Rice Breeding in Uganda: Wetland Ban Challenges (2025)

In 2021, the Ugandan government prohibited the cultivation of rice and all other crops in wetlands in a bid to protect wetlands from degradation, while still envisioning rice self-sufficiency by 2030. This means that the only ecologies in Uganda where investments can be made are in the upland and irrigated lowland ecologies. : The ban eliminates two crucial rice seed market segments specifically Rice Indica EAF MS00291, and 293 (formerly identified as TMeLS-R and TMeLF-R) grown in rainfed lowlands. 40,000 Ugandans involved in rice growing, processing, and trade were affected, leading to a significant increase in rice imports in the country. In terms of self-sufficiency, under the most likely scenario for achieving the targets set in the second phase of the National Rice Development Strategy, the ban would cause a decline in the self-sufficiency ratio from the current 67 percent to 45 percent by 2030. If the ban is sustained, yield targets to ensure 100 percent self-sufficiency would have to increase from the current 1.30 tons per hectare to at least 5.55 tons per hectare on average in the upland ecology or from 3.10 tons per hectare to 12.70 tons per hectare in the irrigated lowland ecology.

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Reference document: Implications of the ban on rice cultivation in Uganda’s wetlands for breeding and seed systems programing
Link: https://hdl.handle.net/10568/129733
Publication year: 0 | Data year: 2005-2020 | Sample size: 2400