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Uganda Cotton
In the 1950s, cotton was the second most important
traditional cash crop in Uganda, contributing 25 percent
of total
agricultural exports. By the late 1970s, this figure had
dropped
to 3 percent, and government officials were pessimistic
about
reviving this industry in the near future. Farmers had
turned to
other crops in part because of the labor-intensive nature
of
cotton cultivation, inadequate crop-finance programs, and
a
generally poor marketing system. The industry began to
recover in
the 1980s. The government rehabilitated ginneries and
increased
producer prices. In 1985, 199,000 hectares were planted in
cotton, and production had risen from 4,000 tons to 16,300
tons
in five years. Cotton exports earned US$13.4 million in
1985.
Earnings fell to US$5 million in 1986, representing about
4,400
tons of cotton. Production continued to decline after
that, as
violence plagued the major cotton-producing areas of the
north,
but showed some improvement in 1989.
Cotton provided the raw materials for several local
industries, such as textile mills, oil and soap factories,
and
animal feed factories. And in the late 1980s, it provided
another
means of diversifying the economy. The government
accordingly
initiated an emergency cotton production program, which
provided
extension services, tractors, and other inputs for cotton
farmers. At the same time, the government raised cotton
prices
from USh32 to USh80 for a kilogram of grade A cotton and
from
USh18 to USh42 for Grade B cotton in 1989. However,
prospects for
the cotton industry in the 1990s were still uncertain.
Data as of December 1990
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