17th National Competitiveness Forum

Government has invested Shs 4.3 trillion across 10,589 parishes under the Parish Development Model, reaching more than 3.7 million households by June 2026. Exports reached about USD 18.04 billion in the twelve months to March 2026, up from USD 5.93 billion four years earlier — but that public investment has not translated proportionately into export growth.

The 17th Forum took up that gap. Its concept note named fragmented smallholder supply, post-harvest losses of 20–40%, limited value addition and weak compliance with sanitary and traceability standards as the reasons production does not reach premium markets, and proposed an aggregation model linking scattered producers to firms with a pre-determined market, extension capacity, post-harvest infrastructure and financing.

The programme was built around three working sessions: export-oriented agricultural financing, the value chain approach to export-ready volumes, and the implications for the FY 2027/28 budget and NDP IV. This page will be updated with the programme as held, the communiqué and photographs once PSDU shares them.

The Forum's communiqué, resolutions and stakeholder commitments have not yet been published. They will be added here, and agreed actions tracked on the Reforms Tracker, once PSDU releases them.