Advancing the Ugandan Economy: A Personal Account

15. Improving Africa's Agricultural Infrastructure

There are enormous opportunities for the world community to help Africa build its agricultural infrastructure.Africa needs to construct new roads and maintain existing ones. It needs new hydroelectric power plants, fertilizer plants, more and better agricultural extension services, and improved telecommunications and financial services. Fortunately, Africa’s capacity to pay for the development of this infrastructure is growing. Most African countries have huge endowments of natural resources (for example, petroleum), which can be exploited and sold in the global marketplace and the proceeds used to finance infrastructure development and improvements. In addition to the existence of these natural resource endowments, governance in the African countries has improved significantly since the emergence of the grassroots pro-democracy movements of the mid-1980s. In some cases improved governmental accountability has reduced corruption and made these countries more attractive for investment. Rural Transportation Infrastructure There must be a solution to the appalling state of rural roads and the fact that traveling in the rural areas of Africa is a nightmare. In 2008 the Uganda Road Fund was established, with the sole purpose of road maintenance. It is too early to judge its effectiveness, but the hope is that by ensuring that there are budgeted funds dedicated to road maintenance, the state of the nation’s roads will improve, thereby easing the transport of people and agricultural products 15 Improving Africa’s Agricultural Infrastructure 122 15-2589-3 CH 15:Cels 2262-5 3/20/14 8:39 PM Page 122 to markets. The Road Fund is budgeted annually and is subscribed from domestic as well as donor funds. However, a major threat to the availability of finances for the Road Fund is the potential for corruption in the fund’s management, which would discourage donors from continuing their support and lead to insufficient funds to maintain vital rural roads. By 2012 there was evidence of corruption in the management of donor funds that were intended for the rehabilitation of the infrastructure in the war-torn areas of Northern Uganda. Consequently, at least eight donor countries, including the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, and Norway, suspended aid to Uganda pending investigations into the allegations of corruption in the Office of the Prime Minister. Agricultural Inputs Management It has been clear for some time now that African farm yields per hectare are among the lowest in the world, pointing to the need for African farmers to use more and more better inputs such as fertilizer to increase productivity. Implementing effective systems for the production or importation, transportation, stocking, and distribution of fertilizers remains an important issue. Fortunately, there are growing opportunities for both the private sector and governments to engage in the production of fertilizers at a regional level. In East Africa the existence of substantial reserves of natural gas is now established , and large phosphate reserves are also present. The regional production of fertilizer has been discussed in a number of forums. I believe that private corporations wishing to participate in fertilizer production and distribution should receive active encouragement from African governments and international financial institutions. Regional cooperation in the production and distribution could go a long way toward reducing the high cost of fertilizer, which is partly due to high transportation costs from the coast to the interior. Without fertilizer it is difficult to see how African farmers can ever compete with the rest of the world. Coping with Climate Change The traditional dependence on rain-fed agriculture in most African countries is becoming untenable. Weather patterns are increasingly unpredictable and unreliable. The need for irrigation, even in areas that are traditionally not water stressed, is greater than ever before. Yet the implementation of both small- and large-scale irrigation systems, even where funding is available, has Improving Agricultural Infrastructure 123 15-2589-3 CH 15:Cels 2262-5 3/20/14 8:39 PM Page 123 proved to be a great challenge. Even where simple gravity-fed systems can deliver water to gardens nearby, severe challenges have arisen in their maintenance and management. The management of this kind of infrastructure is an area where, in my opinion, much technical assistance will be required for many years to come. Uganda needs long-term concessional loans for irrigation works. The government , too, must allocate money for long-term irrigation works as well as recurrent funds for technical assistance in the management and maintenance of existing irrigation projects. Storage and Marketing Infrastructure Although...