Previous project
Thirsty Bees

Productive Farms - Feed Me and I Will Feed You

An initiative to empower smallholder farmers with capacities to boost agricultural production for food and income generation and protection of the environment.

Municipality

UG
Kaberamaido, Uganda del este,

Category / Sub-Category / Topic

Economic development, Family agriculture

Type of investment needed

Grant

Associated SDGs

The challenge

Reduction in agricultural yields has consistently remained the major challenge for the small holder farmers who rely on the farm for a livelihood. According to the data collected in field work, over 75% of household land is used for crop growing from which only 50% of the harvest is realized. At least 40 % of the households engage in poor agricultural practices and use rudimentary tools for farm work, thus impeding their capacities to meet food and income household needs.

The project

The initiative seeks to develop and pilot community crop management system using simple but effective community approaches to organize and build the capacity of farmers, and work in coordination with value chain actors to boost farm yields, it will focus on the following components:

  • Building a community of practice to enhance farmers abilities to work together for increased yields of selected value chains: Communities will play a leading role in the selection and development of value chains using participatory guarantee system. This is a locally focused quality assurance system based on trust, active participation and shared values among group members. A group can choose a value chain and use PGS to engage in production and marketing for income generation.
  • Strengthening of a seed system for clean planting materials. Capabilities will be developed in seed multiplication and storage, hence bringing services nearer to the communities. Certification of the seed community seed multipliers will increase their acceptability and value of their activities.
  • Establishing a community extension system that is value chain specific to aid sharing of new knowledge and good agricultural practices targeted to boost plant health and yield. There will be direct contact between the community of practice through the selected Key farmer with the Government Extension Officer. This will mitigate challenges associated with absence of government extension service.


Know more...

Kaberamaido, a district in Uganda, is home to approximately 215,026 people, as reported by the 2014 census. The district's Production Department, under the leadership of the District Production Officer, plays a pivotal role in enhancing crop production. Comprising various sectors, including crop and livestock, the department is tasked with providing technical support to farmers and clients, aiming to elevate production levels and productivity. The overarching goals include ensuring food security, boosting household incomes, and promoting the sustainable use of natural resources.

The District Position paper emphasizes the prioritization of smallholder farmers to benefit from outreach activities, fostering an environment conducive to increased crop, livestock, and fisheries production. The collaborative efforts of organized smallholder farmer groups, which facilitate knowledge sharing and mutual support, are integral to achieving success in crop and livestock production.

Despite these efforts, the agricultural sector faces persistent challenges, including the lack of key production factors such as tools, equipment, knowledge, skills, and water for agriculture. These obstacles hinder the potential for increased production and productivity per unit of land. Consequently, there is a direct impact on the volumes of agricultural products available for households, leaving smallholder farmers unable to generate sufficient food and income to meet their basic needs.

  • Formation of CoP: Mapping the villages, sensitization via meeting. Design and pilot a community of practice model in 1 sub county. 4 CoP will be registered with 100 farmers
  • Training and formation of PGS: The community of practice will be trained to establish a participatory guarantee system (PGS) for each value chain. It’s through the PGS that good agricultural practices will be entrenched for the management of crops.
  • Establish of F2F Extension: Establishment of community extension system that is value chain specific to aid sharing of new knowledge and good agricultural practices targeted to boost plant health and yield
  • Training CoP in good agricultural practices: The 8 community key farmer trainers will train their members in key aspects of crop management
  • Land opening support for timely crop growing: The 4 CoPs will each be supported with 8 pairs of oxen and 2 ploughs for land opening. Often time, the delay in land opening causes delay in planting leading to low crop yields
  • Develop seed System/Banks: Seed banks will be established and will act as storage for clean seed and supported with relevant materials for storage and post-harvest handling
  • Practical training in post harvest: Provision of materials and equipment will be done such as tarpaulins, pics bags and weighing scales for safe storage, storage containers for seed

Direct results

  • 1 Community of practice model and farmer to farmer extension designed and piloted
  • 4 Communities of practice registered and 8 farmers trained to conduct farmer to farmer extension
  • A participatory guarantee system (PGS ) system will be established
  • 4 groups implement PGS
  • 120 small holder farmers practice good agricultural practice

Expected Impact

  • To increase crop yields of 4 villages by 50% and obtain 30% increment in amount harvested in one year
  • To reach 5 types of value chains selected by each CoP for food and income generation in one year
  • To reach an active extension service for small holder farmers in one year

  • Magdalene Amujal, Executive Director of Kulika Uganda (magdalene@kulika.org)
  • Joseph Agaja, District Production Officer, Kaberamaido Local Government (joshagaja@gmail.com)


Investment

(*): In kind/pro bonus

(**): Financing

Goods and inputs
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

Material de oficina (**)

u$s 915.00

u$s 767.00

u$s 148.00

Té y agua (**)

u$s 700.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 700.00

1 Laptop (**)

u$s 1000.00

u$s 1000.00

u$s 0.00

8 bueyes y 2 arados por juego (**)

u$s 3000.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 3000.00

Compra de semillas para 5 cadenas de valor (**)

u$s 4500.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 4500.00

4 almacenes y materiales de almacenamiento para semillas (**)

u$s 5000.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 5000.00

Capacitación y equipo para el manejo post-cosecha (**)

u$s 4000.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 4000.00

1 motocicleta para la coordinación de actividades (**)

u$s 2500.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 2500.00

Material informativo (1 lágrima, 1 banner desplegable, 200 camisetas) (**)

u$s 2747.25

u$s 0.00

u$s 2747.25

Services
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

4 capacitaciones sobre extensión de agricultores a agricultores (**)

u$s 800.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 800.00

Capacitación a 10 multiplicadores de semillas (**)

u$s 500.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 500.00

Capacitación en buenas prácticas agrícolas / materiales (**)

u$s 3000.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 3000.00

Tarifas de certificación para la capacitación de 10 multiplicadores de semillas (**)

u$s 1333.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 1333.00

Capacitación de la comunidad de práctica y del Sistema de Garantía Participativa (**)

u$s 1500.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 1500.00

Inicio del proyecto (alquiler de salón, reembolso de transporte, comidas para 50 participantes) (**)

u$s 1500.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 1500.00

Visitas de campo de monitoreo trimestrales (**)

u$s 2134.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 2134.00

Human resources
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

1 Gerente de Proyecto (**)

u$s 8200.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 8200.00

8 Facilitadores de Capacitación de Agricultores Clave (**)

u$s 5120.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 5120.00

Seguro médico y integral (**)

u$s 400.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 400.00

Others
Funds
Needed
Covered
Solicited

Transporte (**)

u$s 14373.63

u$s 0.00

u$s 14373.63

Paquetes de datos (**)

u$s 250.00

u$s 250.00

u$s 0.00

Gastos administrativos (**)

u$s 8000.00

u$s 0.00

u$s 8000.00

TOTAL AMOUNTS:

u$s 71472.88

u$s 2017.00

u$s 69455.88

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