What Does the `Show Case' Show? Evidence of and Lessons from Adjustment in Uganda

Uganda: No More Pro‐poor Growth?

“…14 With regard to the supply response of the cash crop sector to these reforms, there is no consensus in the literature. Whereas Belshaw et al (1999) conclude that coffee and cotton production had failed to recover mainly due to institutional resistance to reforms, Dijkstra and van Donge (2001) find that there have been important supply responses that can be linked to liberalisation. Deininger and Okidi (2001) support the latter finding for the cotton sector.…”

“…Economic reforms in the agricultural sector predominantly affected the cash crop sector, as there were no interventions in the food crop sector (Dijkstra and van Donge, 2001). The deregulation of the coffee market, which had been dominated by the state-owned Coffee Marketing Board (CMB) until the beginning of the 1990s, can be considered as one of the key reforms.…”

“…A detailed analysis of changes in household income generation processes goes well beyond the scope of this article, but would certainly be a worthwhile undertaking. 14 See for example Belshaw et al (1999) and Dijkstra and van Donge (2001) for detailed assessments of agricultural reforms and outcomes. 9 2 / 9 3 9 3 / 9 4 9 4 / 9 5 9 5 / 9 6 9 6 / 9 7 9 7 / 9 8 9 8 / 9 9 9 9 / 0 0 0 Production of cash crop agriculture increased strongly in the early 1990s and at a somewhat lower rate in recent years.…”

“…9 2 / 9 3 9 3 / 9 4 9 4 / 9 5 9 5 / 9 6 9 6 / 9 7 9 7 / 9 8 9 8 / 9 9 9 9 / 0 0 0 Production of cash crop agriculture increased strongly in the early 1990s and at a somewhat lower rate in recent years. According to Dijkstra and van Donge (2001), production quantities of coffee, cotton and tobacco increased considerably. Increasing production quantities coincided with favourable cash crop prices until the mid-1990s.…”

“…Yet, coffee prices 15 The quality of data on agricultural production in Uganda is certainly of questionable quality, in particular for food crop production. Dijkstra and van Donge (2001) report that they had been told by the Ministry of Agriculture that official statistics on food production are best guesses. We think that an informed best guess can still be used in empirical work.…”