Improving Agricultural Market Performance:
Creation and Development of Market Institutions
121
regulatory function as opposed to directly intervening in production and trading as state-
owned economic enterprises typically do
.282 These market institutions are complemented by many
private sector initiatives such as the Grain Council, Green Council of Uganda, and Leather
Development Council.283
Together, these selected market institutions support the participation of smallholder farmers
through various initiatives: 284
1. Clustering of farmland with specializations;
2. Support “nucleus” farmers, which eventually require supplies from other local farmers
and through outgrower schemes, extending the multiplier effect. This would also
include FDI acting as “nucleus” farmers (e.g. for tea, sugar, cane), eventually leading to
contracts with local growers; 285 and
3. Establishment of area cooperatives enterprises in partnership with the Government of
Uganda.
Table 5 – Overview of the six selected agricultural market institutions in Uganda
Classification Institution Description
Cooperative Uganda
Cooperative
Alliance Ltd
The cooperative movement has played a substantial role in Uganda
and exists for about 100 years. 286 The movement has been initiated
in response to exploitation of its natural resources by European and
Asian private enterprises, particularly coffee and cotton. The
number of cooperatives expanded gradually as a result of policy
measures in the late 1950s. More than 1,660 primary cooperative
societies (with over 250,000 members) and 21 registered
cooperative unions exists in Uganda by the end of 1961, including
the Uganda Cooperative Alliance (UCA) Ltd. This number increased
further as a result of Uganda’s independence in 1962 and the
policies of the new Government of Uganda, which favoured
cooperatives. The UCA has gradually evolved into a powerful
umbrella organization for all Ugandan cooperatives. UCA’s
mandates include acting as policy advisor to the Government of
Uganda, implementing and coordinating cooperative development
projects, and settling conflicts within the cooperative movement. 287
Marketing Board Dairy
Development
Authority
The Dairy Development Authority (DDA) is a statutory body under
the supervision of MAAIF. 288 The initiation of the DDA can be traced
back to the Dairy Master Plan of 1993, of which liberalization of the
dairy sector supervised by a dairy board was one of the key
recommendations.289 The DDA become operational in 2000 and
provides development (e.g. training, assistance, and research) and
regulatory (e.g. policy advocacy) services to Uganda’s dairy
community. The DDA also functions as advisor to the Government of
Uganda with regards to policy-making and legislation.
282 Interview conducted with Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Kampala, June 7, 2017
283 Interview conducted with Ministry of Trade, Industry & Cooperatives in Kampala, June 7, 2017
284 Interview conducted with Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic Development in Kampala, June 7, 2017
285 Interview conducted with Ministry of Trade, Industry & Cooperatives in Kampala, June 7, 2017
286 Uganda Cooperative Alliance (2009), Development of the Cooperative Movement in Uganda, available at
Accessed May 2017].
287 Uganda Cooperative Alliance (2017), About UCA, available a Accessed May 2017].
288 Government of Uganda (2017), Agriculture, available a Accessed May
2017].
289 Dairy Development Authority (2017), DDA Profile, available a Accessed May 2017].