Ann Gordon

Livelihood Diversification in Uganda: Patterns and Determinants of Change Across Two Rural Districts

Despite the continuing centrality of agriculture to the rural economy of Uganda, households engage in diverse livelihood strategies. This paper presents findings of a two-district study of the role of various factors that influence livelihood trends and strategies. Qualitative and quantitative analysis reveals differences according to wealth, gender, and between traditional and non-traditional occupations. Comparisons drawn between the two districts—Kumi in the eastern region, and Rakai in the central region—identify social and historical, as well as contemporary levels of investment as the determinants of varying levels of livelihood diversification.

Charting change in official assistance to agriculture

Abstract This article charts trends in official development assistance to agriculture in the 1980s and 90s. It refutes the widely held view that official commitments to agriculture fell during the 1980s, reaching the opposite conclusion by using a more appropriate deflator. However, official development assistance to agriculture did fall in the 1990s—in nominal and real terms. Per capita declines are particularly stark: real levels of agricultural sector funding per capita of population in the least developed countries fell by nearly 50% between 1982 and 1995. The paper considers agricultures share of total commitments, and the relative importance of different donors and regions in overall agricultural sector funding.