On this eve of the 52nd Independence anniversary of the Republic of Uganda, I look at the future of my motherland and wonder where the one big boost will come from.

Over the last 2 years my eyes have been opened to the potential for agriculture to improve the livelihoods of Ugandans in particular, Africa in general and emerging economies or Global south in general. While its well accepted in all circles that this is the case, there are a few key areas where emphasis is not placed which I see as critical success factors, and others which are not.

Markets (important): James Wire poses an interesting question, COMESA vs EU: What market for Uganda’s products?  Due to the infrastructure challenges that we face in Uganda, the country cannot compete favorably without economies of scale (important) and agriculture as a business attitude (important) While it is important to look externally, without a strong local foundation for best practices and support, external markets still remain a pipe dream

Economies of Scale (important): These provide means of leveraging the abundant fertile land, predictable rain fall (yes 4 months a year is good enough), cheap labor (if you can use it) to improve the profitability of agribusiness. Why do I focus on profitability and not cost reduction, this is because the costs can only come down to a certain point which is not low enough to compete with other countries. Unfortunately a lot of donor based programs supporting agriculture focus on small holder farmers, who will never produce enough to feed the nation, or even export

Agriculture as a business attitude (important): The bulk of agriculture productions by the elderly and rural folk without options whose only take on agriculture to survive by meeting only their basic needs. This means that there is a shortage of innovation in business models. record keeping and core practices to ensure that agriculture is profitable in the small, leading to increased investments and focus. On the other hand, there is a growing segment of the middle class who are looking to agriculture to compliment income from formal employment, however this suffered from being relegated to a side activity without the focus needed to make it successful.

Government buy-in and support (not-important): I know I am going to get shot for this one, but there is no role for government to play over and above providing basic infrastructure, and like in Uganda policies are already available. If there is sufficient evidence that agriculture as a business is profitable, private sector has always found ways of staying ahead of government.

Focus Production Areas (important): Agriculture focused on feeding the nation is the most profitable, given that there is always a ready market for produce, within the population. Hence my thinking is to focus on staples and livestock as a core foundation for the industry in Uganda.

Infrastructure (important): Transport is especially important for getting produce to markets, however if a business approach is taken, aspects like post harvest handling and storage can provide a mitigating element to infrastructure challenges

Financing (important): I say bankers are shrewd business people, show them potential and they will flock to it like bees to honey. Its not up to bankers to prove that farmers are good clients, but rather for farmers to prove to bankers that they are worthwhile investments.