The Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (Agra), an organisation that seeks to transform African agriculture, has launched a new five-year strategy to boost the competitiveness of Uganda's agri-food systems in line with the country's development blueprint, Vision 2040.
The event took place on June 30 at Kampala Serena hotel. The strategy, which will run from 2023 to 2027, will focus mainly on an inclusive market system and export trade in value-added agricultural commodities supported by enhanced market actor competitiveness, with other objectives being increased production of quality produce in a sustainable manner while managing climate risks to smallholder farmers resilience, strengthened capacity for agricultural sector institutions for implementation, coordination, mutual accountability at the national and subnational level, and strengthened systems for delivery of agricultural inputs and good agricultural practices.
While launching the new strategy in Kampala recently, Dr John Jaggwe, the country manager of Agra, said even though the organisation started in 2007 with a focus on seeds and fertilisers, they have since broadened their outlook towards the journey of agricultural transformation, where markets, inclusive finance, extension, and sustainable farming are important.
"In this new strategy we are launching, our entry point will be on markets and value addition, but we shall also not forget the issues of productivity and production, which are driven by good seed systems. So we will continue supporting Uganda with its seed industry, especially in the quality of seeds that are accessed by smallholder farmers, and our efforts will be more on strengthening seed inspection and certification," Jaggwe said, adding that they will also offer support to farmers on how to farm sustainably and manage the challenges of climate change.
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The organisation says it hopes to achieve these strategy objectives through interventions such as policy and state capability, which will support the government in creating an enabling environment for private sector involvement in agricultural transformation, and seed systems, which will help trigger higher productivity through improved seeds, thus improving the pathway for farmers' income and better food security for the country.
Other interventions lined up will be sustainable farming, which will ensure farmers are building resilient farming systems to enable them to achieve sustainable crop productivity, and inclusive markets and trade, which will help to bring farmers and businesses into a positive and sustainable cycle of commercialization and investment, as well as support strategies that eliminate barriers to participation for women and youth, enabling them to contribute and benefit from agricultural transformation.
Dr George Bigirwa, Agra's vice president, said that through this strategy, Agra wishes to join the government of Uganda and other partners to transform the country's food system, and he strongly believes that collectively, these investments focused on systematic change will help to build a sustainable food system.
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