CASH CROP DROP DEEPENS POVERTY IN WEST NILE

Maize plantations within the first planting season of 2026 never produced quality Cobs due to prolonged drought (Photo by Dramadri Federick)

By Dramadri Federick

Arua City

The decline of cash-crop farming in the West Nile sub-region is being blamed for persistent high levels of multidimensional poverty, as many households continue to depend largely on subsistence agriculture for their livelihoods.

West Nile was once renowned for the commercial production of cash crops such as cotton and tobacco, which provided farmers with a reliable source of household income and supported local economies.

However, production of these crops has declined over the years due to several factors, including declining soil fertility, limited access to agricultural inputs and markets, and government campaigns against tobacco production.

The decline has left many farmers with limited opportunities to generate regular cash income from agriculture, further exposing households to economic vulnerability and contributing to social challenges, including gender-based violence.

Dr. Hamis Mugendawala, the Senior Manager for Population and Social Development Planning at the National Planning Authority (NPA), says although Uganda’s income poverty rate has significantly declined, multidimensional poverty remains a major challenge, particularly in regions such as West Nile.

Mugendawala says the national income poverty rate has dropped from 39 percent to about 16 percent, but many Ugandans continue to experience deprivation in other aspects of life, including access to education, healthcare, housing, employment and basic services.

“The multidimensional poverty is slightly higher than the income poverty, because only 16 percent of Ugandans are regarded as abjectly poor,” Dr. Hamis explained.

Agriculture employs over 79% to 87.6% of the population in the West Nile region of Uganda. With a total regional consumer population of nearly 3 million people, this translates to well over 2 million people actively engaging in crop farming and livestock keeping as their primary economic activity.

He was speaking during a regional engagement in Arua City on Uganda’s 10th Country Programme Annual Districts Work Plan dissemination.

The engagement brought together development stakeholders to assess the country’s population and development challenges and identify interventions that can improve household welfare and accelerate poverty reduction.

Dr. John Ssekamatte Ssebuliba, the Head of Population and Social Sector at the National Planning Authority, said the high levels of multidimensional poverty in West Nile are also having wider social consequences, including an increase in gender-based violence.

According to Ssebuliba, gender-based violence in the region has increased significantly, with women and young adults among those most affected.

“Within the West Nile region, gender-based violence is on the increase by more than 10%, from 51% to 64%. It is affecting more young women aged 18 to 34 years, and it is also increasing among men,” Dr. John said.

The increase in poverty and household economic stress is raising concerns among development actors because limited household incomes can increase dependency, domestic conflicts and vulnerability, particularly among families that rely almost entirely on subsistence agriculture.

Stakeholders speak during the regional engagement calling for concerted efforts in addressing West Nile peculiar issues. (Photo by Dramadri Federick)

Statistics presented by NPA during the engagement indicate that 16.1 percent of Ugandans were living in absolute poverty in 2023/24, while Uganda’s economy grew by 6.7 percent in 2024.

Despite the national economic growth and decline in income poverty, however, West Nile continues to face a significantly higher poverty burden.

Recent Uganda Bureau of Statistics UBOS figures indicate that about 39% of the population in West Nile is experiencing multidimensional poverty, reflecting deprivation beyond household income.

The multidimensional poverty measure considers several aspects of people’s wellbeing, including access to education, healthcare, housing, sanitation, employment and other basic services.

Dr. George Angupale Okoboa, the Acting District Health Officer for Yumbe District, attributes part of the region’s persistent poverty to the limited development of commercial agriculture, inadequate value addition and poor access to reliable markets.

He says most farmers in West Nile produce food primarily for household consumption, with few commercially viable cash crops currently providing farmers with sustainable incomes.

“There is no cash crop that the people of the West Nile region are currently producing from which they make money,” Dr. Angupale noted.

The situation has left many households dependent on crops such as cassava, maize, beans and groundnuts, which are mainly produced for food rather than for sustained commercial income.

Farmers who depend on these crops are also increasingly being affected by climate change, including prolonged dry spells, erratic rainfall and declining soil productivity.

These climate-related challenges have disrupted agricultural production, increased the risk of crop failure and reduced the amount of income available to households.

For farmers with limited access to irrigation, improved seeds, fertilizers, extension services and affordable credit, climate shocks can quickly translate into food insecurity and loss of household income.

Ayikoru Sunday the Terego District Vice Chairperson challenged NPA officials to harmonize data with the data custodian UBOS for accurate information sharing and subsequent actions.

She notes that whereas figures are showing that the regions income poverty levels have improved while multidimensional poverty remains alarming means the high need for government’s investments in the local governments. “Our people are still stuck in poverty, and growing non cash crops, whereas staffing levels in districts are low to provide services, NPA and UBOS must come up with clear data so that we know the reality on ground, if you move for 10 meters, the indicators of poverty can be seen in the population without any scientific study”.

Development experts say reviving commercial agriculture in West Nile will require more than simply encouraging farmers to return to traditional cash crops.

Daniel Alemu, Deputy Representative of the UNFPA Uganda Country Office, says the region needs a broader agricultural transformation strategy based on diversified cash crops, value addition, affordable financing, extension services and access to reliable markets.

He says improving household incomes must go hand in hand with investment in the population, particularly young people who make up a significant proportion of Uganda’s population.

“At a time when development resources are increasingly strained, governments should prioritize locally generated resources in investing in human capital and the quality of the population,” Alemu stated.

Tobacco field in Maraju Cell, Leju Town council Terego district (Photo by Dramadri Federick)

For West Nile, agricultural transformation could provide an opportunity to move households from subsistence production to commercially oriented farming.

The region has significant agricultural potential, but farmers continue to face challenges related to market access, post-harvest losses, inadequate storage facilities, limited processing capacity and low levels of value addition.

Agricultural stakeholders argue that developing processing and manufacturing industries around locally produced commodities could help farmers earn more from their produce while creating employment opportunities for young people.

This would also reduce the region’s dependence on the sale of raw agricultural products and strengthen local economies.

The need for stronger economic opportunities is becoming increasingly urgent as Uganda’s population continues to grow.

Uganda’s Vision 2040 and the Fourth National Development Plan (NDP IV) seek to eliminate poverty and transform the country into an upper-middle-income economy.

The development frameworks target a ten-fold expansion of Uganda’s economy, with the country’s Gross Domestic Product projected to increase from about US$50 billion to US$500 billion by 2040 through sustainable industrialization, full monetization of the economy and increased household incomes.

According to National Planning Authority projections, Uganda’s population has reached about 50 million people, with approximately 73 percent below the age of 30 and a dependency ratio of about 78 percent.

The authority says the rapidly growing population and high dependency burden are placing additional pressure on the country’s development efforts.

For West Nile, development experts say addressing poverty will therefore require deliberate investment in productive sectors that can create sustainable incomes for households, particularly in rural communities.

They argue that restoring commercially viable agriculture, promoting value addition, improving access to affordable financing and strengthening markets could help the region move away from subsistence production and create more resilient livelihoods.

Without such interventions, experts warn that continued dependence on low-income subsistence agriculture, coupled with climate change and rapid population growth, could further deepen household vulnerability and slow efforts to reduce multidimensional poverty in the region.