Why have majority of farmers in Uganda remained in subsistence?

Abstract

Uganda strives to transform the agriculture sector from subsistence to commercial agriculture, in part, to increase household incomes. While a number of policy interventions have been designed to this effect, the sector has remained largely subsistence. In this briefing, we show that for small holder farmers in Uganda, food self-sufficiency goals override the need to earn income from the market for most households in the second season. Food sufficiency goals could be addressed by improving crop productivity and storage. Interventions could also target crop varieties that perform well during short rains to encourage smallholder farmers to actively engage in production throughout the year. For commercialization drive, infrastructural development remains crucial