Access and use of agricultural records at Uganda National Archives and Records Centre

Abstract

This paper focused on access and use of agriculture archives at the Uganda National Archives and Records Centre (NARC) in Kampala. The objectives of this study were to identify the agriculture archives at the NARC, establish the number of MAAIF and NARI staff that consult the agriculture archives, assess researcher’s opinion on agriculture archives in promoting agriculture research, identify challenges of access and use; and make suggestions for enhancing access and use of agriculture archives at NARC. The study purposively sampled five NARC archivists, seven directors of the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) and 15 heads of departments in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF). Data was collected using interviews, observations and document analysis. Data was categorised into themes and the content reported in narrative form. The findings revealed that the NARC had a limited collection of agriculture archives due to the fact that there was no mechanism to collect all agriculture archives from the creating agencies, including MAAIF and NARI. Neither was there a mechanism for promoting access to and use of agriculture archives. The study recommends that the NARC should have a spelt-out budget to carry out documentation, collection and promotion of access and use of agriculture archives.