By Will Boase
KAMPALA, Dec 27 2012 (IPS)

Cotton was once one of Uganda’s key cash crops but a collapse in world prices in the 1980s led to a slump in the market and production. However, cotton production doubled in the 2010/2011 season and brought in 48 million dollars in export earnings.

Uganda remains Africa’s biggest coffee exporter, and the East Africa nation is racing against time to boost its production of the crop by 60,000 tonnes, or one million 60-kilogramme bags, within the next three years.

By Will Boase
ARUA, Uganda, Dec 27 2012 (IPS)

Over the years with the demise of cotton production, tobacco has become one of Uganda’s key exports.
Six years after British American Tobacco set up regional headquarters in this East African nation, it has become a key tobacco producer for the company.

Agriculture is the backbone of Uganda’s economy, it accounts for about 34 percent of GDP, over 90 percent of export earnings, and employment of 85 percent of the population through farming, processing, transportation and marketing, according to the International Food Policy Research Institute.