Uganda Nile Discourse Forum (UNDF) held strategic community dialogues on Climate Smart Agriculture with its member farmers. The dialogues aimed at promoting Climate change responsive agriculture as means to building resilience of communities and combatting adverse effects of climate change including: drought, flooding, famine, displacement among other challenges. The dialogue made strong recommendations from the grassroots communities; working on the outcomes of the dialogue, UNDF has embarked on supporting farmers to build associations/cooperatives with a goal to increase farmers’ resilience to climate change, and improvement of their agricultural produce volumes and quality.

In June 2023, UNDF organized community dialogues of Climate Smart Agriculture with its member farmers, The dialogues aimed at promoting climate smart agriculture: working towards building the resilience of communities and combatting effects of drought, flooding and other climate change challenges.
Participants acquired knowledge on sustainable adaptation measures that can build resilience to the adverse effects of climate change. These measures include: tree planting, mulching, soil and water conservation measures, planting crop varieties that are quick maturing and drought resistant, pests and disease resistance and control measures, use of appropriate low-cost irrigation methods and water harvesting, control of wetlands encroachment, use of alternative energy sources other than firewood, reduction in use of inorganic fertilizers/herbicides/pesticides, separation of bio-degradable and non-biodegradable materials among others. The dialogue was attended by over 50 mainly women and youth from the community, Agri-entrepreneurs, and dealers in the agricultural chain inputs and services.

Key Highlights presented at the dialogue:

Agriculture is the back bone of the Uganda’s economy and thus contributes the biggest part of the country’s GDP. The sector supports millions of livelihoods and employs 70% of the working population of whom 71% are women. It provides raw materials for non-agricultural sectors. The sector accounted for 20% of GDP in the fiscal year 2017/2018 and 43% of export earnings. Coffee is the main cash crop that contributes 19% of the country’s export and the Government has planned to increase production to 1.33 million tonnes of processed coffee by 2020 (Ministry Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries Report – 2018). Increase in agricultural production and productivity leads to increase in the income of the rural population. This makes agriculture an entry point for poverty eradication across the country.

Agriculture’s contribution to GDP according to Uganda bureau of statistics (UBOS) dropped to 21% in the 2017/18 financial year compared to 21.5% in 2016/17. The drop has been consistent and is reflected in the other financial years. According to the report Uganda is highly vulnerable to climate change which not only affected agricultural output but has long term effects such as entrenching poverty especially among the rural communities.

The poverty level has increased from 19.7 % to 21.4 percent meaning 8 million persons are below the poverty line – hardly earning $1 USD in a day (Uganda Bureau of Statistics - Uganda National Household Survey (UBOS – UNHS 2019)). Uganda has also recorded the highest youth unemployment rate in Sub -Sahara Africa. Highest poverty levels are still recorded in the rural areas across the country.

Up to 80% of the poorest Ugandans live in rural areas and they are a prime target of government development efforts. These rural communities are up to 90% smallholder farmers; growing a few crops and rearing a few animals on approximately 2.5acre pieces of land and mostly producing for home consumption (New vision report dated 23rd Feb 2010 http://www.newvision.co.ug).

The recent low production and productivity growth in the agricultural sector has been mainly attributed to the adverse effects of climate change coupled with challenges of high costs of inputs, slow technological innovations and adoption - particularly amongst women farmers being the majority labour force; poor production techniques; declining soil health; poor management of pests and diseases; limited access to land and agricultural finance; a weak agricultural extension system that is limiting access to relevant information with access to extension services lowest among women; over dependency on rain-fed agriculture as well as limited market access. Uganda has more than 75% of its total land as arable land but the country’s agricultural industry is characterized by poor and inappropriate management practices. This is as a result of soil mineral extraction, structural degradation and soil erosion.

The negative effects of climate change - notably prolonged dry spells, flooding and severe storms - have exacerbated the challenging conditions. The farming communities basically rely on rain-fed conditions without irrigation. The transportation of agricultural produce from the areas of production to the final markets is hindered by the poor road network especially during the rainy seasons thus reducing profit margins.

The overall objective of the agriculture sector in the current National Strategic Plan is to improve household food security and income while conserving the environment. It aims to improve Biological and Economic Productivity of Crops and Livestock, strengthen farmers and community organizations, improve marketing and Value Addition, and improve resilience and mitigation to climate change effects. In order to achieve these interventions therefore, government has taken some initiatives including Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) and National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) programs that are intended to provide extension services to farmers in terms of knowledge and quality farm inputs. The NAADS program is farmer-driven and farmers are represented at the sub-county by secretaries for production. The secretaries for production at the sub-counties are elected by farmers at grassroots to represent them at the sub-county executive committee. Farmers at the grassroots are targeted for the program to enable them articulate their roles better and demand for quality service provision.

To ensure sustainable natural resource management, the government through the ministry of water and environment has instituted the National Environment management Authority (NEMA) tasked with the protection of the environment and making the Environment impact Assessment (EIA). NEMA collaborates with the environment offices at national, district and sub-county levels to effectively carry out its duties.

Unfortunately, the success of the government schemes has been low. The major constraint is the inadequate resources to extension workers and mixing politics with development work. The Government of Uganda had planned to recruit 5000 extension workers across the country by 2019 but only 3800 were recruited. The deployed extension workers reach out to farmers at ratio of 1800 households per extension worker (Uganda Media Cetre - www.mediacentre.go.ug, 5th March 2019). But the internationally accepted level is 500 households per extension worker. This leaves a huge knowledge and service delivery gap.

Besides the government schemes, Uganda also supports various development interventions initiated by other development partners which are aimed at improving the living conditions of the communities. The government gives priority to development programs that are geared towards poverty eradication and sustainable livelihoods.

• Participants raised the importance of getting climate change facts and figures as the sure way to inform decision making and action. Often times, there are misconceptions, myths and lies about climate change that need to be put straight. They were thus grateful for the gesture raised by the UNDF and called for many more such opportunities for learning.
• Farmers present highlighted the importance of modern and affordable smart agricultural practices calling on the UNDF leadership to enlighten them more on cheaper but sustainable means of production.
• Irrigation agriculture was a priority method that is becoming inevitable due to the irregular rainfall seasons and therefore there’s need to find affordable irrigation infrastructure for farmers.
• Participants were concerned about the high cost of value addition and packaging for farm products. They thought it important to urge government and other decision makers to make this more accessible and affordable to farmers.
• Farmers present resolved to form or join already existing farmer groups, cooperatives and SACCOS in order to tap into existing resources that the government is investing at Parish level.
• The procedure of family hosted meetings was encouraged especially now that resources are scarce to hold meetings in hotels and public places. Members were encouraged to invite others for such productive gatherings.

Subsistence communities represent the poorest in Uganda, but they are also the most vulnerable to climate change and other challenges that lead to losses in farming. These communities need to be helped to explore the untapped opportunities in better land-use practices, and also get encouraged to form/join smallholder farmer institutions to build their capacity. This is a direct call to institutions like the UNDF to undertake farmers’ empowerment through increasing their capacity to organize themselves into strong farmer association /cooperatives to enhance their lobbying and marketing capacity.

To this end, UNDF has embarked on building farmer associations/cooperatives that will increase agricultural produce volumes and improve quality. This will be made possible through collective marketing and putting in place quality controls to increase volumes that will result into better prices.

In Mara Region, most Sunflower Small Holder Farmers (SHFs) struggle due to lack of access to inputs - most of Agro-dealers are located in towns and peri-urban areas; Seed affordability - high prices for hybrid seeds make farmers uninterested or unable to use it; Low seed quality - germination issues with some seed varieties makes farmers lack confidence in hybrid/ improved seed: and Unavailability of seeds during planting seasons, all together contributing to low yields versus the demand for sunflower seeds. In 2021, SHIMATA initiated a project with the Objective of addressing the deficit of sunflower seeds while creating employment opportunities for women and youth through sunflower farming in Mara region.

In 2018, a TNDF member organization Shirika la Maendeleo Tarime (SHIMATA) rolled out awareness raising amongst small holder farmers on dry season sunflower (scientifically known as 'Helianthus Annus’) production. In Tanzania, the crop thrives in semi-arid zones. Farmers harvest an average of three-to-five bags per hectare, instead of 10-to-12 bags due to poor crop production practices. Sunflower seeds are a raw material for production of cooking oil and the husks from its seeds are used to feed animals.

In 2021, the annual demand for cooking oil in Tanzania was 600,000 tonnes. The country produced only 290,000 tonnes, leaving a deficit of 310,000 tonnes. The annual sunflower seed demand in Tanzania stands at 5,800 tonnes, while the country produces only 1,340 tonnes. About 1.7 million tonnes of seeds are required to produce700,000 tons of cooking oil.

In Mara Region, most Sunflower Small Holder Farmers (SHFs) struggle due to lack of access to inputs - most of Agro-dealers are located in towns and peri-urban areas; Seed affordability - high prices for hybrid seeds make farmers uninterested or unable to use it; Low seed quality - germination issues with some seed varieties makes farmers lack confidence in hybrid/ improved seed: and Unavailability of seeds during planting seasons.

In 2021, SHIMATA initiated a project with the Objective of addressing the deficit of sunflower seeds while creating employment opportunities for youth and women through sunflower farming in Mara region. 50 farmers were trained in irrigation schemes and storage mechanisms. Specifically, the project intended to:

1. To enhance youth and women with skills and techniques for Good Agriculture Practice (GAP) and access to farming equipment
2. To build the capacity of youth on post-harvest handling and storage management (PHHS)
3. To enable youth and women to form and register farming associations and improve existing ones.

Engagement with Local Government Authority

Farmers in Tanzania earn Sh3.1 billion from 450 tons of sunflower seeds produced locally per year, instead of Sh38.9 billion that would be generated from the total of 5,528 tons of seeds required. Therefore, farmers lose Sh38.9 billion annually that is spent on seeds imports. The Local Government Authorities particularly village executive officers and Village chairperson were involved in mobilizing and influencing youth and women for enrolment in the project. The district Agricultural Officer and extension officers were the main facilitators/ trainers and Trainers of Trainers. The Ward councillors were also involved to particularly advocate for financial loans provided by the district council to youth and women from 10% earnings.

Women and youth were grouped in Small Holder Farmers association. The aim is to enhance formulation and design of the project for succession and project sustainability. In future these associations would be equipped to venture into Oil Milling. Associations would as well ensure constant market for farmers’ harvested crops. Trainings also emphasized on Good Agricultural Practice (GAP) while focusing on rotational farming and climate friendly farming.

Project Partnership

1. The project is implemented in partnership with Victoria Farmers and Fishers Organisation (VIFAFIO) located in Mara region. VIFAFIO is also a member of TNDF  and duly represented TNDF in the project. VIFAFIO's role in the project is to mobilize and coordinate beneficiaries in capacity building and field activities; it also prepares reports for such activities and submits to SHIMATA.
2. The Local Government Authorities (District and village level) were engaged in the project to mobilize and encourage women and youth participation in the project.

Gender Mainstreaming

This project focus on empowering women and youth on sunflower farming to tackle the deficit of sunflower seeds necessary for cooking oil production, manufacture animal feeds, shoe polish, motor car brakes, as alternative charcoal, etc. A total of 445 women and Youth from Tarime, Serengeti, Butiama, and Musoma rural districts were trained in off-season sunflower production. The project selected 50 champions among the 445 to be trainers of trainees. 30 champions were women. The farmers’ association’s formation also considered gender equality thereby including women in leadership to increase their participation and opportunities. This also provides an opportunity and platform for women rights activism.

Social Inclusivity

In alignment with the Convention on the Rights of People with Disability [CRPD] 2006, the Charter on Inclusion of Persons with Disabilities in Humanitarian Action (2016), and WFP policy on Protection and Accountability to the affected population, disability inclusion is integrated throughout the project. 21 PWDs were involved in trainings and symposiums of this project. Persons with disabilities were also elected in leadership position of farmer association.

Accountability Towards Affected Population (AAP)

SHIMATA is committed to Accountability for Affected Populations (AAP) by ensuring that programme design, implementation, and monitoring and evaluation processes and decisions are informed by and reflect the views of affected people. To operationalize these commitments, the following three key areas were adhered to:

1. Information provision: Provided accurate, timely and accessible information to the affected people about the project progress.
2. Consultation: Involved and consulted local governments, women and youth groups, and existing farmer associations in seeking views of the affected population and invite feedback throughout the project.
3. Complaints and feedback mechanisms which provided phone number, email and office address to affected people and all its target members to voice complaints and provide feedback on areas relevant to operations in a safe and dignified manner. A formal CFM system included procedures for recording, referring, taking action and providing feedback to the complainant.

Shirika la Maendeleo Tarime (SHIMATA) is a Non-Governmental Organisation established in 2009 in Mara region aiming at empowering communities through action on poverty reduction, human rights advocacy, health services, sanitation and hygiene activism as well as income generating projects. SHIMATA is a member of the Tanzania Nile Discourse Forum (TNDF) operating in Tarime, Serengeti, Butiama, and Musoma rural districts of the Mara Region.