Category: News Release

A Case of Soroti and Katakwi Districts Teso Sub-Region, Uganda

With funding from Independent Development Fund (IDF), Food Rights Alliance commissioned a study exploring the relationship between food insecurity and vulnerability to socioeconomic challenges including child vulnerability to trafficking in Soroti and Katakwi districts. Child trafficking is the most common and worst form of violence against children, and continues to increase. A number of studies point to poverty as the main cause of this offence to children, but the specific dimension of poverty that explains this activity is not known. This book provides an indepth look into this vice by concretely establishing and documenting this relationship that has largely been under looked. FRA gains insight into this dark consequence that arises out of the lack of vigilance to the effects of household food insecurity that has promoted the transfer and movement of children away from their homes.

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My name is Barbara Alupo. I am 29-year-old. I am a single mother of three, and smallholder farmer. I live in Damasiko village Soroti district, Uganda. For the past 10 years, I have sustained my livelihood through farming. I grow multiple crops such as rice, groundnuts, peas, cassava, sorghum, and citrus.

After receiving training from the Food Rights Alliance consultant and listening to the radio programs sponsored by FRA on the importance of crop separation, I started dividing my crops into two categories: those for market and those for my home consumption.

I now store the majority of my market portion for the off-season in order to gain higher profits. As a result, I have been able to get higher profits from which I have sent my children to school and I am saving to build a house.
Barbara has shown how farm planning can influence a change in priority, which allows those who use this technique to afford things they wouldn’t otherwise be able to.

“There is money in agriculture if you put your effort into it.” Barbara avows.

 By Hilda Nabakooza

 
The Uganda economy is agrarian and over 80% of the population is engaged in agriculture for both household consumption and marketable surplus. The majority of rural population relies on subsistence agriculture as a source of livelihood. However many times efforts of the farmers go to waste due to high post-harvest losses.

In Uganda the issue of food losses is of high importance in the efforts to combat hunger, raise income and improve food security in the country. Food losses have an impact on food security for poor people, food quality and safety, economic development and the environment.

Food is mostly lost during the production-to-processing stages of the food supply chain. Food losses are influenced by crop production choices, patterns, internal infrastructure and capacity, marketing chains, channels for distribution, and consumer purchasing and food use practices. Irrespective of the level of economic development and maturity of systems in a country, food losses should be kept to a minimum.

Food losses represent a waste of resources used in production such as land, water, energy and inputs. Producing food that will not be consumed leads to unnecessary carbon dioxide emissions in addition to loss of economic value of the food produced.

Economically avoidable food losses have a direct and negative impact on the income of both farmers and consumers. Given that many smallholders live on the margins of food insecurity, a reduction in food losses could have an immediate and significant impact on their livelihoods. For poor consumers (food insecure or at-risk households), the priority is clearly to have access to food products that are nutritious, safe and affordable. It is important to note that food insecurity is often more a question of access (purchasing power and prices of food) than a supply problem.

Improving the efficiency of the food supply chain could help to bring down the cost of food to the consumer and thus increase access. Given the magnitude of food losses, making profitable investments in reducing losses could be one way of reducing the cost of food. But that would, of course, require that financial gains from reduced losses are not outweighed by their costs.

There should be effective communication and cooperation between farmers. Cooperation among farmers could reduce risk of overproduction by allowing surplus crops from one farm to solve a shortage of crops on another.
Stagnation of growth in the agricultural sector could be partly attributed to inadequate and ineffective delivery of extension services. This has led to low adoption of appropriate agricultural production technologies which has in turn resulted into failure to transform agricultural production from subsistence to commercial farming.

By Agnes Kirabo

With support from Action Aid Uganda, FRA and officials from Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries set off on the first ever Learning Route on the week of 27th November. The focus of this weeklong trip was to establish the efficiency and effectiveness of the implementation of the Single Spine Agricultural Extension system since its approval by cabinet in 2014. Whereas a year may seem too short to measure efficiency and effectiveness, it is again too long to neglect tracking the implementation and delivery of such a critical service.

The learning route was not only taken by FRA, Action Aid and MAAIF but included members of the Non-State Actors Working Group on Agricultural Extension (UNFFE, CSBAG, Jenga Africa and the media).  The route that covered districts of Amuria, Ngora, Kumi, Kaberamaido, Pader, Nwoya, Amuru, Apach, Gulu Namutumba, Kapchorwa, Katakwi and Soroti provided a platform for engagement between farmers, Local Government officials and other stakeholders with officials from MAAIF regarding the Single Spine. The route further gave an opportunity to the learners to have interactions with selected farmers to have the practical experience of agricultural extension service delivery.

Among the key observations made was that the conceptual description of the Single Spine is far different from the structural layout approved by Government. The former is more inclusive, interactive and recognizes the contribution of various stakeholders to the provision and delivery of agricultural extension. The approved structure by cabinet on the other hand represents the traditional system of public provision and delivery of extension with an additional elaboration of the newly established Directorate at national level.

The contradicting circulars regarding the recruitment of extension workers issued to local government during the year brought to the learners’ attention the many gaps between the theory and reality of the Single Spine approach. Although there was general consensus that all districts received not less than 90 million to undertake recruitment, there was no consensus or harmonized approach undertaken among the visited districts. It was further learnt that many districts had not embarked on the recruitment 5 months away to the end of the financial year.

The learners further learnt that although local governments had received money for recruitment, none of these has a wage bill to facilitate the recruited staff to reach out to farmers. This poses a risk of the duplication and replication of the challenges of the public traditional agricultural extension system that was disbanded in 2000 citing challenges of poor outreach, inefficiency and ineffectiveness among others.

Another observation learners made was that farmers look at agricultural extension in a more holistic view to include production, natural resource management, forestry, indigenous knowledge, marketing, primary health care, knowledge and technology transfer; and nutrition. With the absence of marketing, farmers do not have a feel of the value of agricultural extension.

The farm visits too provided a mixture of learning experiences. Although there was considerable visible increase in production and productivity, access to agricultural extension was never cited as a priority contributing factor. The farmers who have had previous experiences and exposure based on interactions and strategic positioning with the previous NAADS appeared to be more progressive, beating the dynamics of production and marketing compared to their counterparts who have not had such opportunities.

Radio and fellow farmers were mentioned in high priority as key sources of agricultural extension followed by NGOs. The confusion between NAADs, Operation Wealth Creation and the Single Spine seem to be growing instead of being addressed. The learners broadly concluded that there is a distinctive disarray between the realities and the structure presented, approved and being implemented.

It was further concluded that the gap between MAAIF, the newly created directorate and local governments needs to be closed in terms of communication, interaction, planning, financing and implementation. Furthermore, the approved structure of the single spine needs further review to make it inclusive and cover the most important aspects of agricultural extension as well as the multiple providers of agricultural extension. More questions regarding the NAADS secretariat and its relationship with the single spine were raised than answered. This was not different from the matters of Operation Wealth Creation.

The single spine agricultural extension system may have taken root following the approval of cabinet, establishment of the directorate and the start of the recruitment of extension workers. However, the root maybe so blunt to touch the base (farmers) where it is needed most or the structure may be too hard to allow its penetration. There is therefor need to address the structural challenges of the system and the infrastructural bottlenecks around the system.

By Jude SSebuliba

On 28th April, FRA participated in the 3rd annual meeting of Ugandan Farmers Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (UFAAS). The meeting was majorly intended to review the National Agricultural Extension Strategy, include civil society contribution to the strategy, giving members a platform to exhibit all they are doing towards promoting agricultural extension and brainstorming on how to get youths involved in agriculture.

The meeting was held alongside an exhibition by Access Agriculture, AFAAS, CABI, ExcelHort, Farm Radio International, FRA, Gayaza High School, Heifer International, Sasakawa Global 2000, UFAAS, VEDCO, Young Farmers Coalition of Uganda and ZAABTA who exhibited on a wide range of agriculture related issues including; Post Harvest Handling, Documentation of Agricultural Practices, Running Plant Clinics, Bean Campaign, ExcelHort Business Approaches, Dairy Hubs community anchors, Up scaling Rabbit farming in Uganda, Community-Based Farmer to Farmer extension approach, The Nokia Farmer Approach among others that can help improve agricultural extension.

The meeting deliberated that, there’s a need for government to partner with CSOs to ensure that services of agricultural extension reach rural farmers. It was also agreed that as Civil Society Organisations’ work directly with rural farmers, the easiest way to effectively reach them is through CSOs that already have established structures to do so. Additionally, it was suggested that Extension workers should have some agribusiness knowledge, this will enable them pass on the same to the farmers so as to practice agriculture like a business. The meeting aired out the capacities of the extension workers, the workers should have different capacities when conducting the extension services for example the extension workers should have the capacity to monitor and evaluate themselves.

Suggestions were on how to get the youth interested in agriculture were also made and among these was the increase of ICT usage in agriculture. Since majority of youth are attracted to ICT, it was agreed that anything targeting them should leverage on this interest, other suggestions included organising the youth in groups to learn as a group and also from their peers. Additionally improving infrastructure in the rural areas will lower the rates of rural-urban migration and as such keep the youth in the rural areas where most agriculture is practiced.

The meeting ended with a pledge by a UFAAS executive to channel the day’s deliberations to the Directorate of Extension Services for inclusion into the AEAS Policy it is tabled it to cabinet.

On March 8th every year, women are celebrated across the world. On this day, the world comes together to exalt the vital role that women play in economic, social, cultural and political development for themselves, their families and communities at large. In this celebration, there is also a reflection on the plight women face on this path to development.

Food Rights Alliance a coalition of members advocating for the Right to adequate food, recognizes most importantly that women are indeed a linchpin in regional development. This is evidenced by the fact that women are the core actors on the frontlines of food production in Uganda. On this basis therefore, FRA views empowering women not only as the precise thing to do but also the smart thing to do. The empowerment of women should be seen as a poverty reduction strategy anywhere in the world and thus the need to heavily invest in women as potential resources in the war to eradicate hunger and malnutrition.

While envisioning a world free from hunger and malnutrition, FRA in partnership with her members recognizes and works towards highlighting the need to enhance women’s resilience to shocks of exclusion and poverty in relation to the roles they play in strengthening economic security in Uganda. FRA calls for much greater attention to women in promoting development, ensuring food security and food sovereignty in the country. The task of elevating women from the bottom of the power pyramid and live up to their potential calls for an all hands on deck mentality and thus, we each have a role to play, but we can make even more progress together.

Regina Kabasomi
FRA Secretariat

25 February 2016, Kampala – FRA in collaboration with PELUM Uganda and the NSA Working Group on Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services (AEAS) reforms on Thursday successfully held the 1st National colloquium on the AEAS reforms.

The colloquium that attracted over 90 participants was a continuation of a multi stakeholder engagement process. This process aims at generating practical strategies for an effective and inclusive implementation of extension service reforms aimed at realizing a vibrant agricultural sector. This high level event focused on the financing of agricultural extension particularly on addressing the existing gaps and challenges, and tapping into the opportunities.

The meeting provided a dialogue forum for sharing experiences, research results and recommendations on how to develop a practical and implementable policy and strategy. Preliminary findings from an analytical desk review of extension policy and budget allocation on the current Agricultural Extension reforms were also presented at the event.

Key issues addressed during the meeting, which will form the basis for refining the policy and the strategy included farmer co-financing of extension services; youth engagement in agriculture particularly in developing innovations to ease access to agricultural extension; funding and replicating research to bridge the gap between research and extension; and the need for government subsidization on agro-inputs.

In her opening remarks, the FRA Executive Director, Ms. Agnes Kirabo, noted that majority of policies developed in Uganda fail at implementation as one crucial aspect of their development – financing- is often left out from the start. She emphasized the importance of covering all the financing aspects of the extension system in the current reforms. Although farmer co-financing was noted to be a complex approach, participants agreed that farmers would likely be willing to pay for the extension services if they are of a satisfactory quality.

Addressing the meeting, Ms. Byarugaba Beatrice the Director of Agricultural Extension mentioned that the Ministry of Agriculture is taking a number of steps to improve the sector right from the grassroots.

“MAAIF is currently developing a strategy for engaging youth in agriculture; an extension strategy; and a communications strategy to foster development of the sector” She said.

Inadequate funding of agriculture has been a persistent challenge in Uganda – with only 3% of the budget allocated to the sector- and yet 72 of every 100 Ugandans are deriving their livelihoods from it. For a sector that contributes 23% to the GDP of Uganda, agriculture, and particularly agricultural extension -it’s heart and soul- ought to be prioritized in the country’s financial allocations.

Matilda Nakawungu
FRA Secretariat

Women play a vital role in the survival and progress of our livelihoods; they are after all, major players in household food and nutrition security.

Globally, statistics show that women contribute 66% of the world’s work, produce 50% of the food available and yet earn only 10% of the agricultural income and own just 1% of property (UNDP, 2011). In Uganda, the picture is no different with four out of every five women in the country employed in agriculture. These facts go to show that women hold an important role in the production that fuels our economic growth and wellbeing. Although there have been advancements in women’s emancipation in recent years, there are still many existing barricades that impede women’s resilience to shocks of exclusion, poverty and traumatic stressors of hunger and malnutrition and in turn threaten our survival and progress.

In the national context, the social protection agenda is grounded in a governmental policy arena. In providing social protection, governments develop policies and programmes to address economic, environmental and social vulnerabilities to food insecurity and poverty. This in turn promotes the human rights of the marginalized groups and individuals. The core responsibility of any government should be to protect the people it governs against hardships through sustainable and well implemented socio-economic policies and programmes.

Earlier this year, a study was commissioned by FRA in partnership with War on Want, Northern Ireland and Rosa Luxemburg Stiftung to establish who bears the greatest brunt of women’s exclusion in agriculture. Findings from this study that was carried out in Ngora and Amuria districts revealed a great number of gaps that increase women’s vulnerability to shocks of poverty, hunger and malnutrition. The most outstanding among these was the gap in Uganda’s commitments to promote social protection, particularly poor implementation of policies.

It is agreed that Uganda has an elaborate national and international legal, policy and institutional framework to protect and support women’s rights, prohibit discrimination and address their exclusion from development interventions. The development plans in the Amuria and Ngora districts recognize the challenges women face, and different by-laws have been put in place to mitigate these challenges.

However, the major challenge that continues to burden women is the weaknesses in the implementation of these laws and policies. Given our competing agendas, what are our roles as rights holders, CSOs and development partners in the demand, design, implementation and delivery of social protection interventions? One way to realize social protection is through cooperating for development through an approach of mutual accountability. The principle behind this approach is that it promotes an equal partnership between duty bearers and rights holders. This approach can be a key means of ensuring compliance to different social protection policies and programmes.

Over the years, FRA and her partners have observed that social accountability is largely approached in the context of mobilizing citizens to demand accountability as rights holders. However, few efforts have been undertaken that allow citizens to appreciate the roles and responsibilities they hold with duty bearers. The roles and responsibilities held by rights holders and duty bearers alike constitute a social contract.

Future actions and interventions at various levels by CSOs and other development partners should thus be centered on strengthening this contract, providing platforms for mutual accountability and enhancing the capacity of rights holders to police and demand for accountability of government social protection commitments.

Regina Kayoyo
FRA Secretariat