Government to inject sh11b in cooperatives
New Vision
Government is seeking an additional funding of sh11 billion to facilitate and support cooperatives revival and development in the country, as one way to boost value addition and marketing of agricultural produce. According to trade Minister Kyambadde, government views cooperatives as being central in mobilizing and organizing farm-level production, value addition, marketing, savings and financial intermediation at all the local levels. The minister sees it is a means through which productive enterprises involving indigenous entrepreneurs can be built at all levels.

Four key ministries to suffer budget cuts next fiscal year
Daily Monitor
Health, Agriculture, Security and Lands ministries could lose up to Ush300 billion as budget allocations for new financial year takes shape. The agriculture sector is likely to receive Shs100b less than what was allocated to it this year. Only Shs336b has been earmarked for its activities against the Shs434b received in 2011/12. This means the agriculture sector will take about 3.2 per cent of the national budget compared to 4.3 per cent this financial year.

One million Ugandans out of poverty between 2006 and 2010
New Vision
About one million Ugandans, or around 6.6 per cent of the population, have moved out of the absolute poverty bracket of living on just 1.25 USD a day between 2006 and 2010 as a result of the diversification of economic activities in the country, a new report indicates. The Poverty Status Report produced by the Ministry of Finance indicates that Ugandans living below the poverty line fell to 24.5% (7.5 million) in 2009/2010 from 31.1% (8.5 million) in 2005/06.

UN's IFAD to lend Uganda up to $80 mln for farming
Reuters Africa
The International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will lend Uganda up to $80 million between 2013 and 2015 to boost agricultural production, IFAD's president said.

Agricultural and food policy research
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Spatial data infrastructure for monitoring development outcomes in Uganda
GIC & ESRI Canada -- December 2011
Spatial Data Infrastructure (SDI) has been identified as an effective tool for monitoring development outcomes in Uganda. There are a number of isolated activities and initiatives in Uganda that are directed to the realization of SDI objectives. These include using GIS tools to collect, analyze and publish data as well as setting up programs. This study found that most of these projects are donor funded, therefore, making it important for the government to set up a body that oversees SDI related activities such as monitoring and evaluation of development funds, leadership, legal framework, technology, policy and legislations regarding spatial data in the country. There is particular need to ensure SDI implementation sustainability through successive, smaller, “quick win” deliverables, building on existing efforts, structures, and institutional arrangements.

Designing food security projects: Kapchorwa and Bukwo, Uganda
F Alinyo & T Leahy - Development in Practice, 2012
Food security is a key aspect of human development. The present article explores the shortcomings of agricultural interventions in two districts in eastern Uganda. Our study shows that these interventions have achieved only minor successes in relieving rural poverty and strengthening food security. Programmes that support prominent farmers with the aim of commercial development are unlikely to touch the poor. Food insecurity is related to the gendered division of agricultural work, control of cash income and the cycle of planting, harvest and crop sales for poor farmers. The present article recommends a set of effective subsistence-based strategies for poor farmers with an emphasis on the interests of women.

Africa Progress Report 2012 - Jobs, justice and equity: Seizing opportunities in times of global change
Africa Progress Panel – 2012
The report, the purpose of which is to provide an overview of the progress Africa has made over the previous year, warns that Africa’s strong economic growth trajectory – which will see the region increase the pace of growth well beyond 5 per cent over the next two years – is at risk because of rising inequality and the marginalisation of whole sections of society. The report notes that Africa has seven of the world’s fastest-growing economies, with 70% of Africa’s population living in countries that have averaged economic growth rates in excess of 4 per cent over the past decade. However, the report also records that most countries are not on track to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015, flagging slow progress in areas such as child nutrition, child survival, maternal health, and education.

Modernisation and time preferences in Tanzania: Evidence from a large-scale elicitation exercise
B D'Exelle, B van Campenhout & E Lecoutere- Journal of Development Studies, 2012
Assumptions about individual time preferences are important for explanations of poverty and development. Data from a large-scale elicitation exercise in Tanzania show significantly higher levels of impatience in urban areas than in rural areas. We attribute this to differences in ‘modernisation’ between urban and rural areas, with modernisation leading to increased impatience. This is corroborated by the observed positive correlation between impatience and education; the latter being an important vehicle of modernisation for traditional societies in Tanzania.

Scholarship opportunity

Dissertation research fellowships on gender and agriculture
International Food Policy Research Institute
IFPRI and its partners announce a call for applications for PhD dissertation research fellowships on the Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index (WEAI). The first of its kind to directly capture women’s empowerment and inclusion levels in the agricultural sector, the purpose of the Index is to understand why women in developing countries face persistent obstacles and economic constraints to inclusion in the agriculture sector though they play a critical role in agricultural growth. The threefold goal of the fellowship is to strengthen understanding and evidence of the WEAI; expand understanding of WEAI dynamics through complementary qualitative and ethnographic work; and support promising researchers interested in gender and agriculture.

NGO report on land grabbing - two NGOs face deregistration
Independent.co.ug
Two non- governmental organisations, Oxfam and Uganda Land Alliance, face de-registration for what government calls inciting violence over land issues. On Thursday April 26, the Internal Affairs Minister, Hillary Onek, under whose docket the NGOs fall, summoned representatives of the two NGOs to explain an anti-land campaign they are involved in. He wanted to know what land grabbing they are campaigning against and whether it exists in Uganda.

Farmers suffer as co-ops pay price of graft and politics
Business Daily Africa
Paul Mangheni was a thriving farmer. Not anymore. When his crops were ready during the good times, he contacted a co-operative society that would pick up his stock and issue him with a cheque Mr Mangheni did not have to look for a market or negotiate the prices for his crops. Storage was also provided. All he had to do was to farm and make sure the quantity would serve the local and export markets. But years later, co-operatives got embroiled in the politics and corruption of the day. They degenerated to a point where they were as good as dead.

The tide turns in favour of biotech foods
Mail & Guardian Online
African countries, especially those south of the Sahara, broadly agree on a number of changes and improvements needed to ensure greater food security, such as easier trade between countries and support for small-scale farmers. But some issues still divide policy­makers and are holding back development. Until recently, the adoption of genetically modified crops would have topped that list, but that is rapidly changing. South Africa used to be the only country on the continent with the commercial use of genetically modified crops. But in 2011 Egypt and Burkina Faso had commercial-scale genetically modified crops under cultivation (though only cotton and not food crops in Burkina Faso). Ghana, Kenya, Malawi, Mali, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe are in various stages of planting, field trials and research into a range of genetically modified crops, including maize, wheat and sorghum.

Agricultural and food policy research
Note that if you experience any trouble in downloading any of these research documents, you can contact us by e-mail for assistance IFPRI-KampalaCommunications@CGIAR.org. We can offer no guarantees that we will be able to provide the document, but we may have other avenues to pursue to assist you.

The growth performance evaluation of cattle breeds in the south western agro-ecological zone (SWAEZ) of Uganda
C Lagu, RN Mutaka, J Oluka, S Byenkya, BL Ayoo, I Nabukenya, & P Ntakyo – 2012, A Bird's-Eye View of Veterinary Medicine, CC Perez-Marin, ed.
The study demonstrated that Boran cattle performed much better than the rest of other breeds in terms of growth followed by Ankole, Friesian cross and Boran cross respectively. It was found that the performance of cattle breeds did not vary significantly among the different geographical areas of Mbarara, Kiruhura, Ibanda and Sembabule except months six and months eight. The genotypes of the breeds were very important in performance evaluations. It was however noted that, husbandry practices related to feeding, deworming, spraying, mineral supplementation and other disease control measures were paramount in promoting the full potential of the breeds. Other important factors to consider included environmental conditions e.g. temperature, humidity etc.

Factors in the transfer of governance-facilitation skills within farmers' marketing organizations in Uganda
RF Miiro, RE Mazur, & FB Matsiko – 2012. The Journal of Agricultural Education and Extension - Volume 18, Issue 3
This study sought to identify factors that best explain the transfer of governance-facilitation skills provided to leaders of farmers' marketing organizations (FMOs) in Uganda. Face to face interviews were conducted with 99 FMO leaders to collect data on the factors that could affect transfer of governance-facilitation skills. Hierarchical regression revealed that personal capacity to transfer, transfer design, supervisor support and feedback on performance were significant predictors of perceived transfer of governance-facilitation skills. The results point to the need for extension organizations that work with rural farmers' organizations to design effective training methods and transfer approaches that enhance training transfer, as well as promote leadership that values and supports training transfer to FMOs.

She came, she saw, she sowed: Re-negotiating gender-responsive priorities for effective development of agricultural biotechnology in sub-Saharan Africa
OC Ezezika, J Deadman & AS Daar - Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics
In this paper, we argue for the importance of incorporating a gendered perspective for the effective development of sustainable agricultural biotechnology systems in sub-Saharan Africa. This is essential for successfully addressing food security and poverty reduction. We have found that incorporating a gendered perspective is critical for the sustainable development of agricultural biotechnology and requires attention in five areas:

• the inclusion of women, particularly women farmers, in decision-making around biotech/genetically modified (GM) crop and trait selection;
• equal representation of women as men in education for agricultural science and in agricultural biotechnology research and development professions;
• greater involvement of women in extension services and farmers’ associations for successful delivery of information about biotech crops equality between men and women in access to resources for biotech/GM crop cultivation; and
• increased control for women farmers over biotech/GM crop management and income generation.

Govt launches Shs180 billion agriculture programme
Daily Monitor
government will spend $73 million (about UShs180 billion) on agricultural value addition and enabling improved access to markets for farmers in western region. The five-year Community Agricultural Infrastructure Improvement Programme (CAIIP), is jointly funded by African Development Bank (Shs150.8b), Islamic Development Bank (Shs25.1b) and the government (Shs8.8b). “The programme will focus on three components: improving infrastructure, especially roads, provision of markets by constructing new markets, and value addition to primary products through provision of agro-processing factories like milk coolers, coffee haulers and maize mills,” the Local Government Minister, Mr Adolf Mwesige said.

Hima Cement to use coffee husks as energy source
East African
Hima Cement, is looking to use alternative sources of energy to power its manufacturing plant in Uganda. The firm has rolled out a Ush2 billion project to increase production of coffee in the Rwenzori region, western Uganda, by providing seedlings. Hima in turn will get coffee husks to use as an alternative energy source, thus reducing its reliance on fossil fuels such as coal, oil, natural gas or petroleum. The plant currently uses 150 tonnes of coffee husks to generate electricity, representing 40 per cent of the plant’s energy requirements.

Farmers to benefit from US$7m commercial agricultural products project
Africa Science News Service
Farmers in six African countries including Kenya, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Ghana, Uganda, and Tanzania will benefit from the second phase of the Commercial Products (COMPRO-II) project. The project, to be led by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture, will aim to raise awareness among over two million smallholder farmers on effective and profitable commercial improved agricultural inputs by 2016 through a public-private partnership approach. But more than having access to inputs, the project views quality assurance of agricultural inputs of utmost importance to protect farmers, retailers, wholesalers, and importers, and to minimize health and environmental hazards.

Agricultural and food policy research
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Copenhagen Consensus 2012 - Hunger and malnutrition
J Hoddinott, M Rosegrant, & M Torero – 2012, Copenhagen Consensus
The Copenhagen Consensus 2012 is an effort to analyze the costs and benefits of different approaches to tackling the world‘s biggest problems. It aims to provide an answer to the question: If you had $75 billion for worthwhile causes, where should you start?
In this paper, it is proposed that decision-makers prioritize micronutrient interventions. For less than $700 million annually, it would be possible to eliminate vitamin A deficiencies in pre-school children, eliminate iodine deficiency globally and dramatically reduce maternal anemia during pregnancy. But they also offer new solutions including bundling nutrition interventions; increasing global food production; and improving market functioning through better communications and increased competition in fertilizer markets. The scientists note that for about $100 per child, a bundle of interventions including micronutrients , improvements in diet quality and better care behaviours could be provided that would reduce chronic undernutrition by 36 percent in developing countries.

Analysing nutrition governance
Institute of Development Studies
One of the underlying causes of undernutrition is the lack of sustained government commitment. Today, it is critical that we understand how governance works to improve nutrition outcomes in the developing world, and how nutritionists, development actors, donors, civil society and the private sector can support government officials in sustaining political commitments over the long run. The applied research program Analysing Nutrition Governance uses a political economy approach to examine the motivations of nutrition stakeholders, the institutional and organisational structures in which they operate and their capacity to mobilise resources. The project examines what factors enable governments to commit to national nutrition strategies and deliver appropriate policies in the long run. It identifies knowledge gaps and examines which institutional arrangements and political dynamics best support nutrition efforts.

West African food composition table
B Stadlmayr, UR Charrondiere, VN Enujiugha, et al. – FAO, INFOODS, WAHO, Bioversity International, 2012.
This is a revised version of the food composition table `Composition of Selected foods from West Africa`, which was published in September 2010. It extends and updates the number of foods and values of components. The foods represent average values of the collected compositional data from nine countries (Benin, Burkina Faso, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Niger, Nigeria and Senegal). Data sources included scientific papers, theses, university reports, as well as food composition databases. These data were supplemented by other sources of food composition data (mostly from outside Africa) to complete the missing values, especially minerals and vitamins.
An Excel file with the food composition table data can be found here: http://www.fao.org/infoods/tables_africa_en.stm/WestAfricanFCT_Userdatabase_2012_xls.xls.

The role of nutrition in integrated programs to control neglected tropical diseases
A Hall, Y Zhang, C MacArthur & S Baker - BMC Medicine, 2012
Mass drug treatment - the major strategy currently proposed to control several neglected tropical diseases - is crucial to controlling disease and transmission, but is only the start of the process of physical recovery. Without adequate energy and nutrients to repair damaged tissues or recover lost growth and development, the benefits of treatment may not be quickly evident; the effects of control programs may be not appreciated by beneficiaries; while vulnerability to reinfection and disease may not be reduced. There is substantial potential for nutritional interventions to be added to large-scale programs to deliver drug treatments and thereby contribute, within a broad strategy of public health interventions and behavior change activities, to controlling and preventing such diseases in populations, and to restoring their health.

Global Monitoring Report 2012: Food prices, nutrition, and the Millennium Development Goals
The World Bank
The developing world’s progress is seriously lagging on global targets related to food and nutrition, with rates of child and maternal mortality still unacceptably high. Recent spikes in international food prices have stalled progress across several of the MDGs. This annual report shows good progress across some MDGs, with targets related to reducing extreme poverty and providing access to safe drinking water already achieved, several years ahead of the 2015 deadline to achieve the MDGs. Also, targets on education and ratio of girls to boys in schools are within reach. In contrast, the world is significantly off-track on the MDGs to reduce mortality rates of children under five and mothers. As a result, these goals will not be met in any developing region by 2015. Progress is slowest on maternal mortality, with only one-third of the targeted reduction achieved thus far. Progress on reducing infant and child mortality is similarly dismal, with only 50 per cent of the targeted decline achieved.

Government unveils its budget priorities for next five years
New Vision
Government has released the national budget framework paper outlining its priority areas for the next five years. According to the budget framework paper, the challenges in agriculture will be addressed through the zoning strategy. Special attention will be paid to sustaining provision of farming inputs, development of markets, especially internal ones, strengthening extension research, agricultural finance, pest and disease control, value addition by extending credit facilities to agro-processors, setting up food reserves and completing on-going rehabilitation of irrigation schemes.
Also see from East African Business Week: NGOs push for bigger agriculture budget.

Scientists venture into drought-tolerant coffee
The Daily Monitor
Crop scientists at the Coffee Research Institute (COREC), in Kituuza, Mukono, are currently venturing into breeding drought-tolerant coffee varieties in a bid to save farmers who are harvesting poor yields as a result of the effects of climate change. The head of COREC, Dr Africano Kangire, said his team has already began the research work on the drought-tolerant coffee variety using the conventional method, where they pick coffee plantlets at random and grow them under drought conditions. Those varieties that survive the drought stress are selected for further multiplication and given out to farmers.

Vanilla production remains low as prices stabilize
The Daily Monitor
Local production and supply of vanilla has remained low amidst growing demand and relatively good prices. This trend is likely to deny players a chance of making extra money from the international market as expected. In January season, green vanilla prices went up to Shs9,000 per kilogram to the farmer, compared to Shs6,000 earned in 2011. However the price of cured vanilla on the international market has remained stable but experts predict that it will go up in 2013. Uganda has some of the best vanilla in the world and this puts it at a competitive advantage with the rest of the world’s vanilla producers.

Campaigners claim World Bank helps facilitate land grabs in Africa, including Uganda
The Guardian
The World Bank is helping corporations and international investors snap up cheap land in Africa and developing countries worldwide at the expense of local communities the environmental advocacy group, Friends of the Earth, asserted as it launched a report on the issue based on Ugandan case studies. This report examines a number of projects in Uganda, with a particular focus on the Kalangala palm oil project on Bugala Island in Lake Victoria, which is being developed as part of a government programme with backing from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the World Bank.
The Uganda report can be downloaded here: http://www.foei.org/en/resources/publications/pdfs/2012/land-life-justice/at_download/file

Uganda's scientists seek greener pastures abroad
SciDev.Net
The exodus of scientists from Uganda to other African countries in search of better working conditions is generating growing concern within the country's academic community. But the movement of scientists out of the country is not yet causing concern in all areas of government, and there is little indication of any attempt to change the situation. Some in Uganda prefer to talk of "brain circulation" rather than "brain drain".

Rwanda government to replenish inland lakes with fingerlings
The New Times Rwanda
The government of Rwanda is in the process of replenishing inland lakes as well as fish ponds with three million fingerlings as it attempts to reduce the importation of fish and boost the country's food security. The initiative is anticipated to ease fish prices on the retail market. The project is the second in a period of one year following the importation of 4,500 fingerlings from Uganda. The shipments from Uganda were restocked in 15 inland lakes across the country.

2011 Global Food Policy Report
International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI)
Earlier this week, IFPRI launched the inaugural Global Food Policy Report, the first in a new annual series. The Report highlights important developments and events in food policy that occurred in 2011, discusses lessons learned, offers policy recommendations, presents IFRPI’s food policy tools and indicators, and takes a look forward into 2012.

Agricultural and food policy research
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A risk-minimizing argument for traditional crop varietal diversity use to reduce pest and disease damage in agricultural ecosystems of Uganda
JW Mulumba, R Nankya, J Adokorach, C Kiwuka, C Fadda, P. De Santis, & DI Jarvis – Agriculture, Ecosystems & Environment
One of the few assets available to small-scale farmers to reduce pests and diseases damage is their local crop varietal diversity, together with the knowledge to manage and deploy this diversity appropriately. Local crop varietal diversity of banana and plantain (Musa spp.) and common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) was measured at the community and household levels within farmers’ fields in four agro-ecological areas of Uganda. Resistance of traditional and modern varieties of P. vulgaris to anthracnose, angular leaf spot, and bean fly and of traditional and modern varieties of Musa spp. to black sigatoka, banana weevils and nematodes was assessed from participatory diagnostics of farmer knowledge and cross-site on-farm and on-station trials. By performing cross-site on-farm experiments, it was possible to identify traditional varieties with higher resistance to pest and diseases when grown outside their home sites. Increased diversity of crop varieties, measured by number of varieties (richness) and their evenness of distribution, corresponded to a decrease in the average damage levels across sites and to a reduction of variance of disease damage. The results support what might be expected of a risk-minimizing strategy for use of diversity to reduce pest and disease damage.

Agricultural Policies for Poverty Reduction
J. Brooks, ed. – 2012, OECD
This edited volume is concerned with the role of agricultural policies in developing countries, with a focus on their potential for raising the incomes of agricultural and rural households and thereby reducing poverty. In many poorer countries, smallholder agriculture remains the backbone of the rural economy and improvements in farm productivity are an essential stepping stone to broader economic development. Agricultural policies are just one element of the overall mix of policies, investments and institutional reforms that are often needed. In such contexts it is also essential to facilitate the transition to more remunerative activities when farm operations are not inherently viable, but there may be problems implementing it. Under-developed institutions and endemic market failures have therefore led to “second best” options being explored, including the use of price stabilization schemes and subsidies for fertilizer and other inputs. This volume considers the specific circumstances under which the use of such instruments might be warranted.

Uganda’s economic growth skewed
The East African
Uganda’s economy is among the fastest growing in the world, but the impact of this growth is felt by a small fraction of the country. With the current volatility in foreign exchange, interest rates and inflationary pressures, the economy needs a rethink to involve majority of the population in the production and growth processes. A draft paper by the Makerere University-based Economic Policy Research Centre (EPRC) faults Bank of Uganda’s policies that have bred “the Kampala economy” instead of an entire economy for Uganda.

NRO gets female boss in reshuffle
Daily Monitor
A number of scientists have been promoted to top positions in the state-run National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) secretariat, with Dr Emily Twinamasiko, becoming the new director-general.

Experts predict poor rainfall in Kenya, Somalia; better in Uganda
The East African
According to the latest Kenya Food Security Outlook Update, long rains are likely to be highly depressed in eastern and northern Kenya. “Due to the lingering effects of the La Nina phenomenon and unusual tropical cyclone in the Indian Ocean, the onset of the long rains may be delayed,” says the report prepared by the Early Warning Systems Network. However, it is not gloom for all the East African countries. The meteorologists, who recently met in Rwanda under the auspices of IGAD, forecast that Tanzania will be the biggest benefactor of the long rains season, particularly the western part. Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda will receive normal or adequate rainfall.

Uganda's fish exports to profit from global market shortage
Daily Monitor
Uganda is likely to earn big from Nile Perch exports as its closest competitor, Pangasius, a fish species from Asia, dwindles at the global market. There are serious supply constraints from Vietnam the lead supplier of the Pangasius species after the country suffered floods in 2011. However, fisheries experts in Uganda have advised exporters to work towards producing quality fish for the market than look out for bigger supplies so as to cash in on the premium price.

Strict rules fuel illegal trade at EA border points
Business Daily Africa
High demand for food and strict custom checks have fuelled informal trade at the Kenya-Tanzania-Uganda borders. Data from the Regional Agricultural Trade Intelligence Network shows that 31,177 tonnes of maize crossed the border from Uganda to Kenya in January compared to 18,206 tonnes in December last year. Traders blamed bureaucracy, high duties imposed on some commodities, corruption and strict safety standards required for imports for the growth of the informal trade.

Unleashing agriculture's potential for improved nutrition and health in Malawi
Conference report - 26-27 September 2011, Lilongwe, Malawi
Their goal of this conference was to examine how agriculture. This conference focused on how agricultural strategies could be energized to become a more powerful tool in tackling the persistent problems of food insecurity, malnutrition, and poor health in the Malawian context and result in improvements for nutrition and health. It is crucially important to make linkages—the best agricultural practices will not succeed in improving the nation’s nutritional status if there is not good nutritional care and access to health services.

Agricultural and food policy research
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Nutritional and health status of primary school children in rural Uganda
H Acham, J Kikafunda, T Tylleskar, & MK Malde. African Journal of Food, Agriculture, Nutrition, and Development, 2012.
The nutritional status of school children (9-15 years) was assessed in Kumi district, Eastern Uganda in 2006-2007. Prevalence rates for stunting, iodine deficiency and geohelminth infections were low. The high prevalence rates of wasting/thinness, underweight, iron and vitamin A deficiencies show these as significant public health problems among school children in Kumi district. There is a need to focus attention on nutritional and health conditions of school children to improve their conditions

The differentiated effects of food price spikes on poverty in Uganda
O Boysen & A Matthews – 2012, EAAE Seminar, Dublin, February 23-24, 2012
This paper applies an integrated CGE-microsimulation model to analyze the impact of the 2006-08 increase in commodity prices on Uganda. Previous impact analysis studies suggested that the food price shock increased poverty in Uganda as there are more net food buyer than net food seller households. We show that the agriculture commodity price shocks were poverty-reducing, but the simultaneous increases in energy and fertiliser prices were poverty-increasing. Overall, poverty decreased in Uganda as a result of external price shocks in the 2006-08 period.

Whatever happened to Africa's rapid urbanisation?
D Potts - Counterpoints - Africa Research Institute
It is widely believed that urbanisation is occurring faster in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere else in the world, as migrants move from rural to urban settlements. This is a fallacy. While the populations of numerous urban areas are growing rapidly, the urbanisation levels of many countries are increasing slowly – if at all. Natural increase, rather than net in-migration, is the predominant growth factor in most urban populations. African governments, policymakers and international donors need to acknowledge fundamental changes in urbanisation trends, and respond to the irrefutable messages these impart about urban employment, incomes and economic development.

Uganda to export fresh matooke to US
New Vision
Uganda will soon start exporting fresh peeled bananas (matooke) to the United States under the Banana value chain project. The Danish Development Agency (Danida) $2m (Shs4.9b) funded project will be implemented under the Uganda Industrial Research Institute (UIRI). “Under the new arrangements, quality matooke will be peeled and packed well for export to the States and other European countries. The project is awaiting arrival of machines that will enhance quality of exports,” said Godfrey Atuheire of UIRI.

Uganda to market first GM crop in 2014
East African
Uganda expects to take its first genetically modified crop to the market in 2014 when a regulatory framework to guide production will have been enacted, say scientists at the National Agriculture Research Organisation (NARO). Yona Baguma, a senior research officer at NARO says ongoing trials on bananas, cassava, maize, cotton and potatoes are promising. “If things go as planned, we expect commercial GM cotton in 2014, cassava 2016 and drought resistant maize by 2017.”

Q&A: Denis Kyetere on innovative technologies for Africa's farmers
SciDev.Net
At the start of this year, Denis Kyetere, a prominent Ugandan geneticist and plant breeder, assumed his new post as executive director of the African Agricultural Technology Foundation (AATF), a non-profit organisation that promotes partnerships to deliver appropriate agricultural technologies to smallholder farmers in Sub-Saharan Africa. As a scientist, his achievements include being a member of the research team that identified and mapped the maize streak virus gene 1, and the subsequent development of the virus-resistant maize variety Longe 1, which is now grown widely in Uganda. SciDev.Net spoke to Kyetere about his vision for the AAFT and the foundation's efforts in research and technology development for African farmers.

Uganda gets $1.4m to reduce trade barriers
The Observer
Uganda government has secured a grant of $1.4 million to eliminate non-trade barriers (NTBs) on the northern corridor route of Mombasa port and Southern route of Dar es Salaam port. Based on evidence from various surveys along the northern corridor, NTBs are a major contributor to the cost of doing business in Uganda and the EAC generally. The landlocked countries such as Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi, suffer the greatest loss from NTBs. Poor road infrastructure, delays at border crossings and lack of harmonized import and export standards and procedures are among the most mentioned NTBs.

Scientists put defenses in banana against devastating microscopic worms..
Africa Science News Service
For the first time, scientists have built into plantain a viable defence against microscopic worms – called nematodes – that infests the plant’s roots, making them easily topple over and significantly reduce their production. Apart from bacterial wilt diseases, nematodes are considered to be one of the most economically devastating pests of banana. Researchers were able to reinforce plantain against this pest by infusing a cystatin gene from maize and a synthetic nematode-repelling protein. The cystatin found in maize kernel prevents nematodes from digesting proteins, literally “starving” them and greatly reducing their population.

X-ray technology harnessed to grow more nutritious crops
SciDev.Net
Agricultural researchers in Rwanda have adapted a technology widely used in the mining sector to analyse the mineral content of food crops such as beans and maize, with a view to developing more nutritious crops. The team, from the Rwandan Agricultural Board (RAB), used X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analysis to determine the mineral content of bean varieties. XRF analysis generates X-rays of different colours to indicate the presence, and concentration, of elements such as iron and zinc. It is quick to display results, and each sample costs just 15 US cents to analyse – compared to US$20 for other chemical analysis technologies. The Rwandan team used XRF to analyse three varieties of bio-fortified beans – climbing, bush and snap beans. They analysed 15 samples in total, and found four were particularly rich in mineral nutrients such as iron and zinc, according to Augustine Musoni, a senior researcher at the RAB.

Agricultural and food policy research
Note that if you experience any trouble in downloading any of these research documents, you can contact us by e-mail for assistance IFPRI-KampalaCommunications@cgiar.org. We can offer no guarantees that we will be able to provide the document, but we may have other avenues to pursue to assist you.

Maize response to fertilizer and nitrogen use efficiency in Uganda
KC Kaizzi, J Byalebeka, O Semalulu, I Alou, W Zimwanguyizza, A Nansamba, P Musinguzi, P Ebanyat, T Hyuha, & CS Wortmann –Agronomy Journal, 2012
Maize is an important smallholder crop in Uganda. Yields are low because of low soil fertility and little fertilizer use. Yield response to nutrient application and economically optimal rates (EOxR, where x = N, P, or K) and N use efficiency (NUE) were evaluated. Twenty-two trials were conducted in four agroecological zones. Yield was consistently increased with N application. Mean maize yield with no N applied (N0) was 1.79 Mg ha−1 and increased by 120% with N application. Mean EONRs were 45 to 24 kg ha−1 N with fertilizer use cost to grain price ratios (CPs) of 10 to 30. With N applied, the mean increase in yield due to P application was 0.28 Mg ha−1 and mean EOPRs were 9 to 1 kg ha−1 P with CPs of 10 to 50. Yield was not increased with K application. Profitability was greater for N than P application. Fertilizer N use can be very profitable, with high NUE, for smallholder maize production in Uganda, and the financial capacity of smallholders to use fertilizer will increase with reduced CP.

Characterising agrometeorological climate risks and uncertainties: Crop production in Uganda
DN Mubiru, E Komutunga, A Agona, A Apok, & T Ngara –South African Journal of Science, 2012
In this study, historical data sets of daily rainfall and temperature were analysed to generate seasonal characteristics based on monthly and annual timescales. The results show that variability in rainfall onset dates across Uganda is greater than the variability in withdrawal dates. Consequently, even when rains start late, withdrawal is timely, thus making the growing season shorter. A time-series analysis of the maximum daily temperature clearly revealed an increase in temperature, with the lower limits of the ranges of daily maximums increasing faster than the upper limits. Finally, this study has generated information on seasonal rainfall characteristics that will be vital in exploiting the possibilities offered by climatic variability and also offers opportunities for adapting to seasonal distribution so as to improve and stabilise crop yields.

Delicious peace coffee: Marketing community in Uganda
NN Auerbach - Review of Radical Political Economics, 2012
This article argues that if the goal of economics is to maximize human happiness, then approaches that directly address social phenomena and community building, rather than utility and income maximization by individual economic actors, are more promising and indeed “rational.” The fair trade movement can play an important role in this process. However, the real story behind successful cooperatives is often more about the nature of the rural “peasant” community that supports it. Viewing economic decision making through the lens of the Mirembe Kawomera coffee cooperative in Uganda reveals a market that is socially embedded in a community rich in social capital, or more appropriately social productive power of labor, rather than one that constitutes a separate market sphere. When economic incentives encompass a more holistic set of costs and benefits, even those that may be less tangible, economic activity and strong community tend to be mutually reinforcing.

World Bank urges focus on key growth areas, including agriculture
Daily Monitor
Government should prioritise agriculture, human capital, economic geography and urbanisation, if Uganda is to attain inclusive growth, a new World bank report suggests. World Bank country manager, Mr M Ndiaye, explained that this report is intended to show how best Uganda can sustain its growth while broadening its reach. “The report focuses on what Uganda will require to promote inclusive growth. This area of focus, while acknowledging the past achievements in growth reminds us of the task ahead of sustaining and surpassing the past growth rates while making the process more inclusive.”

Severe dry spell hits coffee farmers in eastern Uganda
Coastweek
The prolonged drought that has struck Mount Elgon zone and the neighboring districts of eastern Uganda is taking a toll on Arabica coffee plantations in the region. The drought, according to coffee farmers, has shed off coffee buds, struck down flowers and withered coffee plants in the plantations.

Looming hunger as Uganda's soils get barren
New Vision
Ugandans hoping to prosper through agriculture will find it hard to achieve their dream as it emerges that most soils have become depleted, according to leading experts. Soil experts say yields per hectare of land have been declining over the years due to reduced soil fertility. Uganda’s first soil scientist, Prof. Kitungulu Zaake, said although production has been increasing due to the expansion of land under agriculture, this is no longer possible in most parts of the country. He said without increasing soil productivity, getting people out of poverty would remain a dream.

African agriculture: Dirt poor
Nature
The key to tackling hunger in Africa is enriching its soil. The big debate is about how to do it. This article reviews a range of approaches that are being used in Malawi to maintain soil fertility and increase the production of smallholder farmers.
Also see an editorial in the same issue that draws on this article: Food for thought

Kenyan maize millers double maize imports in February
Coastweek
Kenya imported over 170,000 bags of maize from East African Community (EAC) nations in February, a new food security situation report from the country’s Ministry of Agriculture says. The maize that was mainly imported from Uganda and Tanzania doubled the number of bags that were imported from the same countries in January.

Equity Bank gets US$100 million to fund SMEs
The Standard
The International Finance Corporation has extended a loan of $100 million to the Equity Bank Group. The funds will be used for lending to small and medium-sized businesses and support agriculture and women projects within East Africa. The funds are expected to support growth of Equity Bank Group’s lending portfolio in Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Southern Sudan and Rwanda.

Insights -- magazine of IFPRI, new edition.
A new edition of the IFPRI magazine for the general public, Insights, has been published. In this edition, find articles on agriculture in DR Congo, the nutritional benefits for Mozambican children of orange-fleshed sweet potato, new insights on the long-term nature of Chinese investment in Africa, and gender consideration in the adoption by farmers of genetically modified crops. The cover article focuses in-depth on how dynamic agricultural value chains can raise poor people’s incomes and improve their health and nutrition.

Agricultural and food policy research
Note that if you experience any trouble in downloading any of these research documents, you can contact us by e-mail for assistance IFPRI-KampalaCommunications@cgiar.org. We can offer no guarantees that we will be able to provide the document, but we may have other avenues to pursue to assist you.

Food insecurity, depression and the modifying role of social support among people living with HIV/AIDS in rural Uganda
AC Tsaia, DR Bangsberg, EA Frongillo, PW Hunth, C Muzoora, JN Martini, & SD Weiser – Social Science & Medicine, 2012.
Depression is common among people living with HIV/AIDS and contributes to a wide range of worsened HIV-related outcomes. Using cohort data from 456 men and women living with HIV/AIDS in rural Uganda, we sought to (a) estimate the association between food insecurity and depression symptom severity, (b) assess the extent to which social support may serve as a buffer against the adverse effects of food insecurity, and (c) determine whether the buffering effects are specific to certain types of social support. The primary outcome was depression symptom severity. The primary explanatory variables were food insecurity and social support. We found that food insecurity was associated with depression symptom severity among women but not men, and that social support buffered the impacts of food insecurity on depression. Interventions aimed at improving food security and strengthening instrumental social support may have synergistic beneficial effects on both mental health and HIV outcomes among PLWHA in resource-limited settings.

Impact of modern agricultural technologies on smallholder welfare: Evidence from Tanzania and Ethiopia
S Asfaw, B Shiferaw, F Simtowe - Food Policy, 2012
This paper evaluates the potential impact of adoption of improved legume technologies on rural household welfare measured by consumption expenditure in rural Ethiopia and Tanzania. The study utilizes cross-sectional farm household level data collected in 2008. The causal impact of technology adoption is estimated by utilizing endogenous switching regression. Our analysis reveals that adoption of improved agricultural technologies has a significant positive impact consumption expenditure (in per adult equivalent terms) in rural Ethiopia and Tanzania.

Determinants of food security in Kenya, a gender perspective
M Kassie, SW Ndiritu, & B Shiferaw – Paper for Conference of Agricultural Economics Society, United Kingdom 2012
The paper contributes to an understanding of the determinants of food security with a bias on the link between gender of household head and food security using detailed farm household and plot level survey data from 30 divisions in rural Kenya. Both parametric and non-parametric econometric techniques are used to ensure robustness of the results from the econometric analyses. Since the assumption of pooled regression is rejected, we run separate food security regressions at plot level both for Male Headed Households (MHHs) and Female Headed Households (FHHs). Both descriptive and econometrics results shows that FHHs in general are more likely to be food insecure compared to their male counterparts.

Achieving food security in the face of climate change
Commission on Sustainable Agriculture and Climate Change – report, 2012
The Commission reviewed the scientific evidence to identify a pathway to achieving food security in the context of climate change. Food systems must shift to better meet human needs and, in the long term, balance with planetary resources. This will demand major interventions, at local to global scales, to transform current patterns of food production, distribution and consumption. Investment, innovation, and deliberate effort to empower the world's most vulnerable populations will be required to construct a global food system that adapts to climate change and ensures food security while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions and sustaining our natural resource base.

New sowing tool to yield more for maize farmers
Daily Monitor
New technology, if successfully implemented will help farmers growing maize, get more yields and spend less on labour. Ugandan farmers specialising in growing maize will soon smile if scientists at the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) roll out a new tool called Jab Planter to cereal growers in a bid to make seed sowing easy.

Growing regional demand for food is changing local market dynamics
Independent.co.ug
Alex Sejjuta, acting head of marketing at the cereal foods company Maganjo Grain Millers Ltd, is overseeing a delicate balancing of the company’s marketing strategy. As regional demand for common staple foods competes with local consumption – the company’s traditional market – Maganjo has to weigh the benefits of the cash-flush regional food market willing to pay higher prices, against the comfort of selling at home. With neighbouring countries paying higher prices for food, many traders are chasing higher returns and abandoning the local market.

Uganda projects low coffee earnings in spite of higher production
The East African
The Uganda Coffee Development Authority has cautioned that earnings from coffee for the country are likely to be lower due to a likely dip in global prices on the back of a considerable rise in production by leading producers Brazil and Vietnam. This is expected in spite of projections that coffee production in Uganda is expected to increase by another 100,000, 60-kilogramme bags to cap the season at 3.3 million bags.

East African parliament to back farmers
Daily News
The East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Speaker, Mr. Abdirahin Abdi said the regional Parliament would work towards enactment of laws that safeguard and promote interests of farmers in the region. He advised farmers’ movements in the EAC to consolidate their participation in the regional integration process.

Agricultural and food policy research
Note that if you experience any trouble in downloading any of these research documents, you can contact us by e-mail for assistance IFPRI-KampalaCommunications@cgiar.org. We can offer no guarantees that we will be able to provide the document, but we may have other avenues to pursue to assist you.

Growth with Resilience: Opportunities in African Agriculture
Montpellier Panel, 2012
This new report from the Montpellier Panel aims to inform discussions related to key global policy events in 2012 and will look broadly at agriculture’s role in supporting green growth, food and nutrition security, ecosystem services and climate change mitigation and adaptation, among others. The recommendations of the Panel are that efforts be strengthened to support the creation of:

• Resilient markets that enable farmers to increase production and generate income through innovation and taking risks, while ensuring food is available at an affordable price.
• Resilient agriculture that creates agricultural growth out of knowledge and innovation, while simultaneously building the capacity of smallholder farmers to counter environmental degradation and climate change.
• Resilient people who are able to generate diverse livelihoods that provide stable incomes, adequate nutrition and good health in the face of recurrent stresses and shocks.

Fair Trade and organic certification in value chains: lessons from a gender analysis from coffee exporting in Uganda
D Kasente - Gender & Development, 2012
Fair Trade and organic certification production of coffee and other commodities is popularly seen as beneficial to producers in many ways. However, gender analysis of Fair Trade is important for assessing the gains and losses for women and men specifically, which result from compliance with globally set codes of conduct. This article presents a case study of coffee production and trade in Uganda, aiming to do this. Producer organisations’ experience suggests that there is great need for gender equality issues to be integrated into all stages of coffee production and marketing – referred to as ‘value chains’ – if women are to realise prosperity from their labour, and to move up the value chain as active participants and decision-makers.

New draft aquaculture policy completed
The Observer
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries has completed drafting a new policy that seeks to promote fish farming in the country through establishing aquaculture parks. Government will identify specific areas in the country that are suitable for fish farming and acquire the sites for concentrated production. Jackson Wadanya, the Assistant Commissioner of Fisheries, says Uganda has the potential of becoming a top African fish-exporting country.

Uganda's meat export market under threat
Daily Monitor
Uganda’s hopes of developing the country’s meat industry now hang in balance following the breach of a key export deadline. If appropriate measures had been taken, Uganda would have started exporting its meat to the European Union and Middle East by 2011, but the country’s dreams have been hurt by bureaucracy.

Kenya proposes tax cuts to ease inflation pressure
Daily Monitor
Uganda’s biggest trade partner in the region has proposed a bill to scrap all taxes on basic commodities as a measure to address the high inflation. The commodities to benefit from the tax-break include maize, wheat flour, milk, bread and medical supplies.

Great Lakes ministers to revive agricultural research centre
SciDev.Net
Agricultural ministers of the Great Lakes countries — Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and Rwanda — have agreed to revive the Institute of Agricultural and Zootechnical Research (IRAZ) to better tackle a range of plant and animal diseases. The institute, based in Lubumbashi, DRC, was established in 1979. But in recent years, countries have not been honouring their funding pledges.

Study links African drought to Pacific sea temperature
SciDev.Net
Researchers in the United States have found a link between low rainfall in East Africa during the March-May rainy season, and changes in sea surface temperature in the tropical Pacific Ocean. They noted that in 1999, there was an abrupt change in Pacific ocean surface temperatures. The western Pacific surface became warmer, while surface temperatures in the eastern Pacific became cooler. Historical climate observations were combined with climate model experiments, and the authors concluded that these changes were strongly linked to "a similarly abrupt decline in East African long rains that occurred around that time".

Agricultural and food policy research
Note that if you experience any trouble in downloading any of these research documents, you can contact us by e-mail for assistance IFPRI-KampalaCommunications@cgiar.org. We can offer no guarantees that we will be able to provide the document, but we may have other avenues to pursue to assist you.

Response of local cassava varieties in Uganda to Cassava Mosaic Virus Disease
J Adriko, WS Sserubombwe, E Adipala, A Bua & R Edema. 2012. American Journal of Experimental Agriculture
Cassava mosaic disease (CMD) resistant varieties have been used to manage CMD in Uganda. In spite the availability of a number of CMD resistant cultivars, several local landraces are continually grown in Uganda because they possess certain desirable traits, which may not have been fully met by the resistant varieties. Field based trials were setup to evaluate the response to CMD of some landraces that became prominent after the 1990s CMD pandemic. Our results show that the use of clean planting materials as an effective phytosanitary method can only be employed under low disease pressure while high disease pressure areas need use of resistant varieties.

Smallholder market access and governance in supply chains
A Tilburg, L Magingxa, EV Kambewa, HD Schalkwyk & AZ Gudeta. 2012. In Unlocking Markets to Smallholders
Smallholders in developing countries tend to sell their products at local markets because of their proximity and the fact that they are immediately paid for the produce delivered. Increasingly, they also perceive opportunities in both national or international markets or supply chains to sell their surpluses. They tend, however, to encounter several constraints. A first challenge regards the availability and accessibility of resources and competences which are required to deliver the products that consumers demand. Another challenge is the manner in which farmers can be organised to meet the quantities and qualities that their supply chain partners or the consumer market need. A third challenge regards the limited access smallholders have to market information and necessary services such as working capital to manage their operations properly. The focus of this paper is to assess the extent to which smallholders have access to supply chains in developing countries and Africa in particular, and how this is related to the governance mode of the supply chain.

President Museveni directs Agriculture Ministry on seed licensing
Ssuubi FM
President Museveni has directed the Ministry of Agriculture to licence seed agents regionally to avoid the flooding of the market with fake seeds. “The power of licensing lies in the hands of the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries. You should licence people by region and in case anything goes wrong, they will be the ones responsible,” he warned. The President was meeting leaders from Bukedia Sub-Region at the on-going Zonal Conference on Poverty Eradication and Enterprise Selection conducted at State House, Entebbe. The President’s directive follows a bitter complaint from several conference participants that the market was today flooded with fake seeds.

Grow bio-tech crops to earn more - scientists
Daily Monitor
Ugandan farmers should grow improved crop varieties if they are to reap from their produce and meet the growing demand on the local and international markets. Currently, most farmers are growing the conventional traditional varieties which are prone to climate change effects such as drought, floods, and pest and diseases. A senior crop science researcher at the National Crop Resources Research Institute Namulonge, Yona Baguma, advises Ugandan farmers to venture into using improved high breed seeds for more profits. Crops scientists have been working on improved varieties for cassava, maize, rice, beans, ground nuts and bananas among others.

World Bank funds service delivery
The Observer
The World Bank last week approved a credit facility of $100 million (about Shs 24 billion) to improve efficiency in the four sectors of health, education, water and sanitation and transport. The credit seeks to increase the number and proportion of children immunized with Diphtheria Pertussis Tetanus (DPT) to 90% from 82%; increase the number of girls in public schools passing primary education with grades I-III to 46% from 45%; improve functionality of rural valley tanks and dams to 84% and 30% respectively from 82% and 23%, and increase the proportion of paved national roads in fair to good condition to 80% from 65%.

Improving African markets key to better food security
Reuters AlertNet
About 150 of the world’s foremost thinkers on agricultural markets believe the time has come to take an innovative approach to the challenges complicating African food production and allocation. Rather than focusing on global market influences in Africa, a new book published by the Alliance for the Green Revolution in Africa and the International Livestock Research Institute (ILRI) zooms in on the everyday African marketplace. “When many people think of a food crisis in Africa, they picture crops withering in the field or dead or dying livestock, but rarely do they think about the market issues that are part of the problem as well,” said Namanga Ngongi, the president of AGRA.

Agricultural and food policy research
Note that if you experience any trouble in downloading any of these research documents, you can contact us by e-mail for assistance IFPRI-KampalaCommunications@cgiar.org. We can offer no guarantees that we will be able to provide the document, but we may have other avenues to pursue to assist you.

Re-evaluating the role of the informal sector: The role of household enterprises in poverty reduction and employment creation in Rwanda
P Abbott & J Rwirahira- Institute of Policy Analysis and Research- Rwanda
The focus of Rwanda’s development policy since 2002 has been on economic growth and poverty reduction. Policy is to grow non-farm employment to both absorb new labour market entrants and create employment for those that are surplus to the requirements of the agricultural sector. Household enterprises (HEs) play an important role in income generation and employment creation. The role of HEs in poverty reduction is not certain but on the whole households incorporating a HE are more likely to be in the top two wealth quintiles than other households in the same stratum.

Technological abundance for global agriculture: The role of biotechnology
C Juma – 2012, HKS Faculty Research Working Paper Series.
Biotechnology—technology applied to biological systems—has the promise of leading to increased food security and sustainable forestry practices, as well as improving health in developing countries by enhancing food nutrition. In agriculture, biotechnology has enabled the genetic alteration of crops, improved soil productivity, and enhanced natural weed and pest control. Unfortunately, such potential has largely been left untapped by many developing countries, particularly in Africa.