“This integrated assessment (IA) examines the potential impacts on the horticulture sector of Uganda’s Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA) with the European Union (EU).
Horticulture was selected as the focus of the IA because it contributes significantly to Uganda’s total exports and is at the centre of the EPA negotiations. Under the EPA, increased trade with the EU in horticulture could have an impact on biodiversity in several ways, including as a result of the conversion of natural ecosystems to croplands and the increased use of agrochemicals. This IA aims to contribute to the understanding of the critical interdependencies among economic growth, social development, and the environment and biodiversity. It proposes policies to encourage the integration of concerns related to biodiversity in future trade agreements. This IA describes the potential economic, social, and environmental impacts of further liberalization under the EPA, and consequences for Uganda’s biodiversity. It also explores the impacts of alternate export strategies for Uganda as its trade regime with the EU moves from the Cotonou Agreement and the Everything but Arms initiative to the EPA. The IA aims to ensure that the EPA fully takes into account economic, social, and environmental concerns, in particular with respect to the sustainable use of biodiversity in the horticulture and floriculture sectors and that the national response and national action plan are fully integrated and respond to the recommendations in this IA.”
