Action Aid, an International NGO operating in Uganda has appealed to the Uganda government to make better policies to help Uganda rural women involved in agriculture get out of poverty.
Uganda farmers
Dr. Paul Ojuman, Action Aid policy manager says Uganda agricultural policies mainly focus on commercial agriculture which doesn’t favour the rural poor.
Ojuman says women miss out from the NAADS projects because they can’t influence decision making since they are group oriented leading to reduction in agricultural output.
According to the recent report by Action Aid, Uganda’s agricultural sector output has declined from 7.9 percent in 2002 to 2.2 percent in 2008 leading to increased poverty.
Fred Kawooya, Action Aid Food Rights Coordinator says the situation has been worsened by governments assistance inform of loans which scare away rural women because they have no property that serve as securities.
Agriculture remains the backbone of Uganda’s economy accounting for 25 percent of the country’s GDP, employing about 75 percent of the population and providing livelihoods to over 80 percent of the rural poor.