Uganda Announces Plan to Deploy 10,000 Tractors Over the Next Five Years

en.Wedoany.com Reported - On October 21, Frank Tumwebaze, Uganda's Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, announced in Parliament an agricultural mechanization plan for the next five years, which proposes to allocate 10,000 tractors to the agricultural production sector and to establish and operate 21 agricultural mechanization service centers. The government plans to adopt a cost-sharing mechanism under which the government, commercial farms, and agricultural producer groups will jointly bear the cost of tractor purchases, and the relevant equipment will be allocated to farmers, agricultural cooperative organizations, and agricultural service institutions.

According to the implementation arrangements disclosed by the Ministry of Agriculture, agricultural mechanization work over the next five years will focus on tractor allocation and the construction of regional service facilities. The 21 mechanization service centers will undertake work related to agricultural machinery services, while tractor purchases will adopt a cost-sharing approach between the government and users. The 10,000 units announced this time represent the equipment allocation target for the next five years.

Since 2018, the Ugandan government has procured and deployed a cumulative total of 1,080 tractors of various types and supporting agricultural implements, as well as another 1,350 single-axle walking tractors equipped with working attachments. These devices are distributed through memoranda of understanding signed by the Ministry of Agriculture with beneficiary farmers, agricultural producer groups, associations, and institutions.

In terms of agricultural machinery operation and maintenance, Uganda's Ministry of Agriculture has trained 2,036 tractor operators and technicians through the Namalere Agricultural Mechanization Center and dispatched them across the country to undertake agricultural machinery operation and technical services. Previously, in September 2026, the government also delivered 150 single-axle walking tractors to farmer groups for use in farmland cultivation and other agricultural production operations.

The agricultural mechanization plan is also being advanced in parallel with the construction of national irrigation facilities. The Ministry of Agriculture and the Ministry of Water and Environment have completed 10 large-scale irrigation projects, adding 7,203 hectares of formal irrigation area, and have submitted a financing application for the National Irrigation Development Project to the finance department. Irrigation projects under construction include the Kabuyanda project in Isingiro District, the Namaitsu project in Bududa District, and the Chembobai project in Bukwo District.