ANT’s Mugisha Muntu: Agriculture neglected by Museveni’s government

GULU, November 12, 2025 — The Alliance for National Transformation [ANT] presidential candidate, Gregory Mugisha Muntu, has criticised the National Resistance Movement [NRM] government for what he described as total neglect of investment in agriculture, despite the sector employing a big percentage of Uganda’s population.

Agriculture is the backbone of the economy, employing a significant majority of the population, with figures ranging from 66 percent to 70 percent in recent reports.

Muntu said President Yoweri Museveni’s NRM government has failed to mechanise agriculture, resulting in the underutilisation of land, particularly in Northern Uganda, where many farmers are still forced to rely on hand hoes despite owning vast pieces of land.

“You find in a belt like here in the North, people are fortunate to still have large chunks of land compared to the South, Buganda and the Western Region, where we have just been. In the western region and Buganda, the average landholding is about an acre or an acre and a half per family,” Muntu said.

He noted that in districts such as Amuru and Nwoya, where he has been consulting voters, many families still own significant tracts of land.

“Here in the North, in places like Nwoya and Amuru, families own 10, 15, or even 20 acres. But when you’re using only a hand hoe, it’s impossible to cultivate more than three acres in a season. Therefore, the option of using tractors is essential,” he added.

Muntu said that areas such as Purongo Sub-county in Nwoya District and parts of Amuru District demonstrate the potential benefits when land is put to commercial use.

Addressing the media at the Northern Uganda Media Club [NUMEC] in Gulu City days ago, Muntu said a responsible government would establish a tractor hire service at every sub-county and support the formation of cooperative unions through which farmers could access affordable financing.

“Access to cheap credit would enable farmers to buy seeds, fertilisers, and pesticides during the planting season, and then repay after selling their produce. When organised in cooperatives — say 5,000 to 100,000 members, farmers have greater bargaining power and can negotiate prices that reflect the market,” he explained.

Muntu lamented that farmers are currently at the mercy of middlemen who purchase produce at extremely low prices.

He stressed that Uganda cannot become truly productive unless it focuses on agriculture, where the majority of its people are engaged.

While campaigning in Amuru district, Muntu also emphasised the need for investment in education and health, saying these sectors are vital to achieving maximum national productivity.

“A country cannot be productive unless it invests in where the majority of its people are — that is agriculture. But productivity also depends on investing in individuals through education and health, alongside agriculture for food security. These three — education, health, and agriculture — are what make citizens reach their full productive potential,” he said.

The Maputo Declaration on Agriculture [2003] urges African nations to allocate at least 10 percent of their national budgets to agriculture and to achieve 6 percent annual growth in agricultural productivity. However, not many governments on the continent have met this target.

In Uganda, agriculture’s share of the national budget has remained below 5 percent over the decades. In the 2023/24 financial year, the sector received Shs 2.2 trillion, representing just 4.2 percent of the total budget, despite its substantial contribution to the economy.

Muntu, is running against Robert Kyagulanyi of the National Unity Platform [NUP], James Nathan Nandala Mafabi of Forum for Democratic Change [FDC], and Museveni , among others who want to be elected the next president of Uganda come January 15, 2026.

https://thecooperator.news/nandala-pledges-to-allocate-10-percent-of-national-budget-to-agriculture/

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