STATUS OF SOILS IN UGANDA
Freddie Kabango (PhD)
Assistant Commissioner-Soil & Water Conservation
Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF)
Status of soils in Uganda
• Uganda has a total area of 241,038 km2, with a land area of about
236,000 km2 and the arable land is about 6,900,000 ha (WB, 2023)
• Agriculture is the backbone of Uganda’s economy contributing about
24.1% GDP and 33% export earnings in FY 2021/22 and it employs
about 70% of the population
• The agricultural sector is based on exploiting the natural resources, soil
inclusive
• Soils are the basis of all life-support systems, performs important
ecosystem services, and are vital sources of food, fibre and raw
materials.
• Uganda is endowed with a wide range of soil types with different
characteristics and capabilities
Current status of Uganda soils
• An estimated 41% of Uganda's land is experiencing degradation
(Vågen, et al., 2016)
• Soils are of low inherent fertility (N and P limiting)
• Severe soil erosion is estimated to be 5 t ha-1 yr-1 on average, reaching
about 30 t ha-1 yr-1 in the highlands (IAEA, 2021)
• Soil erosion hotspots are the Highlands (most productive areas of the
country) and cattle corridor (with 75% of livestock population)
• The rate of degradation and soil erosion costs about 17% of the
country's gross domestic product (GDP)
Current status of Uganda soils
• Nutrient mining through soil erosion, crop harvest and non- or limited
use of external sources of nutrients
• Nutrient loss (N, P and K) is estimated at 87 kg ha-1 yr-1 (Wortmann
and Kaizzi, 1998)
• Negative nutrient balances of -21, -8 and -43 of N, P, and K (Zake,
2018) and across all Agroecological Zones (Kaizzi et al., 2006)
• The soils have become acidic
• Soils have lost organic matter and major nutrients (Zake 2018)
Challenges
• Soil fertility is low to medium and is on the decline
• Annual fertilizer use is low in the range 0.23 -1.5 kg ha-1 far below
the average of 8 kg ha-1 in sub-Saharan Africa.
• Only about 5% and 24% of agricultural households in Uganda use
fertilizers and organic manure, respectively
• Invasion of fragile ecosystems is on the increase notably;
wetlands, forests and highlands for settlement and agricultural
activities
• Nutrient mining has worsened the low inherent soil fertility and
its decline
Limitations
• The existing policies and legislation supporting soil
management are inadequate
• Insufficient capacity and lack of coordination and
networking among the existing institutions
• Lack of awareness among land users of appropriate soil
management techniques
• Stakeholders abandoning recommended soil management
practices e.g., farmers destroying terraces in the highlands
• Demographic challenges
• Limited capacity in terms of knowledge and skills among
practitioners and technicians on Sustainable Soil Management
• Laboratory services with obsolete equipment, ill equipped and
limited to few areas for example currently they are limited to
NARO and some universities may be three and the end users are
out there
• Insufficient land and soil information which hinders proper land
use planning and development
• Limited stakeholder knowledge on use of organic and inorganic
fertilizers along the 4Rs Nutrient Steward (Right Source, Right
amount, Right time and Right application method)
