;
Ms. Racheal Kemigisha, Director Regional Policy & Regulatory Environment, Feed the Future East Africa Market Systems Program (E.A Market Systems Program).
The presentation will offer an insight into the overall landscape of Uganda’s competitiveness in agricultural trade, providing evidence and setting the tone for the Public-Private Sector Dialogue
9:45 – 11:45 a.m. | Public-Private Sector Dialogue: Challenges and Opportunities for Uganda’s Regional Trade Competitiveness
Moderator: Mr. Edward Katende, CEO, Uganda Agribusiness Alliance and Uganda Development Forum
Panellists:
· Mr Moses Kaggwa, Director Economic Affairs, Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development
· Mr Emmanuel Mutahunga, Commissioner External Trade, Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives
· Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries
· Amb. Philip Idro, Upland Rice Millers and Member EAGC
· Mr. Robert Mwanje, Vice Chairman, the Grain Council of Uganda
This session will involve a public-private sector dialogue, including an interactive session with the online audience, to arrive at quick win actions that need to be implemented by all respective stakeholders with regards to the prioritised challenges.
11:45 – 11:55 a.m. | Way forward
Facilitator: Dr. Asumani Guloba, Director Development Planning, National Planning Authority
11:55 – 12:00 noon | Concluding Remarks and Official Close of the Dialogue
Important Contacts
Queries should be addressed to: Edward Katende on Email: info@ugandaagribusinessalliance.com or to Steve Hodges on email: steve.hodges@ugandaagribusinessalliance.com
About the Convening Partners
Uganda Agribusiness Alliance (UAA)
Uganda Agribusiness Alliance (UAA) was established in 2014, as a not-for-profit multi-stakeholder partnership and members-based organisation, to catalyse sustainable investment and growth in the Ugandan agricultural and agri-allied industry. UAA works with agriculture stakeholders to identify and coordinate solutions to address systemic bottlenecks which affect agribusiness development across the country. Where action on such solutions cannot be coordinated, UAA will step in to fill the gap. The Alliance helps Ugandan agribusinesses of all sizes to thrive. It achieves this by, among others, influencing policy-making, inform business decisions, support entrepreneurial activity, share best practices, facilitate collaboration and engage stakeholders beyond commercial objectives.
Feed the Future East Africa Market Systems (EAMS)
Feed the Future East Africa Market Systems is a five-year program designed to strengthen regional resilience in East Africa by increasing cross-border trade in select value chains and enhancing regional integration to overcome barriers to trade. The program promotes increased agricultural production, trade, improved policies, finance and investment, and resilience to shocks and stresses in East Africa by addressing agricultural issues that can only be solved regionally. The E.A. Market Systems program is organized under four complementary objectives: 1) Strengthening cross-border agricultural market systems, 2) Accessing and scaling technologies, 3) Strengthening regional resilience, and 4) Strengthening the regional agriculture policy and regulatory environment. The program’s focus countries are Burundi, Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia.
East Africa Market Systems Activity fact sheet
Venture 37- Trade in Agriculture Safely and Efficiently (TRASE)
TRASE was set up in 2019 with the aim of improving regional and international agricultural trade in East African Communities through strengthening the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) institutional framework. SPS are measures to protect humans, animals, and plants from diseases, pests, or contaminants.
Policy LINK
Policy LINK is a global Feed the Future program to advance leadership and collaboration for better policy systems. Policy LINK supports individuals and organizations to work better together by strengthening leadership, collaboration, and learning. We do this by centering the people driving policy change, the platforms that bring them together, and the participatory learning that they generate.