[{"bbox": [72, 107, 150, 133], "category": "Text", "text": "Uganda."}, {"bbox": [72, 154, 1134, 207], "category": "Text", "text": "Both components are second phases of currently EU funded projects and as such are designed based on solid analysis and lessons learnt."}, {"bbox": [72, 233, 1134, 392], "category": "Text", "text": "The intervention will contribute to the National Development Plan of Uganda III namely the priority focusing on the agro-industrialisation of the country, in particular on the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, as well as supporting the country in reaching its international commitments on climate change. Indeed, the main focus will be to strengthen private sector development and the promotion of commercial agriculture through sustainable value-chains as a driver for growth and job creation, while decoupling growth from environmental degradation."}, {"bbox": [72, 418, 1134, 525], "category": "Text", "text": "The action implements the Africa-EU Partnership for Sustainable Growth and Jobs in Uganda. It also builds on the Communication on Achieving Inclusive and Sustainable Growth through a stronger collaboration with the private sector, the promotion of the Green Deals and the Farm to Fork strategy and the Digital for Development (D4D) policy."}, {"bbox": [72, 551, 864, 577], "category": "Text", "text": "It will contribute to SDGs 2 (main) and 1, 5, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 15, 16 and 17 (significant)."}, {"bbox": [72, 606, 301, 638], "category": "Section-header", "text": "# 2. RATIONALE"}, {"bbox": [87, 669, 220, 696], "category": "Section-header", "text": "## 2.1. Context"}, {"bbox": [72, 739, 1159, 1402], "category": "Text", "text": "The Action \"Supporting Sustainable Investments in the Agriculture Sector in Uganda\" aims at achieving one of the key priorities of the Third National Development Plan (NDP III), notably private sector development and the promotion of commercial agriculture as a driver for job creation. The NDP III identifies agro-industrialization as a priority programme for the country necessary to increase commercialization and competitiveness of agricultural production and agro-processing. The rational is that the development of agro-industrialization will lead to increasing export value of selected agricultural commodities, increasing the agricultural sector growth rate, increasing labor productivity in the agro-industrial value chain, creating jobs in agro-industry, and increasing the proportion of households that are food secure. However, there is a big constraint in achieving this objective and it is related to the weak role played by the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). Indeed, the sector is highly dominated by MSMEs (formal and informal), which face various growth and survival constraints on a number of fronts, not least their inability to access appropriate financing. In particular, access to finance is necessary for MSMEs to increase local manufacturing of goods and contribute to job creation necessary to enable the economic transformation of the country and its graduation to a middle income category. MSMEs also struggle to reach out and create jobs for vulnerable groups such as women, youth and refugees. There is also a need to integrate MSMEs in sustainable value chains with sustainable production systems including agroecological practices, sustainable processing incorporating circular economy considerations, and sustainable markets with fair prices for all actors. In addition, access, insecurity and conflicts related to land as further prevent the stability necessary to promote sustainable investments. This is particularly visible in Central Uganda, where Mailo land tenure is predominant². Indeed, due to its proximity to the capital of Kampala, its favourable rain patterns and fertile soils, the central area of Uganda represents the breadbasket for Uganda and as such plays an important economic role not only for the agriculture sector. Against this background, land in Central Uganda possesses high economic and social values. Due to unclear boundaries, ownership and dual land rights especially on Mailo land tenure, numbers of land related conflicts have shot up over the past years, whereby violent conflicts are the order of the day. Conflicts have so much proliferated that these now threaten the social cohesion and social texture in certain regions. The Government of Uganda increasingly recognizes unsolved land conflicts and land related disputes as major risk for sustainable development, peace and political stability."}, {"bbox": [72, 1466, 1158, 1637], "category": "Footnote", "text": "² 'Mailo', derived from the English word \"square mile\", is a feudal land tenure system originating from an agreement between the Buganda King and the British Government in 1900. The land was initially owned by the Buganda King, who had allocated the administration of large parts of it to local chiefs as trustees of the Baganda people. The British had usurped the land but returned it later to the King and the local chiefs. The King and his chiefs considered this land as their private property because they were often registered with cadastral evidence. However, only a few of them farmed this land themselves. Farming was mostly done by settlers who increasingly occupied the land over time. However, the settlers used the land without any recognized or formalized tenure agreements"}, {"bbox": [1051, 1663, 1158, 1687], "category": "Page-footer", "text": "Page 4 of 27"}]