A factory cannot sustain production if the farmers expected to supply its raw materials are not able to produce enough to keep its machines running, Gen. Salim Saleh warns, making a case for voluntary land consolidation to strengthen Uganda’s agricultural base and accelerate industrialization.
Gen Saleh, who has increasingly emerged as an important peacemaker and mediator within President Museveni’s government, is now advancing an economic argument that connects land ownership, social harmony and national development. Having been involved in efforts to reconcile communities, political rivals and other groups with longstanding disagreements, Museveni’s younger brother appears to be pushing the idea that lasting peace must also be supported by economic opportunities.
In his latest book, titled Organizing Land for National Economic Transformation, the Operation Wealth Creation boss examines what he describes as the two-acre limitation facing the country’s agricultural transformation, questioning whether the country’s current pattern of land utilization can sustain the production demands of an expanding industrial economy.
Gen Saleh argues that although smallholder farming remains central to Uganda’s agricultural sector, the increasingly fragmented nature of landholdings makes it difficult for ordinary farmers to move from subsistence farming into organized commercial agriculture.
According to him, a farmer cultivating one or two scattered acres faces limitations in adopting mechanized farming, achieving economies of scale and maintaining consistent production volumes, challenges which eventually affect the entire industrial value chain because factories can’t operate efficiently without reliable supplies of agricultural raw materials.
The problem, in Gen Akandwanaho’s analysis, goes beyond the amount of land available to farmers. It also concerns how that land is organized, accessed and utilized to support large-scale production.
He argues that even where investors establish processing plants, secure financing and identify ready markets, their operations can be constrained by an agricultural system dominated by scattered producers who may struggle to meet industrial requirements for quantities, quality and timely deliveries.
To address this problem, Saleh advocates voluntary land consolidation, proposing that families and neighboring landowners coordinate their agricultural activities or pool land for organized production without necessarily surrendering individual ownership.
Under this arrangement, Ugandan farmers would retain their land rights while cooperating in production systems large enough to support mechanization, commercial farming and structured relationships with industrial buyers.
The proposal intends to address one of the contradictions in the country’s economic transformation agenda: the country wants to expand its manufacturing capacity, yet the agricultural systems expected to supply its factories remain largely fragmented and insufficiently organized.
His argument is that industrialization can’t be pursued in isolation from the organization of land and agricultural production. Factories processing agricultural products need dependable suppliers, while farmers require production arrangements that enable them to operate commercially and benefit from larger markets.
The approach also seeks to move smallholder farmers beyond isolated household production towards collective economic participation, potentially improving their bargaining power and access to agricultural inputs, machinery, financing and markets.
Importantly, the proposed consolidation is voluntary, meaning that the Operation Wealth Creation Coordinator is not advocating compulsory land acquisition or the displacement of families to create large commercial farms.
Rather, his emphasis is on reorganizing how existing land is utilized so that individual ownership can coexist with coordinated production.
Gen Saleh’s broader argument places land consolidation at the centre of the relationship between agriculture and industrialization, suggesting that Uganda’s factories will struggle to reach their full potential unless the agricultural sector is organized to supply them consistently.
The proposal therefore challenges policymakers to look beyond establishing factories and attracting industrial investment, and pay equal attention to the production systems that must keep those industries running. (For comments on this story, get back to us on 0705579994 [WhatsApp line], 0779411734 & 041 4674611 or email us at mulengeranews@gmail.com).
