The 2021 Agricultural Finance Yearbook, which is the eleventh edition in the series offers an in-depth analysis of the Agricultural financing landscape in Uganda. The 2021 publication is made up of five chapters that highlight key processes, achievements, challenges and gaps in Policy, Financial Institutions Operations, Innovations and Digitalisation, Financing of Agricultural Value Chains as well as Financing COVID-19 Response and Resilience Building in Uganda. Below are the key messages. Gaps in enabling policies and legal framework continue to hinder improved access to financial services. Key areas lacking the necessary legal framework include cyber security, contract farming, leasing, equity and venture capital financing as well as provisions for integrating agribusiness incubation into the national agricultural extension policy and system. Once done, the financial and capacity gaps in fighting cybercrime, provision of suitable agricultural financial products as well as in commercialising and digitalising agribusiness ideas can be addressed, and fiscal incentives to spur commercialisation of small agribusinesses, instituted. In addition, Government has established a number of credit and capacity building interventions, but these still fall short of addressing the structural bottlenecks in smallholders and agri-SMEs financing. Finally, the 2021 Yearbook also highlights some agricultural production models that make financing smallholders and agricultural SMEs less risky and more rewarding to financial institutions.
