By Aggrey Baba
Dr. Ian Clarke has sounded the alarm on Uganda’s private sector, saying the country cannot sit idle if it wants to grow. Speaking on NBS Morning Breeze on Thursday morning, Clarke said coffee remains the country’s golden ticket, with global demand so vast that the market will never run dry.
Smallholder farmers, the farming doctor stressed, can turn from mere survival to real money-making, lifting entire communities along the way.
Clarke warned that Uganda’s agriculture is ready for industrialisation but has been held back by neglect and weak support systems.
While towns swell and cities grow, rural areas remain stuck in deep poverty. Agro-industrialisation, he said, is the key to transforming villages into engines of growth.
From his own farming experience, Clarke explained that agriculture carries stress from climate change and financing woes. Unlike hospitals, where the pressure never ends, farming challenges can be managed (if the right financial environment exists). Banks, he noted, often give loans for three or four years, but most farms take 7 to 10 years to bring in profits, leaving farmers trapped, unable to scale up, buy better inputs, or export their produce.
Clarke called on the government to provide long-term loans, lower interest rates, and smarter credit schemes.
He also warned against relying only on domestic markets [comparing it to fishing in a pond while ignoring the ocean next door]. With proper knowledge, financing, and infrastructure, the pearl of Africa could shift from a subsistence economy to one thriving on global trade.
A bird cannot fly on one wing, an African adage goes, and without strong rural farmers and agro-industrialisation, Uganda’s dream of inclusive growth will stay grounded, according to Clarke.
Dr. Ian Clarke is a physician, entrepreneur, farmer, and philanthropist who has lived in Uganda for over 35 years. He founded Clarke Farm and Coffee Estate, growing Robusta coffee and operating a processing plant. He also established International Hospital Kampala (IHK), and served as mayor of Makindye Division from 2011 to 2016.
His experience in medicine, Agriculture, business, and local government gives him a unique view on the country’s development challenges. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
