No quick fixes: four interacting constraints to advancing agroecology in Uganda

Abstract

A century after its inception, agroecology has entered mainstream development debates as a more sustainable alternative to conventional agricultural modernization of relevance not least for improving smallholder agriculture in sub-Saharan Africa. Agroecology is a broad concept considered to have transformative potential, yet as a research field it has often been technology-centred and focused at the local level. Building on the experiences of Ugandan agroecologists working in an array of agricultural professions throughout the country, this paper identifies and discusses major barriers to agroecology in Uganda. Inductive analysis of qualitative data from interviews and focus groups generated four types of interacting barriers; constraints at farmer level, an agricultural knowledge system favouring conventional approaches, adverse and intertwined political and economic interests, and cross-cutting ideological and discursive pressures. These broad challenges become manifest in the accounts presented, making clear that barriers to and therefore also appropriate strategies for advancing agroecology must be treated as contextual even if a ‘global movement’ is emerging around it. The discussion suggests theoretical lenses for further inquiry into agroecology and its realization in light of these constraints.

Keywords:

• agroecology
• rural development
• Uganda
• agricultural sustainability
• modernization
• agricultural knowledge systems

Acknowledgements

Many thanks also to the research participants who generously shared their knowledge and experiences. Also thanks to Anne Jerneck and Barry Ness for comments on earlier drafts.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Funding

This work was financially supported by the Linnaeus Centre LUCID, funded by the Swedish Research Council Formas, and the fieldwork was financially supported by the Nordic Africa Institute.

Notes

1. In his first speech as president in 1986, Museveni stated that he does ‘not want a country of peasants' (quoted in Hickey, 2005).

2. NAADS was restructured in the beginning of the 2000s from a public extension system to a public–private partnership, where services were contracted out to private providers and costs were gradually shifted to local governments and farmers (Okoboi, Kuteesa, & Barungi, 2013). In May 2014 (shortly after this research was conducted), the President directed the Cabinet to dissolve NAADS due to ‘non-performance’ and ‘mismanagement of funds’. In June, it was announced that the Ugandan army officers would be deployed to coordinate NAADS activities.

3. Motorcycle taxi, a common mode of transportation in both urban and rural areas, usually driven by young men.

4. Approximately 1 USD.

5. For example, in his 2012 State of the Nation address president Museveni lamented the failure of smallholders to contribute to agricultural growth, and referred to a particular agroecological farm and training centre as offering ‘the solution’ (2012).