Abstract:
Over the years, the Ugandan government had been promoting agricultural commercialization to become a middle-income economy by 2020. In 2012, the president remarked that if all the 40 million acres of arable land were put to full potential, everyone would be richer. Sugarcane commercialization, in the form of contract farming, has been praised as one of the preferred instruments to promote it, leading to the emergence of large and medium sugar corporations in Uganda’s countryside. The study aims to provide insights into the commercialization process of smallholder agriculture through sugarcane contract farming (CF) and the implications on land rights, labor relations, and rural livelihoods, taking Uganda’s Bunyoro sub-region as a case. The effect of commercial agriculture in the face of global change is critical to support strategies that ensure food security and alleviate poverty among households. The author assessed the effects of commercial sugarcane cultivation to household-level food security among smallholder farmers in Masindi District, Bunyoro sub-region, Western Uganda. Land use changes are motivated by quick commercial gains rather than sustained food production; a situation that influences food security. Majority of households cultivate few crop varieties, lack adequate and nutritious foods, and have inadequate income to purchase food to meet their needs. Inadequacy of food within some commercial sugarcane-cultivating households suggests that generating income does not necessarily increase food security. To cope with food insecurity, households offer labour in exchange for food, borrow food, ration food, and at times steal. This is exacerbated by increasing food crop failures, large family sizes, trade in food items, and declining availability of food and land for food production. Commercial sugarcane cultivation is the main driver of food insecurity but given its perceived economic benefits, future sugarcane plantations expansion in the region is probably inevitable. Therefore, future policy should be designed to provide triple-win strategies (i.e., food security, poverty alleviation, and climate change adaptation) that provide sustainable livelihoods.
The impacts of expansion of sugarcane production on the environment and society depend on the global political economy of sugar, local context, quality of scheme, nature of the production system and farm management. Despite threats from climate change and forthcoming changes in the trade relationship with the European Union, agricultural development policies are driving national and international interest and investment in sugarcane in SSA, with expansion likely to play an important role in sustainable development in the region. Our findings will help guide researchers and policy makers with new insights in understanding the situated environmental and social impacts associated with alternative sugar economy models, production technologies and qualities of management. |
