"Budgeting for Future Generations" was the theme for the 2016/17 National Budget Debate. It centred around three critical interventions; Debt Sustainability, Agriculture and Human Development.  Dr. Sarah Ssewanyana, the Executive Director of Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) and interim head of Uganda Economics Association (UEA) gave the opening remark.  Dr. Sarah Ssewanyana:  Quite often we forget the young ones as we budget.  Our population structure is wide at the bottom We have 55% of the population which is below 18. Gov’t is committed to working smarter for greater impact in our economy The budget highlights agriculture, tourism and human development Proposed interventions are mainly around tertiary education (trying to support the new universities). Is this what we really require as a country?   Proposed financing of the 2016/17 finance budget. Is it sustainable? How about our children and future generations.  Dr. Joseph Mu...

On 13 th of March, a number of stakeholders came together for a validation workshop. The workshop was regulatory impact assessment for the National Fertilizer policy for Uganda. As she opened the workshop, Dr. Sarah Ssewanyana, the executive director of EPRC revealed that there was need to increase fertilizer usage by small holder farmers in Uganda. Her comments were further enhanced by a Ministry official who said that “70% of the fertilizer imported into Uganda is used by large scale farms especially tea and sugarcane plantations.” It was Drake Rukundo’s presentation that called for an urgent need to pass and implement the fertilizer policy. In his submission, it was noted that out of the required 50kg/Ha/Annum, Uganda was adding only 1kg/Ha?Annum making the country one of the least in fertilizer use in the whole world. Rwanda farmers use 29kg/Ha/annum, Kenya 35kg/Ha/annum while South Africans were at 60kg/Ha/annum. To Rukundo, if government does nothing, there was a risk o...

To answer this question, a Qualitative, participatory, research was undertaken by Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) by engaging different rice value chain stakeholders. Research was conducted through two case studies on domestic private sector investment: Equator Seeds Ltd., a domestic seed company investing in new rice seeds in Northern Uganda Centenary Bank, a commercial bank providing financial services for rice value chain actors in Eastern Uganda The study is timely because of the following reasons: The meeting comes after launch of Sustainable Development Goals and Paris Agreement. The two seek to leave no one behind in climate change risk management. 64 percent of global swamps have been depleted. In Uganda, particularly Kampala, the cost of treating water has gone up by five percent. This constrains the already poor budget.  Climate change is real and Uganda has had its real share as seen in recent mountain slides, floods and droughts. Studies point o...

A new collaborative study conducted by the Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) and the International Institute of Sustainable Development (IISD) has revealed that risks and uncertainty from climate change impacts the entire rice value chain. The study was code-named; ‘Private sector investment in a changing climate: Resilient rice value chain development (PSI-Climate). The study focused on rice value chains since rice is one of the priority crops for the Government of Uganda in improving food security and household income. The research was conducted through two case studies on domestic private sector investment. This involved Equator Seeds Ltd, a domestic seed company investing in new rice seeds in Northern Uganda and Centenary Bank, a commercial bank providing financial services for rice value chain actors in Eastern Uganda. Among the impacts of climate change included the increased drought frequency and intensity, rising temperatures, and change in seasonal rainfall distribution. ...

aBi Trust, an agriculture investment fund in Uganda has revealed plans to step away from just offering grants to more sustainable services such as loans. These remarks were made by Josephine Mukumbya on the second day of the Uganda Agriculture Financing Conference. Among its future plans, the aBi Trust will progress to offering improved integration of services as it seeks to attain sustainability. There will also be a more structured approach to agribusiness knowledge with aBi trust planning a one-stop centre for agribusiness information. Above all, the Trust will broaden its prospective and include more middle income upcoming agripreneurs. Mukumbya also explained that as far as sustainability is concerned, the fund will promote socially responsible investing. "We are also keen on social responsibility investment in terms of environmental, audit, and gender among others,"she explained. aBi Trust has 63 partners in value chain development and 18 partners especially finan...

Deloitte and PearlCapital have revealed that Uganda will be the lucky recipient of a $30 million agribusiness investment fund in 2016. The fund code-named; "Small and Medium Agribusiness Development Fund" is targeting 20-30 SMEs in Uganda. Speaking about the fund, Tom an official from PearlCapital revealed that additional employment and improved access to markets for 26,000 will be the target impact metrics.  PearlCapital has invested in substantial seed companies among which is  KK fresh produce and Bee Natural Uganda. Their model is to invest risk-capital in the sector while working actively with the investees.  "Although we are an impact investing business, we measure our success depending on a number of metrics such as employment but we also consider the financial criteria. We structure our investment to give our invests the best chance of success but also ensure best ROI for our investors," PearlCapital clarified.  Quick Summary of the Fund...