The Imperatives of Institutional Framework and Collaboration Mechanism in Agriculure ...

17 Pages·2016·1.03 MB·English

Journal of the Economic Geographical Society of Korea ? 313
Vol.19, No.2, 2016(313~329)
The Imperatives of Institutional Framework and Collaboration Mechanism
in Agriculure Modernization-The Case of Abim District, Uganda
Ochieng, Haggai Kennedy Otieno* · Jun Yeup Kim**
­­­농업현대화를­위한­제도적­공동협력­프레임워크구축에­대한­연구:­
우간다­Abim지역의­사례를­중심으로
오티에노 오치엥 하가이 케네디*·김준엽**
Abstract : The paper shows that Uganda lacks an adequate institutional framework to achieve agriculture
modernization. Based on constellation model, the paper proposes an effective way to promote agricultural
development through policy and institutional partnerships at various levels of governance and action by var-
ious stakeholders in the sector. From this theoretical perspective, the paper raises salient research questions:
Why is Abim District an important focus for Agricultural development? What is the effect of institutional
arrangements and partnerships in agriculture development in Abim District? What forms of institutional
partnerships and collaboration framework can effectively address the challenge in the District and Northern
Uganda as a whole? These concerns are important obstacles to improved agricultural performance in Ugan-
da as dysfunctional institutional arrangements and norms are majorconstraints to agricultural development.
The findings demonstrate that institutional gaps, bureaucracy, institutional proliferation and overlapping
roles have derailed agriculture modernization. Hence, the development strategy proposes creating and reju-
venating all essential players operating in the region, developing or deepening their inter-linkages through
judicious and sustainable partnerships with all the principal players in Abim District.
Key Words : Constellation Model, Agricultural Development, Sustainable Partnership, Adim District,
Uganda
요약 : 본 연구에서 우간다는 농업 현대화를 달성하기 위한 적절한 제도적 틀이 부족한 것을 알 수 있다. Constellation
Model을 기반으로 본 논문에서는 다양한 이해 관계자에 의한 지배 구조와 행동의 다양한 수준에서 정책과 제도적 협
력을 통해 농업 발전을 촉진하는 효과적인 방법을 제안한다. 먼저 이론적 관점에서 Abim 지역에서 농업발전이 가진
의미를 고찰하고, 이 지역 농업발전과 관련된 현행 제도적 장치와 협력 관계를 평가한 뒤, Abim 및 북부 우간다 지역의
농업 및 사회경제적 문제를 해결하기 위한 효과적인 제도적 협력 구조를 탐구한다. 본 논문에서의 중요한 결론은 제도
적인 문제들이 우간다에 농업발전에 중요한 역할을 하며 제도적 격차, 관료적 행태 등이 농업 현대화를 저해하는 요인
이라는 것을 밝혀냈다. 따라서, Abim지역의 주요한 개발파트너들과 지속 가능한 협력을 통해 상호 연계를 강화할 것을
제안한다.
주요어 : 배치 모델, 농업 개발, 지속 가능한 파트너십, Adim 지역, 우간다
* Ph.D. Candidate, Graduate School of Pan-Pacific International Studies, Kyung Hee University(경희대학교 국제대학원 박사과정)
** Professor, Graduate School of Pan-Pacific International Studies, Kyung Hee University(경희대학교 국제대학원 교수(교신저자)
[email protected])
314 Ochieng, Haggai Kennedy Otieno·Jun Yeup Kim
1. Introduction tion, which emphasizes the potential of agriculture
in transforming Uganda from a peasant to a modern
and prosperous country (MFPED, 2004).
Many decades of study of underdevelopment have Agriculture modernization itself consists of farmers
focused on the deficiency of factor endowments, adopting good agricultural practices, employing pro-
such as lack of capital or foreign exchange, with little ductivity enhancing farm inputs, making decisions
attention being paid to institutional arrangements about input use and choice of crops or livestock to
and collaboration (Bardhan, 2001; Park and Kim, maximize their profit and selling more of their output
2011). While the modernization of agriculture is a on the market (Tumusiime-Mutebile, 2013). Thus,
multi-dimensional task, institutional framework Commercialization of agriculture requires concerted
plays a pivotal role in agricultural development (Par- efforts of multiple stakeholders, with the active in-
sons, 1966; Kim, Chang and Lee, 2011). Institutions volvement of the state and heavy capital investment.
shape the incentive structure and affect decisions of Despite the reforms, institutional challenges still
key stakeholders in agriculture. Other factors such persist in key areas that affect agriculture directly.
as infrastructure development and technological One reason for the persistence of unproductive insti-
change are all affected by institutional arrangement tution is because some people benefit from it (Bard-
in a given context (Kirsten et al., 2009; Kim, Chang han, 2001). These concerns are crucial obstaclesas
and Lee, 2011). In agrarian economies the definition dysfunctional institutional arrangements and norms
of land rights affects agriculture and needs govern- are a majorconstraint to agricultural development.
mental mechanisms to supply and protect tenure. This paper attempts to address these challenges in
More importantly, they determine how factors of answering the following salient questions: Why is
production are utilized and developed, and provide Abim District an important focus Agricultural de-
a viable vehicle by which to deliver resources for velopment and how can Institutional partnerships
agriculture development. This also means, however, affect agriculture development and food security
that institutional innovation must be in syncronizing in the region? What is the effect of institutional ar-
with agricultural development. rangements in agriculture development in Northern
In Uganda, agriculture is a key sector, as over 80 Uganda? What forms of institutional partnerships
percent of the population lives in the rural areas and collaboration framework can effectively address
(Uganda Bureau of Statistics, 2011), where agricul- the challenge in the District and Northern Uganda
ture is the main employer with 73 percent of the total as a whole?
employment. Of those employed in agriculture, 77 The objective is to elaborate that institutional fail-
percent are women, while 63 percent are youth (ND- ure is the bane of agricultural development and food
PII 2015/16-2019/20, 2015). Nevertheless, the sector insecurity in Northern Uganda. The paper views
has recorded dwindling performance for the last two the institutional problems bedeviling Uganda’s ag-
decades. Consequently, the government has enacted riculture from two perspectives. One, there are still
numerous reforms in the agricultural sector. The missing, but necessary institutional frameworks that
culmination of the reforms isagriculture moderniza- present opportunities to be explored. Second, there is
The Imperatives of Institutional Framework and Collaboration Mechanism in Agriculure Modernization- 315
The Case of Abim District, Uganda
a proliferation and overlapping of functions among economic losses, breakdown of social infrastructure
various sectoral institutions and agencies working in (PRDP, 2011). The Karamaoja Integrated Disar-
the region to address food insecurity. mamnet and Development Program (KIDDP) is
The paper examines the cases of institutional ar- one result of efforts to address these issues. The aim
rangements and partnerships –both as a set of rules is to promote Peace through development (OPM,
and as Organizations with a role in developing the KIDDP, 2007). But due to the remoteness of Kar-
Agricultural sector. Based on a theoretical model, amoja region, low education attainment, and poor
the paper proposes an effective way to promote agri- infrastructure development, there are very limited
cultural production through policy and institutional livelihood options. Thus,commercial agricultureis-
partnerships at various levels of governance and ac- seen as a viable source of livelihood to the armed
tion by various stakeholders,including the National youthswho arebeing reintegrated into a community
government, local government, private corporate sec- whose economy was ravaged by decades of war.
tor and civil society/ NGOs. Agriculture development is also vital to Karamoja
The rest of this paper is structured as follows; the region due chronic food insecurity. The region
second section points to the nature of food insecu- marked with cyclical droughts, and sporadic rainfall,
rityand agricultural underdevelopment in Northern which affects both crop and livestock production.
Uganda, including Abim District. The third section Periods of extended dry spells exert a great deal of
demonstrates the effects of the current institutional pressure on water availability in most parts of the
arrangementsin agriculture development in North- region. There is also severe environmental degrada-
ern Uganda. Principally, we show that significant tion as the inhabitants seek alternative sources of
institutional gaps are prevalent in the current ar- livelihoods from environmental endowments, such
rangement. In the fourth section, we navigateinsti- as charcoal burning (UNDP, 2014). The level of
tutional theme further to point out how it has led to disease outbreak in the region is unfathomable, with
protracted interventions due to poor institutional the prevalence of malaria, diarrhea and poor sanita-
coordination mechanism. The fifth section theoreti- tion making child mortality rate astoundingly high.
cally recommends how to resolve the institutional Accompanied with extreme poverty, this situation
coordination problem by the aid of constellation has deteriorated the residents’survival capacity, leav-
model of partnership and highlight how it impact ing them precariously vulnerable (OPM, 2009). This
agricultural development. makes intervention in agriculture and other liveli-
hood improvement measures a matter of urgency.
The level of suffering is devastating in Abim
2. WhyAgriculture Development is District;prior to 2013, over 5, 000 households head-
ed by women and Orphans and Vulnerable Children
Necessary in Northern Uganda (NU)
(OVC) in the District continued to rely on relief
food and nutritional support, 300 other households
Northern Uganda suffered many decades of were in dire need of farm inputs, while another 400
conflicts that led to populationdisplacement, Socio- got economic strengthening support(Abim District
316 Ochieng, Haggai Kennedy Otieno·Jun Yeup Kim
Table 1. An overview of the Situation: Comparing National Average and Karamoja (Northern Uganda).
Indicator National Average Karamoja
Population living below the poverty line(UNDP,2007) 31 % 82 %
Maternal maternity Rate (per 100, 000 live births) (UDHS, 2006) 435 750
Infant Mortality rate, (per 1000 live births) (UNICEF/WHO, 2008) 76 105
Global Acute Malnutrition(GAM) (UNICEF/WFP, 2008) 6 % 9.5%
Access to Sanitation facilities (UNICEF, 2008) 62 % 9 %
Access to safe water (UNICEF, 2008) 63% 30%
Literacy rate (UDHS, 2006) 67% 11%
Source: OCHA/UN(2009)
statistics, 2013). The District also has a high number holders in agriculture, meaning that the underper-
of malaria related deaths at 81 percent. Moreover, the formance of this sector impacts women and children
District is classified by UNDP as a high risk region, most.
with drought, floods, crop and animal disease, and
land conflicts ranked closelyas the most dangerous
and high-risk hazards (UNDP, 2014). In periods of 3. The Effects of current institu-
acute food shortage, the cereal prices can rise by as
tional arrangements on Agriculture
much as 65 percent (Ellen, 2010).
Development in Uganda.
However, the region hasagricultural potential.
Among the Districts in the Karamoja sub-region,
Abim District has the highest amount of rainfall of From 2010, the government reviewed many poli-
up to 1350 mm per annum (Abim District statistics, cies to enhanceagriculture modernization. These
2013). There is also an abundance of other resources include policies for the allocation and use of water
such as soils, forest, wild animals, wetlands, live- resources, Investment planning and decision mak-
stock, water, humanResources,minerals, sun and ing, facilitation and regulation of commercial invest-
wind. Nevertheless, this bounty has not been ad- ments in agriculture and the provision of effective
equately utilized because of poor functioning of in- irrigation services(Avery, 2014). The latest National
stitutions. The land tenure system is the vital source Agricultural Policy (NAP) was a great leap in the
of the tragedy of commons the land is undergoing planned modernization. Its major thrust were plans
in the region (UNDP, 2014). The region is divided to ensure food security, increase income for farming
into two livelihood zones, the agro- pastoral zones households, support demand-led profitable value
and wet agricultural zones; with the latter having the chains, promote trade in agriculture at regional and
most fertile soils that can support various crop ac- international levels and finally of enhanced sustain-
tivities. Out of the 233, 700 ha of agricultural land, able use of agricultural land (MAIIF, 2010). How-
only 3600 ha is currently being used productively. ever, the reforms have been beset with institutional
Furthermore, women in Abim District are key stake- gaps at District or local government level, thereby
The Imperatives of Institutional Framework and Collaboration Mechanism in Agriculure Modernization- 317
The Case of Abim District, Uganda
slowing down the planned modernization. In small This in turn results in lower food production and
producer dominated situations like Uganda’s agri- persistent food insecurity (Bategeka, Kiiza and Ka-
culture, the roleof institutions become even more sirye, 2013).
salientconsidering that structural and enterprise lim- Similarly, access to extension services is vital to
itations inhibit performance of the sector, including agriculture production.Nonetheless, adequate insti-
high transaction cost, heavy investment involved, tutional measures to strengthen agricultural exten-
lack of market integration and interlocking of fac- sion services have been lacking. In this regard public
torand output markets which only institutions can policy should promote an effective agricultural
address effectively (Singh and Ahmedabad, 2012). extension system which can reach smallholdersin
The institution of land management is very im- the countryside and with main objective to provide
portantin agricultural modernization. In Northern technical advice to farmers to promote the adoption
Uganda, the government faces serious hurdles in its of good agricultural practices and improved seed va-
efforts to efficient reallocation of land due to vested rieties (Tumusiime-Mutebile, 2013).
interests (Kobusingye, 2014). The lack of secure ten- The agricultural extension services reformsthat
ures results in conflicts, displacement and increased were spearheaded by National Agriculture Advisory
vulnerability of Communities (Baumgartner, 2014). Services (NAADS) were compromised by institu-
These conflicts lower agricultural productivity by tional rivalry, whereby a donor-led group advocated
up to 17 percent (Mwesigye and Matsumoto, 2013). radical reforms and enhancing the role of the private
As a result of this ineffective land governance and actors in the provision of the services, while technical
overlapping land rights, peasant farmers continue to oriented group preferred the public sector to lead the
till the land they don’t own, which is a disincentive provision of extension services. Consequently, the
to proper land management. The other problem is reforms that materialized allowing both the private
that even though customary land ownership is legal, and the public sector players to provide the extension
the law failed to recognize customary land dispute services failed to meet the object of the reforms. The
resolution mechanisms, despite that it offersa speedy failure to reach a consensus between the stakeholders
solution to land held under the customary system also led to lack of ownership andtechnical input in
(Baumgatner, 2014).The institution of patriarchyalso the design of the reforms (Rwamigisa, et al., 2011).
adversely affects landin the region. With regard to Moreover, after the liberalization and decentral-
land, patriarchy means male domination in land ization, the government did not accompany reforms
ownership. This norm contravenes the realities of with feasible plans to increase its human resource
agriculture production in Northern Uganda and capacity to reach rural areas. This resulted in short-
means a mismatch between land ownership and ages of qualified and experienced staff to deliver
production. The implication of this stereotype is that agricultural extension services and a lack of training
women who are major stakeholders in Agriculture opportunities to develop professional and technical
are not allowed to own land. The males who own expertise. Consequently, the poor smallholders who
land emphasize cash crop production, which means cannot pay private extension services cannot access
only limited land is available for food production. the services. In addition, Abim District is a hardship
318 Ochieng, Haggai Kennedy Otieno·Jun Yeup Kim
area and thus, most experts are reluctant to work in new products and new processes, markets, new in-
the region (OPM, 2009). Thus, the extensionservices stitutions, networks and new information (Sing and
are poor, delayed and inaccessible. Currentlythe ma- Ahmedabad, 2012). This means heavy investment in
jority of smallholders in Karamoja has not adopted training for farmers and local officials, extension of-
the full suite of feasible good agricultural practices. ficers and agricultural cooperatives. Juma (2012) has
Women who are the major players in agriculture solemnly recommended building training institutes
have the lowest access to extension services (NDPII, close to demonstration farms and focusing on the
2015). The government must invest extensively in entire value chain.In gender sensitive contexts like
rural road networks, and increase capacity of agricul- Uganda, it would be appropriateif the government
tural training institutions to produce local experts trains and employ more female extension agents for
and extension officers. There is also a needto provide effective coverage.
better incentives to experts who accept to work in the Due to the failure in R&D and extension services,
region. farmers in Northern Uganda have demonstrated
A related Institutional gap is prevalent in Research low participation in adopting new cropsand tech-
and Development (R&D). Despite being the focus nologies (OPM, 2009). Theyare only willing to
on eradicating food insecurity in the entire Green adopt new innovations and raising their yields if
belt region, Northern Uganda has only one under- they perceive them as more profitable (Tumusiime-
funded Agricultural Research and Development Mutebile,2013). Butthe 2008/09 Agricultural
Centre (OPM, 2009), while Abim Districthas none. Census showed that only 40 percent of maize grown
Therefore, there is no bridge between research and in Uganda is sold on the market, while millet
the productive sector. It is not surprising, therefore, and sorghum stood at 19 percent and 14 percent
that even though integrated crop and livestock hus- respectively(UBOS, 2012).Based on evidencefrom
bandry is being promoted in the region, no explicit other contexts, the government may consider con-
studies has been conducted in that respect (Avery, tract farming projects1) (Goldsmith, 1985). The sys-
2014). But linking agriculture to institutions of tem provides backward and forward market linkages
research will be of foremost for Uganda before in- and guarantees a profitable market for the output to
troducing new crops in its value chain. Currently, smallholders. This assurance can create the incentive
large scale land holders in Northern Uganda practice to participate in commercial agriculture. In a context
cash crop farming, while the government prefers dominated by smallholderswho farm with rudimen-
food crop farming to tackle food insecurity. Adopt- tary tools, this system can avail input and production
ing new crops requiresresearching on the new crop services on credit, introduce new technology and aid
varieties, land quality and size and availability of the the adoption and learning of the new skills (FAO,
market for the surplus. 2001). Another strategy recognizes the difficulty of
Furthermore, organic production identified as a adopting new technologies and institutional con-
core component of the PMA and a high value ac- straints in finance and marketing and recommends
tivityrequires new processes, managing bio inputs reorganizing agriculture development around low
and sometimes producing on farm. All this involves input crops such as cocoyam and potato (Mgbada,
The Imperatives of Institutional Framework and Collaboration Mechanism in Agriculure Modernization- 319
The Case of Abim District, Uganda
2007). this crucial role by providing both credit and deposit
The institutions of credit arethe other vital players taking services (Mellor, 1995). But, in Uganda ru-
in agriculture development. Their role includes relax- ralfinancing is very scarce and most farmers do not
ing credit constraints among smallholders, thereby have information on how to access them (USAID,
leading to higher input use, adoption of new technol- 2007). Furthermore, due to lack of secure land ten-
ogy and makes diversification possible (Iqbal, et al., ure, smallholder farmers do not have the collateral
2003). Evidence shows that where agriculture has to access credit. Other challenges include weak
expanded rapidly, it has been accompanied by the ex- institutional framework, policy inconsistencies on
pansion of institutional credit (Mellor, 1995; Iqbal et agricultural financing, high interest rates, and lim-
al., 2003). For example, new productivity-increasing ited financial literacy (Munyambonera et al., 2012).
technology requires capital availability, either as A household survey by AfDB revealed that women
working capital for the purchase of fertilizer, or fixed and less educated peopleare less likely to demand and
capital for the use of high-tech farming techniques. apply for credit (AfDB, 2008).The magnitude of the
Thus, external financing is needed for rapid adoption problem is demonstrated by the fact that currently,
of new technologies (Desai, 1989). While both in- the agricultural funding gets less than 10 percent of
creasing rural financial services to farmers and agro- Uganda’s national budget (Bategeka, Kiiza and Ka-
processing andmarketing were pillars of the PMA, sirye, 2013). This has created a funding vacuum, part
and MAAIF Development and Investment Strategy of which is being filled by donors. Butthe challenge
(DISP) little progress was made on their implemen- of giving donors such a huge leverage is that they
tation (MAAIF, 2010). may have more influence in the sector, while their
Rural Financial Institutions (RFIs) can also play priorities may not be aligned with that of the govern-
25%
20%
15%
Rurla Development
15%
13% 7% Agriculture
10%
6% 6%
5%
0%
2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 2009/10 2010/11

F igure 1. Public expenditure in Agriculture and Rural Development in Uganda.
Data source: MAFAP, 2013
320 Ochieng, Haggai Kennedy Otieno·Jun Yeup Kim

20.00%
15.00%
10.00%
Agricuturectual and
5.00%
Rural
0.00% Developmentallocation

Fig ure 2. Actual Agriculture and Rural Development allocation as % of National Budget
Data source: MAFAP, 2014

ment.The state should thus play a catalytic role by cohesion and inadequate technical support by the
pumping agricultural finance and underwriting risks government has limited theirfunctionality(Enzama,
(Bardhan, 2001). The government can also support 2014).
the establishment of a rural Agricultural Develop- A new approach would be to overhaul the struc-
ment Bank to prioritize agricultural financing. Skills ture of the old cooperatives to make them more
and vocational training policy should also be pur- oriented on market and resource mobilization. In the
sued along with the modernization of agriculture. US and India, for example, the traditional producer
In light of producer cooperatives, the government cooperatives were transformed into New Generation
facilitated the scaling up of the cooperative move- Companies (NGCs), capable of using information
ments in tandem with agricultural modernization. efficiently throughout the vertical system. Unlike
It has also promoted the cooperatives in the privati- traditional cooperatives, NGCs have restricted mem-
zation of agricultural services to provide extension bership, links product delivery rights to producer
services. However, institutional challenges exist that member equity, can raise capital by trading equity
include financial and human resource limitations shares among members, distribute returns based on
and weak linkage with the government (Nannyanjo, volume of business as well as venture in value addi-
2013). To compound this problem, Northern Ugan- tion and marketing (Nilsson, 1997). Furthermore,
da, which bears the brunt of poverty and inaccess to the tradability of delivery rights and individualized
credit has the least number of cooperatives compared ownership means there is a consonance between
with the rest of the country at only 9 percent. Singh business operations and ownership. In this way,
and Ahmedabad (2012) noted that the structure of NGCs can better serve commercial farming.
traditional producer cooperatives organized makes Finally, the institutions for Water resources man-
them vulnerable to elite capture, which drives them agement arethe other vital playersthat underscore
to inefficiency and loss-making. This is mirrored in the success of modernizingagriculture.The region
Northern Uganda, where the dysfunctional struc- receives substantial downpour in the wet season,
tures, including weak leadership, lack of internal but due to inadequate harvesting, high evaporation,
The Imperatives of Institutional Framework and Collaboration Mechanism in Agriculure Modernization- 321
The Case of Abim District, Uganda
unsuitable location for water sources accompanied speaks profound institutional lag.
by poor operation and lack of maintenance, surface The government’s policy also seems oblivious to
water is scarce(IUCN, 2011). The limited and unreli- the practicality of sustainable irrigation agriculture
able rainfallpatterns that have been exacerbated by in the region. For example, even though it was es-
climate change, makes a lack of weather information timated that the available water could support ir-
is a great impediment to agricultural production in rigation farming, new studies have shown that the
Abim District (OPM, 2009). A joint stakeholder irrigation need exceeds the available water resources
sector review agreed to prioritize Water Manage- (IUCN, 2011). The figure below shows water avail-
ment Plan in water resources zones(Joint Sector ability and demand in the region.
Review, 2009).The MWE has developed guidelines A further consequential setback on water and en-
for integrated water resources management. How- vironmental management is the absence of wetland
ever, the development of Water resources in Abim or policy in the Karamoja region, especially at the Dis-
Karamoja region heavily depends on the availability trict level (MWE sector report, 2013). The Wetland
of historical resource databases which are currently is a key livelihood area and a critical agricultural
fragmented (Avery, 2014). resource in Northern Uganda. It is the epicenter of
Furthermore, the region still lacks its own water crop production among the livelihood zones in the
resource management plan, which means that the entire region. In Abim District alone, for example,
current water resources intervention are not being the Wetland is the most fertile area ideal for produc-
done in conjunction with a well established frame- tion of crops such as sorghum, maize, millet, and
work whose sustainability is feasible (IUCN, 2011). wheat (Abim District statistics, 2013).
It is also lamentable that climate data monitoring ini- The existing National Wetland Management
tiative has been lacking in the region for long (OPM, Policy, is however not in touch with the reality at the
2009). Similarly, while the government is promot- district level (Glass, 2007). The challenges of imple-
ing irrigation farming as the alternative to rain-fed menting the policy include shortage of funding,
agriculture, there is still no irrigation master plan for bureaucratic discord, politicization of the process
Abim District (Avery, 2014). These revelations be- and a lack of Wetlands knowledge. One objection to
Table 2. Water demand compared to water resources at Lokok sub- catchment(N.U)
Water Resources Projected Water demand in the years 2007 and 2017
Availability water 2010 Demand 2017 Demand
Water sources Type of Water Demand
MCM /yr. MCM /yr. MCM/yr.
Runoff water. 180 Domestic use 4.9 6.35
Ground water. 306 Livestock 8.12 9.99
- - Irrigation 506 665
- - Industrial use 0.0024 0.0048
TOTAL 486 Total 518 681
Source: IUCN, 2011
322 Ochieng, Haggai Kennedy Otieno·Jun Yeup Kim
the policy is the lack of stakeholder input. It further ing,  in the misconception that cattle-keeping is un-
failed to provide a feasible alternative to those whose sustainable and that growing crops is the viable way
livelihoods depend on Wetland resources, and who to avert hunger and reduce poverty (IRIN News,
weredirectly affected by the policy. In this way, the 2014). 
policy failed to build the momentum to coherently
mobilize action on agriculture development around
the Wetlands. There is a need for a comprehensive 4. Institutional arrangements and
policy and a legal and regulatory framework. More
impact on Collaboration in Agri-
fundamentally, Institutions for wetlands manage-
culture development in Uganda
ment should be established at the District local
government and primary stakeholder level. There is
also need to establish collaboration among related Due the multidimensional nature of poverty and
sectors, build capacity of allied institutions and pro- food insecurity, there is a proliferation of NGOs
mote community participation (UN, World Water and government institutions working in Northern
Report, 2006). Uganda. Especiallyafter liberalization of agriculture
Besides being that the irrigation potential is and decentralization of core services, many autono-
higher than available water capacity as proejected mous agencies were set up to implement pro-market
in the figure above, further studies show that irriga- reforms.From the MAAIF evolved 12 departments
tion development in the arid regions like Abim has under four directorates. In addition, the public ag-
many technical challenges that need to be addressed ricultural system also has eight semi-autonomous
first(Avery, 2014). The government acknowledged sector agencies.This multiplicity of agencies has cre-
that progressin irrigation agriculture is tethered with ated a coordination problem as the parent ministry
limited success due to the population’s lack of experi- has no coordination mechanism. As a result, there
ence in handling irrigation technologies and modern are weak institutional linkages between the ministry
farming systems (OPM Assessment Report, 2013). and sector agencies on one hand, and amongst sector
In view of these assertions, livestock farming is seen agencies on the other (Bategeka and Kisirye, 2013).
as a better alternative becausenomadic way of life is This poses a challenge to the way of delivering key
a source of resilience to drought and other calami- agricultural services to peasant farmers (Bategeka
ties due to dynamic mobility in times of drought. and Kisirye, 2013).
Normadism is also consistent with the availability of In response to the weak coordination mechanism
pastures within the semi arid lands in the region. It is by the MAAIF, donors created parallel institutions
also apparent that turning the dry land in the region to deliver agricultural services. But this has only ex-
to crop production will drastically interfere with the acerbated the problem as the increased numbers of
lifestyles and the resilience of the pastoralists, and donors create stand alone projects.Additionally, de-
require additional policy intervention. However, partmentalization and short term projects to deliver
the governmentwithout any comprehensive study is public service have been the natural consequence of
stuck by exclusively promoting irrigated crop farm- too many autonomous actors in the sector. This kind