Uganda's main food crops have been plantains, cassava, sweet potatoes, millet, sorghum, corn, beans, and groundnuts. Major cash crops have been coffee, cotton, tea, and tobacco, although in the 1980s many farmers sold food crops to meet short-term expenses. The production of cotton, tea, and tobacco virtually collapsed during the late 1970s and early 1980s. In the late 1980s, the government attempted to encourage diversification in commercial agriculture that would lead to a variety of nontraditional exports. The Uganda Development Bank and several other institutions supplied credit to local farmers, although small farmers also received credit directly from the government through agricultural cooperatives. For most small farmers, the main source of short-term credit was the policy of allowing farmers to delay payments for seeds and other agricultural inputs provided by cooperatives. Cooperatives also handled most marketing activity, although marketing boards and private companies sometimes dealt directly with producers. Co-operatives had been very successful during the British Colonial period but later many farmers complained that cooperatives did not pay for produce until long after it had been sold. The generally low producer prices set by the government and the problem of delayed payments for produce prompted many farmers to sell produce at higher prices on illegal markets in neighboring countries. During most of the 1980s, the government steadily raised producer prices for export crops in order to maintain some incentive for farmers to deal with government purchasing agents, but these incentives failed to prevent widespread smuggling.
Industries
Industry is very limited in Uganda. The most important sectors are the processing of agricultural products (such as coffee curing), the manufacture of light consumer goods and textiles, and the production of beverages, electricity, and cement. The production of beer in Uganda has increased dramatically in recent years, rising from 215,000 hectoliters in 1988 to 896,000 in 1997. Similarly, cement production has expanded from a low of 15,000 metric tons in 1988 to 290,000 in 1997. Of lesser importance is the production of sawn wood, remaining stable at 83,000 cubic meters from 1994 onwards. However, there is little evidence of the sufficient replanting of trees, which may not only affect this level of production but could have adverse environmental effects such as soil erosion and increased landslides. A key block to the development of Uganda's industrial and commercial sector is corruption. Bribes are commonly demanded to acquire even the most basic services such as an electricity supply and telephones.
Natural Resources
Uganda has substantial natural resources, including fertile soils, regular rainfall, and sizeable mineral deposits of copper and cobalt. The country has largely untapped reserves of both crude oil and natural gas.