Start › Land & People: Uganda Country Information › Uganda’s Economy: On the Way Up › Agriculture in Uganda
Around 65 % of Ugandans work in agriculture; its share of gross domestic product is about 26 %. The largest GDP sector is now services (World Bank 2025). Fertile volcanic soils and sufficient rainfall guarantee comparatively good harvests.
Nevertheless, almost all farmers produce only for their own needs (subsistence farming). The main crops are cooking bananas (matoke), rice, cassava and beans.
The most important agricultural export product remains coffee (record exports 2024/25: 7.77 million bags or USD 2.22 billion); cotton, tobacco and tea follow at a distance. New sources of foreign currency are gold and – since 2026 – crude oil. At European fish counters the Nile perch is known as “Lake Victoria perch”; tilapia is also fished in Lake Victoria.
Further Links
- What is meant by subsistence farming?
- Background information on the tilapia or Lake Victoria perch