Introduction

In order for the agricultural sector to contribute effectively to the eradication of poverty, there must be organizational and institutional arrangements that provide for the delivery of the requisite services in an efficient, effective and sustainable manner. It is, therefore, important that an institutional framework be designed and developed in a way that provides for an effective contribution to the objectives of agricultural modernisation. The key players in Uganda's agricultural sector include:

(i) the public sector - Central Government and Local Governments (LGs);,

(ii) private sector - farmers, livestock keepers, fisher-folk, foresters, traders, small-scale entrepreneurs and manufacturing, and processing industries;

(iii) civil society - Non-Government Organisations (NGOs), Community Based Organisations (CBOs), academic institutions and the general public, and

(iv) Development Partners (DPs). This highlights the roles of the various categories and the necessary reforms and
adjustments for delivering on the objectives of the PMA.

Public Sector

Central Government

The Central Government comprises of a number of bodies including the Executive, Parliament, security, and law and order. The Central Government role for the PMA is to ensure the security of person and property, the provision of a stable macroeconomic environment, basic infrastructure and social services (health care, education, safe drinking water) to the population. The 1995 Constitution, the Local Government Act of 1997 and the post-Constitution restructuring of public sector institutions provide the basis for reforms in the agricultural sector institutions. The new mandate of MAAIF is "to support, promote and guide the production of crops, livestock and fisheries, so as to ensure improved quality and increased quantity of agricultural produce and products for domestic consumption, food security and export". In implementing the above mandate, MAAIF will undertake the following functions:

(i) Formulation and review of national policies, standards and plans for the agricultural sector

(ii) Control and management of crop and animal epidemics and disasters

(iii) Setting and enforcement of standards and regulations for agricultural inputs and practices pertaining to crop, livestock and fisheries

(iv) Provision of technical advice, support supervision, and training to local governments in areas relating to decentralised services

(v) Designing, developing and maintaining a national information base on the agricultural sector

(vi) Monitoring to ensure that providers of agricultural services comply with national policies,
registration and standards

(vii) Co-ordination, facilitation, and supervision of national projects and projects and
programmes on agricultural development

(viii) Mobilisation of finances and technical assistance for the development of agriculture.
During PMA implementation, Government will ensure that the capacity of MAAIF is strengthened in terms of personnel as well as physical and financial resources in order to perform the above functions effectively.

In providing services to the local government, MAAIF will have to work closely with the Ministry of Local Government (MOLG) which has overall responsibility for LGs including capacity building for planning, financial management and service delivery.

The following functions have been decentralised for implementation by LGs:

• Agricultural extension for crops, animals and fisheries;
• Entomological services and vermin control;
• Design of development plans;
• Land administration and surveying;
• Management of forests and wetlands;
• Control of soil erosion, bush fires, local hunting and fishing; and
• Licensing of produce buying.

The following functions have been divested as specified below:

(i) Research and development activities on crops, animals, fisheries, soils, and water for agricultural production were divested to NARO;

(ii) District Farm Institutes (DFIs) were divested to NARO. However, the PMA recommends that apart from DFIs that NARO will need to transform into ARDCs, DFIs should be divested to districts governments as elaborated;

(iii) Agricultural colleges including the Fisheries Training Institute are to be semi-autonomous under the policy guidance of the Ministry of Education and Sports;

(iv) Production of media materials for agricultural information is to be privatised and services contracted by the relevant institution. This will ensure cost-effectiveness, reliability of delivery and transparency;

(v) Bush clearing, previously under Namalere Mechanisation unit is to be divested to the private sector for the same reasons as in (iv) above; and Coffee and cotton are divested to the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and the Cotton Development Organisation (CDO), respectively.

Whereas the divested bodies will be operationally autonomous, they will depend on the Ministry for policy guidance. The Ministry, however, will ensure that the bodies operate efficiently without getting involved in or interfering in their management. Some functions will be shared between MAAIF and other Ministries. A case in point is the sharing of functions between the Ministry of Health (MOH) and MAAIF in the areas of nutrition, public health and control of vector-borne diseases. Whereas MAAIF will be responsible for the promotion of appropriate foods, the control of hazards caused by animals, plants/crops and vectors that spread disease from animal to man, MOH will be responsible for feeding (foods and fluids intake), setting and enforcement of health standards, advising on preventive measures and controlling human diseases. Pests like the water hyacinth also present wider environmental concerns that stretch beyond the mandate of MAAIF. The modernization of the agricultural sector will require the involvement of other ministries that have mandates over industry roads, power, water, communications, health, education, finance and planning, gender and local government. Inter-sectoral co-ordination will therefore be critical to the success of MAAIF in implementing its mandate.

There are a number of other parastatals that help MAAIF in implementing its mandate. These include the Uganda Tea Authority (UTA), the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS); the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), the Uganda National Council of Science and Technology (UNCST), the Uganda Investment Authority (UIA), Uganda Export Promotion Board (UEPB), and institutions of higher learning. Makerere University (MU) through the faculties of Agriculture, Forestry and Nature Conservation, Veterinary Medicine, and Science produces agricultural graduates, conducts agricultural research and carries outreach programmes. This contribution has been expanded with the introduction of Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute, Kabanyoro (MUARIK) and the Continuing Agricultural Education Centre (CAEC) which offers demand driven short-term courses for farmers, policy makers and other agro-based stakeholders.

The decentralization , liberalisation and privatisation policies have necessitated reforms in the organisational structures and institutional arrangements at the centre and local level for service delivery. For example, the structure and staffing level in MAAIF has been significantly reduced from about 1,400 in 1998 to about 300 in 2000. MAAIF will have to create a conducive policy and regulatory environment for the private sector to engage actively in the importation, storage and distribution of agricultural inputs and products, and agro-processing and provision of financial services and other services required by the majority of the subsistence farmers. Additional reforms will be effected to enhance service delivery by the public sector by deepening the focus on the needs of the poor, being more responsive to the different abilities and opportunities available to men, women and youth and ensuring efficiency and effectiveness in service delivery. Greater partnerships will be built with the private sector in the delivery and financing of such services.

Local Government

The decentralisation process has given greater authority to local governments at the district and sub-county levels to plan and implement programmes as spelt out in the previous section. This has increased the people's participation in the decision making so as to make development relevant to their needs and decisions more transparent and public officers accountable. For the agricultural sector, LGs will be responsible for, among other functions, designing local government agricultural sector plans; delivery of extension services; entomological services and vermin control; land survey and administration; forestry and wetlands management and licensing produce buying. The responsibilities will be effected at district and sub-county levels and could be delegated to even parish and village councils. LGs, and especially standing committees for production, will therefore be strengthened to ensure that they have the necessary capacity (both human and financial) to undertake the new responsibilities. Some of the areas that will require such capacity are strategic planning, financial and contract management and institutional building. Production committees will also have to widen their scope and take a more holistic, multi-sectoral approach to agricultural transformation. These committees will be central to the national planning system in Uganda to be built on a bottom-up planning approach.

LGs will have to design systems for the financing and delivery of agricultural sector services in partnership with a wide range of local and external stakeholders including NGOs, CBOs, the
private sector and the donor community. A local governments grant will be created to mobilize local and external resources for the delivery of services. Existing institutional arrangements will be strengthened to enhance service delivery. Greater emphasis will be put on improving market information flow to farmers, access to inputs and markets by improving infrastructure, management, and dissemination of information at district level and promotion of agro-processing. Rural electrification is expected to be a government priority in the medium to long term taking advantage of existing renewable resources including solar energy, hydropower, geothermal power and bio-gas.

Private Sector:

The private sector is the largest category of stakeholders in the agricultural sector. It includes the subsistence farmers, traders, processors and service providers in rural finance, land surveying and legal profession. This sector, however, is dominated by subsistence farmers producing a wide range of products mainly for domestic consumption. Agricultural transformation and structural change will demand that other segments of the private sector services be expanded and the quality of services improved. This will create employment opportunities, which in turn will increase the demand for farm products. Agricultural transformation will imply that farmers will use more and more hired labour, more external inputs which will increase farm output. The increases will require more markets, more transport services, more storage, more agro-processing industries, more packaging, more production and marketing credit, and other financial and legal services. This will expand business and job opportunities for the private sector. To deliver effectively the services demanded, the private sector has to undergo a process of capacity building and transformation.

The Government's role will continue to set conducive policies, rules and regulations, and to improve social and economic infrastructure. Capacity building for private sector institutions, commodity associations, farmer organisations and co-operatives will be critical during the formative stage. Government will also promote the private sector by expanding opportunities for the private sector to participate in policy formulation processes and implementation of publicly funded programmes. The private sector will be empowered through their involvement in sector plans and by being contracted for direct delivery of public services to farmers on a commercial basis. Opportunities will be explored for the involvement of the private sector in research and delivery of advisory services.

Civil Society

Civil society is comprised of NGOs, CBOs, individuals, unions, professional bodies and associations that are involved in the promotion of effective and sustainable delivery of agricultural related services. Since the mid-1980s, there has been phenomenal growth in the number of NGOs, CBOs and other categories of civil society organisations, all of which enjoy freedom of operation and collaboration with the Government. This is a reflection of the respectable mileage covered by the country in the road to good governance over this period.

Government recognises the importance of national partnerships with NGOs and CBOs in the delivery of basic services. The civil society is already a key player in the design and management of the programmes financed under the Poverty Action Fund (PAF). While it will continue to coordinate, direct and facilitate the provision of basic services, Government will continue to support the empowerment of organisations, targeting women, youth and local communities and also ensuring their participation in agricultural modernisation. NGOs, CBOs and the poor will be involved in the process of planning, implementing, and financing and delivery of services especially at local levels of Government. Public sector resources will be used in building the capacity of the civil society, facilitating their participation in public sector activities and in contracting them in the delivery of public sector services. The civil society organisations will also be expected to integrate and harmonise their programmes with those of other players especially at local government level. This will allow for ease in monitoring the impact of their activities especially when they use public sector resources.

Development Partners

Development Partners (DPs) in the PMA context include the multilateral and bilateral organisations and agencies that support government and community organisations in the agricultural sector through grants and soft loans. The term is also used to include international NGOs through which such agencies operate in the channelling of funds to intended beneficiaries and in the implementation of programmes. The DPs have not only been significant in providing development resources but they have also sometimes dominated the process of policy formulation articulating sector support areas and determining the manner in which the resources were put to use. This had often taken the form of "conditionalities" and technical support in implementation of the agreed programmes.

Recently, however, there has been increasing ownership of reform programmes by the Government and by Ugandans. There has been growth in confidence on the part of government in initiating reforms and entering into dialogue with the DPs to evolve common principles and objectives that culminate into new programmes that have attracted DP's financial support. This increasing ownership of reforms by the domestic stakeholders has allowed a genuine partnership to develop between DPs, the Government and civil society in the Sector-Wide Approaches (SWAPS) to policy reform investment programming.

There is an emerging trend of having partnership among the DPs themselves through formal DP sub-groups for aid co-ordination. Currently, the DPs have sub-groups for education, health, decentralisation, agriculture, the private sector and legal reform that meet regularly to review and harmonise their activities with GOU programmes. This has made it possible for DPs to speak with one voice while interacting with government but also to harmonise their own positions on priority action areas and to minimise conflict and overlap in their support programmes. The DPs are expected to, in conjunction with GOU, evolve consensus on mechanisms and procedures for financial disbursements and accountability that would apply in funding agreed upon programmes at the centre and at local government levels. Improved co-ordination within DPs and with GOU will create a suitable environment for a shift from project funding to programme funding; multi-donor funding of programmes and gradual evolution of " basket" funding mechanism. It is hoped that in the medium to long-term, increased transparency and accountability in the implementation of publicly funded programmes will pave the way for increased funding through budget support.

Institutional Reform Processes

Sustainability is a factor that is of critical significance to every institution. An institution is deemed to be sustainable if :

(a) its services continue to be desired/demanded by the clients and/or

(b) it has the capacity to generate or attract sufficient resources for its operations.

Ensuring institutional sustainability is the essence of institutional reform and strengthening. The overarching objective for institutional reform is to improve efficiency and effectiveness. This will entail formal institutional assessment and functional analysis leading to reform and strengthening of the agricultural sector institutions. The first step will involve a review of the policy and legal basis for the current mandate and roles of respective institutions. This is to ensure that the mandate and roles derive from existing policies and law. Otherwise appropriate revisions or enactment of new ones will have to be carried out.

Functional analysis would be conducted to articulate the roles, assess operational capacity, and recommend the necessary restructuring and reforms. Adequate human, physical and financial resources and appropriate management systems are critical to the performance of every institution. In order to maintain focus and ensure good performance, a monitoring and evaluation system has to be established for each institution. Information and communication systems have to be built. Such systems will provide for vertical and horizontal linkages, co-ordination and collaboration mechanisms with other stakeholders. Resources will be provided under the PMA implementation process to enable key sector institutions to undertake priority reforms and strengthening processes.