"I write what I like," like Steve Biko
The first question being, in whose interests does the Office of the Minister of MAAIF work How isn’t it valid for one not to surmise that government’s insistence to label Ugandan smallholder farmers in derogatory terms, such as peasants, when they are not; and subsistence farmers, when they are not; is intended after all. It indeed seems intended, in order that a smokescreen is propagated that allows the Office of the Minister of MAAIF to clandestinely function much like an economic hitman.
It is, in fact, policy of the President Yoweri Kagutta Museveni led National Resistance Movement party, which is the current Administration of the Republic of Uganda, to promote commercialisation of food crops. Promoting the growing of food crops as cash crops. It is thus simply Machiavellian for official government documents and discourse to refer to Ugandan smallholder farmers as peasants and or as subsistence farmers. It is long over due that we detoxify our discourse of culturally imperialistic descriptions that denigrate us.
The only way in which agriculture is a significant contributor to Uganda’s GDP, is if the produce of its smallholder farmers is sold by them and is bought by others who didn’t produce it. Economic exchange must take places and money changes hands, so to speak. This means, de facto, that Ugandan smallholder farmers likely produce for sale in as much as and or even more than they produce for own consumption. And for many that is likely their major source of livelihood.
Access to land is a major constraint, and only a small fraction of urban farmers own their land. For those with access to land, urban farming is associated with higher levels of household food security and child nutrition.Daniel G. Maxwell In order to acquire land for the Republic of Uganda (RoU), the English colonialist deliberately… Continue reading On Land Tenure, Uganda Go Back to Our Roots
The wisdom to replace grass lawns with food crops, even though it were done only partially, can never be overstated. It is the wisdom of our ancestors that one should eat food that one knows its source from seed to plate, after having participated in growing it. And this is possible for every Ugandan to… Continue reading Fruits of One’s Labour
