Changing Trends in Urban Agriculture in Kampala
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Date
2010
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Sustainable Tree Crops Program, International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA)
Abstract
Kampala in the 21st century is the showcase of Uganda’s economic, political and
social transformation following the economic decay and civil war of the 1970s and
1980s. A capital city that reflects the country’s diversity, it is also the site of the
historic Buganda Kingdom and its traditions, including agriculture. This and other
socio-economic factors have contributed to agriculture being a visible part of the
city’s life.
With its tropical climate and ample rainfall Kampala is fertile, like the rest
of Uganda, 75 percent of the country being suitable for agriculture, which forms
42 percent of the national economy. The agriculture sector accounts for 90 percent
of Uganda’s exports, 80 percent of employment and most of the raw materials that
go to the mainly agro-based industrial sector, much of which is located in Kampala.
About 64 percent of Uganda’s agricultural gross domestic product (GDP) is in the
form of food crops, mainly produced by around three million farm households, of
which 80 percent have less than 4 ha of land and for whom the hand-hoe is the
predominant technology (MFPED 2002, 2003).
In the early 1990s urban agriculture (UA) was widespread both within the
built-up areas of Kampala City and in peri-urban areas. A 1993 survey of three
neighbourhoods found that 35 percent of households engaged in agriculture, mainly
crop cultivation. In 1992, 56 percent of land within municipal boundaries was used
for agriculture, while an estimated 70 percent of poultry products consumed in
Kampala were produced in the city (Maxwell 1995b).
Description
Keywords
Trends, Urban Agriculture, Kampala
Citation
David, S., Lee-Smith, D., Kyaligonza, J., Mangeni, W., Kimeze, S., Aliguma, L., ... & Nasinyama, G. W. (2010). Changing trends in urban agriculture in Kampala. African urban harvest: Agriculture in the cities of Cameroon, Kenya and Uganda, 97-122.