Dr. Sarah Ssewanyana: Agricultural Finance Is a Policy Orphan

The Executive Director of Economic Policy Research Centre, Dr. Sarah Ssewanyana has decried the lack of funding in the Agricultural Sector, urging the government to walk the talk. “The ministry of Agriculture Industry & Fisheries is underfunded,receives only 3 percent of the national budget,” she noted. 

She also pointed out that although the sector has been a major beneficiary of tax exemptions in the past 15 years, the sector has under performed in the past five years. She pointed out that the sector had under performed in both industry and services. 

“Agriculture Finance has been termed as policy orphan given  the  rarity of policy  frameworks dedicated to agriculture finance,” Dr. Ssewanyana further explained. On the Agricultural finance year book, she said that it highlighted challenges in the commodity value chain. She warned that limited agriculture financing has wider economic implications on Uganda.


In her concluding remarks, she observed a need for commercial banks products to be realigned to match the needs of Uganda farmers and agriculture as a whole. The Agricultural Finance Yearbook 2015 covers fish farming, harvest handling & marketing as well as highlighting the risks the farmers in Uganda face. 

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