Uganda : Policy Options for Increasing Crop Productivity and Reducing Soil Nutrient Depletion and Poverty

Abstract

This study was conducted with the main objective of determining the linkages between poverty and land management in Uganda. The study used the 2002/03 Uganda National Household Survey in eight districts representing six major agro-ecological zones and farming systems. Farmers in these districts deplete an average of 179 kg/ha of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, which is about 1.2 percent of the nutrient stock stored in the topsoil. The value of replacing the depleted nutrients using the cheapest inorganic fertilizers is equivalent to about 20 percent of household income obtained from agricultural production. The findings of this study also underscore the great concern that soil nutrient depletion poses since it contributes to declining agricultural production in the near term as well as the longer term.