Annual Report 2014/15 · 2017-05-09 · Annual Report 2014/15 Africa Innovati ons Insti tute Plot 1544, Koire Close, Bukoto Old Kiira Road, P.O. Box 34981, Kampala, Uganda, Annual

Annual Report 2014/15

Africa Innovati ons Insti tutePlot 1544, Koire Close, Bukoto Old Kiira Road, P.O. Box 34981, Kampala, Uganda,www.afrii.org



Annual Report 2014/15 2014/15








Annual Report 2014/15 2014/15









Africa Innovati ons Insti tutePlot 1544, Koire Close, Bukoto Old Kiira Road, P.O. Box 34981, Kampala, Uganda,www.afrii.org

Ms. Scovia Mbabazi, a member of Basooka Kwavuula Women’s group Kyadobe village in Nabiswera sub-county, Nakasongola district, chops elephant grass for feeding her animals, 2014.

African Innovations Institute Annual Report 2014/15

Africa Innovations Institute (www.afrii.org) is a non governmental center of excellence dedicated to research and innovations for the betterment of resource poor farmers and SMEs, and the sustainability of the environment.

C Africa Innovations Institute. All rights reserved.

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Technical editing by Professor G.W. Otim-Nape


Table of Contents

Acknowledgments.............................................................................................................................iiiChairman’s word................................................................................................................................vAcronyms..........................................................................................................................................vii1. Africa Innovations Institute............................................................................................................11.1 Who We Are ................................................................................................................................11.2. Where We Work.........................................................................................................................11.3. Our Vision, Mission and Objectives............................................................................................11.4. How We Work.............................................................................................................................21.5. Key areas of work........................................................................................................................21.5.1 Applied research and innovation development.......................................................................21.5.2 Facilitating access to and utilization of knowledge and innovations.......................................21.5.3 Capacity and Institutional Development...................................................................................31.6. Our Programmes.........................................................................................................................31.6.1 Commodity Value Chains...........................................................................................................31.6.2 Climate Change.........................................................................................................................31.6.3 Infectious Diseases Management.............................................................................................31.6.4 Agriculture, Environment and Human Welfare........................................................................31.6.5. Capacity and Institutional Development Programme.............................................................31.7. Cross-cutting issues.....................................................................................................................41.7.1 Collaboration, Partnerships and Linkages................................................................................41.7.2 Gender and equity concerns:...................................................................................................42. Commodity Value Chains Programme...........................................................................................52.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................................62.2 The Cassava Adding Value for Africa project (C:AVA)..................................................................62.2.1. Introduction.............................................................................................................................62.2.2. Market opportunities studies............................................................................................... .82.2.3. Pricing of HQCF................................................................................................................... ....92.2.4. Major Achievements of CAVA Phase 1:...................................................................................92.2.4.1. Institutional strengthening:...................................................................................................92.2.4.2. Production of fresh cassava roots for processing............................................................. 102.2.4.3. Processing of HQCC, HQCF and other products (Gari, Tapioca, starch ........................... 112.2.4.3.1. Community based processing (CPGs ..............................................................................112.2.4.3.2. Adapting and improvement of processing equipment...................................................122.2.4.3.3. Building capacity to fabricate locally improved equipment............................................122.2.4.3.4. Promoting Flash drying technology.... .......................................................................... 132.2.4.3.5. Developing infrastructure to support sun drying ..... .....................................................132.2.4.3.6. Quantity of HQCF produced...........................................................................................142.2.4.3.7. Processing of Gari, tapioca and starch ...........................................................................152.2.4.3.8. Quality standards......................................................................................................... .. 152.2.4.3. 9. Certification of HQCF by Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) ... ................ 152.2.4.3.10. Quality of processed HQCF......................................................................................... . 162.2.4.4. Market outlets for the processed HQCF and HQCC. .........................................................182.2.4.4.1. Agri-food industries - composite flour market................................................................182.2.4.4.2. Market outlets.................................................................................................................182.2.4.5. Number of beneficiaries from HQCF processing................................................................212.2.4.6. Promoting investments in the cassava industry.................................................................212.2.4.6.1. Expos and shows..............................................................................................................222.2.4.6.2. Stakeholder meetings .....................................................................................................222.2.4.6.3. Investment packs.............................................................................................................22

2.2.4.6.4. Business plan development for investment in flash drying........................................... 23 2.2.4.6.6. Linkages to financial and other institutions and service provider...................................23

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2.2.4.6.7. Information, EC materials................................................................................................232.2.4.6.8. Awareness and alliance building......................................................................................232.2.4.7. Forging partnership with other institutions and programmes..........................................242.2.4.7.1. Agricultural Technology Transfer cassava value chain project (AgriTT)..........................242.2.4.7.2. The cassava seed system project.....................................................................................242.2.4.7.3. Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM)..............................................242.2.4.7.5. Uganda Investment Authority (UIA)................................................................................242.2.4.7.6 KILIMO Trust - Development of Inclusive Markets in Trade and Agriculture (DIMAT) project.................................................................................................................242.2.4.7.6. Vredesailaden Country Office East Africa (VECO EA):.....................................................242.2.4.7.7. ACET - Uganda Cassava Study................................................................... .......................262.2.5. Success stories........................................................................................................................252.2.5.1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................252.2.5.2. Mr. Eugene Ekinyu (RIP)......................................................................................................252.2.5.3. Michael Ikara.......................................................................................................................262.2.5.4. Mrs Zaituni Emuutu.............................................................................................................262.2.5.6. Joseph Engwedu..................................................................................................................272.2.6. Lessons learnt.........................................................................................................................272.2.7. Implications for the future CAVA 2 project............................................................................292.2.8. Impact Evaluation of the C:AVA project.................................................................................312.2.8.1. Introduction and Evaluation Methodology.........................................................................312.2.8.2 Main Findings.......................................................................................................................312.2.8.3. Implications and Conclusions.............................................................................................352.2.8.4. Overall Lessons, Strategic Conclusions and Recommendations:.......................................372.3. The Cassava Adding Value for Africa Project – Phase II (CAVA II)............................................392.3.1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................... 392.3.3. Facilitating business opportunity meetings for investors......................................................402.3.4. Developing Capacity of Stakeholders.....................................................................................412.3.5. Strengthening capacity of implementation partners............................................................412.3.6. Supporting value chain actors in business management and meeting HQCF quality ............ control....................................................................................................................................422.3.7. Strengthening capacity for fabricating and maintaining equipment....................................422.3.8. Expanding HQCF processing capacity................................................................................... 432.3.8.1. Recruitment of new SME processors.................................................................................432.3.8.2. Recruitment of new Community Based Processing Groups (CPGs)..................................432.3.8.3. Repair of old and faulty processing equipment.................................................................432.3.8.4. Expanding processors’ sun drying capacity........................................................................472.3.9. Introducing efficient flash dryers technology into Uganda................................................ ..482.3.10. Creating demand for fresh cassava roots (FCRs) from smallholder farmers for HQCF processing..................................................................................................................482.3.11. Building capacity of cassava processors in business development and management.......492.3.11.1. Introduction......................................................................................................................492.3.11.2. Methodology.....................................................................................................................492.3.11.3. Findings and Recommendations......................................................................................492.3.11.3.1. Characteristics of processing entities............................................................................492.3.11.3.2. Strengths and weaknesses of HQCF processors............................................................502.3.11.3.3. Challenges and threats facing cassava processors........................................................512.3.11.3.4. Opportunities and interventions required to address weaknesses and threats..........522.3.11.3.5. Performance of processing entities...............................................................................532.3.11.3.6. Link between capacity and performance of processing entities..................................542.3.11.4. Discussions and Recommendations..................................................................................562.3.12. Building synergies with other projects - Cassava Seed Systems project.............................59

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2.3.12.1. Demonstrations and training in seed production............................................................592.3.12.2. Promoting good quality seed production and management practices...........................592.4. Cassava Growth Markets Project..............................................................................................592.4.1. Background.............................................................................................................................592.4.2. Key activities and achievements............................................................................................602.4.2.1. The impact of processing methods on acidity and level of cyanide in cassava flour........602.4.2.1.1. Introduction.....................................................................................................................602.4.2.1.2. Materials and methods....................................................................................................602.4.2.1.3. Results and discussions....................................................................................................622.4.2.2. Local acceptability of high quality cassava flour in Eastern Uganda..................................642.4.2.2.1. Introduction.....................................................................................................................642.4.2.2.3. Results and discussions....................................................................................................642.4.2.3. Technologies for improving efficiency of drying cassava chips and grits...........................652.4.2.3.1. The effects of screenhouse solar drying on drying efficiency of cassava chips..............652.4.2.3.2. Results............... ..............................................................................................................662.5. Delivery System for Commercializing Quality Cassava Planting Materials in Uganda.............692.5.1. Introduction:...........................................................................................................................692.5.2. Key outputs and challenges encountered.............................................................................712.5.3. Enhancing the Capacity of Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs (CSEs)......................................... 712.5.3.1. Stakeholder awareness workshops....................................................................................712.5.3.2. A checklist for selecting CSEs produced.............................................................................712.5.3.3. Sites for CSEs characterized and selected...........................................................................722.5.3.4. Business and agronomic modules developed:...................................................................722.5.3.5. Study visit to Tanzania conducted.......................................................................................722.5.3.6. Trainings of CSEs on disease and insect pest management, agronomy, protocols and standards conducted............................................................................................................752.5.3.7. Monitoring and Evaluation workshop:...............................................................................752.5.3.8. Roadmap for the cassava seed system project...................................................................752.5.4. CSEs Producing, Distributing and Selling Certified Cassava Seed Profitably.........................762.5.4.1. Six cassava demonstration fields established using quality planting materials.................772.5.4.2. At least 36 acres of land prepared to receive basic seed..................................................772.5.4.3. Situation analysis report of ongoing seed multiplication initiatives produced.................772.5.4.4. Training workshop for CSEs on financing CCS activities conducted...................................783. Climate Change Programme........................................................................................................793.1. Introduction...............................................................................................................................813.2. Securing livelihoods to the impacts of climate change............................................................813.2.1. Introduce and promote functional and sustainable village level innovation platforms.......813.2.2. Piloting appropriate technologies at innovators farms.........................................................833.2.2.1. Climate smart piggery production innovations..................................................................833.2.2.2. Climate smart poultry production innovations..................................................................913.2.2.3. Integrated climate smart banana management innovations.............................................933.2.2.4. Integrated climate smart tomato production innovations.................................................943.2.2.5. Integrated cassava value chain innovations.......................................................................943.2.2.6. Mobilizing local savings and borrowing for investments..................................................953.2.3. Monitoring and Evaluation of the Interventions.................................................................. 963.2.3.1. Climate smart piggery intervention....................................................................................963.2.3.1.1. Appreciation of the FBT technology................................................................................963.3.3.1.2. Challenges faced by farmers............................................................................................973.2.3.2. Climate smart poultry innovations - Kroiler chicken.........................................................1003.2.3.3. Tomato Innovation center in Semuto Sub County, Nakasekke district............................102

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African Innovations Institute Annual Report 2014/15 v

3.2.3.4. Climate smart banana production innovations................................................................1023.2.4. Capacity Building and Farmer Visits.....................................................................................1033.2.4.1. Feedback and knowledge translation workshops............................................................1033.2.5.Lessons learnt that inform future work ..............................................................................1043.2.6. Challenges met and how they were dddressed..................................................................1063.2.6.1. Institutional development.................................................................................................1063.2.6.2. Piloting climate smart technologies..................................................................................1073.2.7. Research to policy workshop: Addressing climate change impacts on agriculture systems in Uganda................................................................................................................1073.2.7.1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................1073.2.7.2. Purpose and objectives.....................................................................................................1083.2.7.3. Participation.......................................................................................................................1083.2.7.4. Issues covered...................................................................................................................1093.2.7.5. Recommendations............................................................................................................1093.2.7.6. Proposed actions for agriculture stakeholders.................................................................1093.2.7.7. Proposed actions for AfrII.................................................................................................1103.3 Support to School and Community Woodlot Programme, Kole District ...............................1103.3.1. Introduction.........................................................................................................................1103.3.2. Project Goal and objectives.................................................................................................1103.3.3. Progress on Achievement of Project Objective...................................................................1103.3.3.1. Stakeholder meeting.........................................................................................................1113.3.3.2. Establish and manage central nurseries for production Eucalyptushybrid clones in Kole district........................................................................................................................1113.3.3.3. Project sustainability.........................................................................................................1163.3.3.4. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) ..................................................................................1163.3.3.5. Challenges.........................................................................................................................1164. Administration............................................................................................................................1184.1 Organogram of the Africa Innovations Institute....................................................................1184.2. Current Members of AfrII Governing Council.........................................................................1184.3. Current Staff.............................................................................................................................1195. Financial Report 2014................................................................................................................1215.1. Income and expenditure........................................................................................................1215.2. Growth in income and expenditure: 2008-2014....................................................................1216. Audit Report 2014 ....................................................................................................................1236.1. STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2014........................................1246.2. STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2014...........................1256.3. STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2014..................................126

7. References..................................................................................................................................127

African Innovations Institute Annual Report 2014/15vi

AcronymsAfrII: Africa Innovations Institute ACET: African Centre for Economic TransformationAgriTT: Agricultural Technology TransferASARECA Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central AfricaATONU: Improving Nutrition Outcomes through Optimized Agricultural InvestmentsACP: African Caribbean and Pacific AFAMCOS: Arapai Farmers Cooperative SocietyAFOSEN: Agency for Food Security NetworkACAGA: Alito Cassava Growers AssociationASF: African Swine FeverBDA: Business Development Advisor BMGF: Bill and Melinda Gates FoundationBSc: Bachelor of ScienceCAADP: Comprehensive African Agricultural Development PorgrammeCAVA: Cassava Adding Value for Africa CAVA II: Cassava Adding Value for Africa-IICM: Country Manager CPG: Community Processing Group CBB: Cassava Bacteria BlightCBOs: Community Based OrganizationsCBSD: Cassava Brown Streak Disease CDD: Community Driven DevelopmentCCS Certified Cassava SeedCSS: Cassava Seed SystemCOHAD: Children of Hope and Dignity CSE: Cassava Seed Entrepreneur DCO: District Commercial OfficerDAO: District Agricultural OfficerDSIP: Development Strategy and Investment PlanDLGs: District Local GovernmentsDLSP: District Livelihood Support Programme

DLS: Deep Litter SystemEAC: East African Community EAPPA: Eastern Agro producers and Processors Association EAAPP: East African Productivity ProjectsFAO: Food and Agricultural OrganizationFBT: Fermented Bed TechnologyFMD: Foot and Mouth DiseaseFGDs: Focus Group Discussions FRI: Food Research InstituteFUNAAB: Federal University of Nigeria in Abeokuta DFID-UK: Department for International DevelopmentDIMAT: Development of Inclusive Markets in Trade and AgricultureGAPs: Good Agricultural PracticesGPS: Global Positioning SystemGMP: Good Manufacturing PracticesGHP: Good Hygiene PracticeGLF: Group Link FarmerHACCP: Hazardous Analysis Critical Control Point HCN: Hydrocyanic AcidHH: HouseholdHP: Horse Power HFIAS: Household Food Insecurity Access Scale HQCF: High Quality Cassava Flour HQCG: High Quality Cassava Grits IEC: Information Education and CommunicationIDRC: International Development Research Center IITA: International Institute for Tropical AgricultureIMO: Indigenous Micro OrganismKIs: Key Informants

African Innovations Institute Annual Report 2014/15 vii

MC: Management CommitteeMACDO: Matilong Community Development OrganizationMAAIF: Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries M&E: Monitoring and EvaluationMoU: Memorandum of Understanding MT: Metric Tonnes MSc: Master of ScienceNAADS: National Agricultural Advisory Services NADIFA: Nakasongola District Farmers Association NGO: Non Governmental OrganizationNRI: Natural Resources Institute NARO: National Agricultural Research Organization NaCRRI: National Crops Resources Research InstituteNSCS: National Seed Certification ServicesPATA: Pallisa Agricultural Training Association P’KWI: Popular Knowledge Women Initiative QDPM: Quality Declared Planting MaterialSACCOs: Savings and Credit Co-operative OrganizationsSBA: Starch Based AdhesiveSDG: Sustainable Development Goals SME: Small and Medium EnterpriseSHFs: Small Holder FarmersTERUDO: Teso Rural Development OrganizationTCIP-U: Tropical Crops Initiative Partnership UgandaTFNC: Tanzania Food and Nutrition CentreTOSCI: Tanzania Official Seed Certification InstituteTZX: Tanzania ShillingUSA: United States of America USAID: United States Agency for International Development

USD: United States DollarUNBS: Uganda National Bureau of Standards UNIMA: University of MalawiUK: United Kingdom WHO: World Health Organization UOG: University of Greenwich WB: World Bank VSLA: Village Savings and Loan Association

African Innovations Institute Annual Report 2014/15viii

Acknowledgement

We would like to appreciate the organizations, institutions, societies,

donors and development partners without whom our work would have been impossible.

Special gratitude goes to the following for their financial support to AfrII:• The Government of Uganda• The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

(BMGF), USA• Department for International Development

(DFID), UK• The International Development Research

Centre (IDRC), Canada• The Rockefeller Foundation, USA• The European Union through • Austrian Development Agency • The United Nations Food and Agricultural

Organization (FAO)• The United Nations Development

Programme (UNDP)• The Asden Trust, UK• The Sainsbury Family Charitable Trust, UK

Special thanks also go to the following partners with whom we either collaborated on projects or provided technical input in the implementation of their projects:• ACDI/VOCA, Agribusiness Systems

International, USA• Association for Strengthening Agricultural

Research in Eastern and Central Africa (AS ARECA)

• Caribbean Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Trinidad and Tobago (CARDI), the Caribbean

• Chancellor College, University of Malawi• Council for Scientific and Industrial Research

(CSIR), Ghana• Department of Agriculture, UNITECH, The

University of South Pacific• Farm Africa, UK• Food and Natural Resources Policy Analysis

Network (FANRPAN), Pretoria, South Africa• Gulu University• Institute of Technology, Austria• International Crop Research Institute for

the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT)• International Society for Tropical Root Crops• Leverhulme Centre for Integrative Research

on Agriculture and Health (LCIRAH), UK• London School of Hygiene and Tropical

Medicine (LSHTM), UK• Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda• Michigan State University, USA• Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry

and Fisheries (MAAIF), Uganda• Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Food,

South Sudan• Ministry of Finance, Planning and Economic

Development (MFPED), Uganda• Ministry of Water and Environment, Uganda• Naliendelle Agricultural Research Institute,

Tanzania• National Agricultural Research Organization

(NARO), Uganda• National Institute for Scientific and

Industrial Research (NISIR), Zambia• National Semi-Arid Resources Research

Institute Serere, Uganda• Swaziland Agricultural Development

Programmes (SADP)• Sokoine University of Agriculture (SUA),

Tanzania• Tanzania Food and Nutrition Research

Centre (TFNC), Tanzania• The Comprehensive African Agricultural

Development Programme (CAADP), African Union

• The Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FENAAB), Nigeria

• The Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, UK

• The Roots and Tuber Crops Research Institute Trivandriwa, India

• Uganda National Bureau of Standard (UNBS)

• Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute, Ngetta

• Conservation International Foundation (CIF), USA

• Africa Center for Economic Transformation (ACET), Accra Ghana

Last but not least, we would like to appreciate the Board, management and the entire staff of AfrII for their continued tireless and unwavering dedication, hard work and innovativeness that is key in making AfrII a centre of excellence. We pray that the Almighty blesses each and every one of you, now and forever.


From the Chairman

I am delighted to present the AfrII 2014/15 Annual Report. In this year we focused our

efforts mainly on value chains development, climate change and Capacity Building Programs. For some, it was the first time we were doing them and we saw a lot of growth in these areas.

During the year under review, AfrII continued to grow, registering developments in scale and scope of activities, participation and partnerships towards our programs. We boast of our programs and projects that have greatly contributed improving peoples lives. We are therefore grateful to partners and stakeholders that have supported us all through this journey. We are particularly grateful to all our partners who have either supported or worked with us during the year. The continued support from them has enabled us to achieve this much.

AfrII has taken it upon itself to go an extra mile into market developments to ensure that farmers and SMEs increase their income. We have looked at other issues surrounding the homes including the livelihood opportunities, and nutrition. Our interventions have impacted the whole household and the community at large.

At the institutional level, the Board revised and introduced new policies taking into account changes that have occurred since then as the Institute grows and expands its operations. I commend the entire Governance Board: management and staff of AfrII for enabling which has enabled the Institute to register remarkable progress and achievement.

This report is quite detailed. It however only gives you a glimpse of what we have done and are doing, but please you are welcome to read more about our worth. This issue is dedicated to women who work tirelessly to produce and cook food for the family. We commend them.Enjoy the read!

Thank you.

Professor Otim-Nape, G.W.Chairman/CEOAfrica Innovations Institute

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African Innovations Institute Annual Report 2014/15 1

1.1. Who We AreThe Africa Innovations Institute (AfrII) is an indigenous, not-for-profit, non-governmental center of excellence based in Kampala, Uganda. Established in 2005, AfrII undertakes research and innovations development on agriculture and food systems to ensure sustainable increase in small holder farmers‘income, food and nutrition security as well as environemental sustainabilty in Eastern Africa. The Institute brings together leading innovations experts

in agriculture, nutrition, and food systems to adequately explore global science and develop best innovations for accelerated agricultural development in Africa.

It networks and is in partnership with many African, European and American institutions for implementation of research and development projects.

1.2. Where We Work The Africa Innovations Institute has a

Secretariat located in Kampala, through which national and international level activities are conducted and field level operations are coordinated. Current operations cover Uganda, South Sudan, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, Nigeria and Kenya. In Uganda, the institute operates throughout the country and has field offices in Kumi town in Eastern Uganda, Luwero town in Central Uganda and Lira town in Northern Uganda.

1.3. Our Vision, Mission and ObjectivesVision: “Smallholder farmers enjoying increased incomes and are sure of food and nutrition security”

Mission: “To undertake innovative agricultural research and commercialization of innovations that transform the lives and incomes of smallholder farmers while ensuring food and nutrition security and environmental sustainability”

Africa Innovations Institute1

2 African Innovations Institute Annual Report 2014/15

Objectives1. To generate and accelerate utilization of

knowledge and innovations for sustainable agricultural development and advancement of science and technology in Africa.

2. To facilitate learning, and bridge information gaps through managing our knowledge base, publishing our research findings, sharing of lessons learnt and holding of conferences, seminars and camps.

3. To promote entrepreneurship and accelerate transformation of knowledge and innovations into agri-business ventures through partnerships and linkages with the private sector players in agriculture and industry.

4. To promote and participate in capacity development in agriculture, research, science, and innovations for sustainability of the agricultural sector.

5. To undertake any other actions that will enhance the achievement of our objectives, mission and vision.

1.4. How We WorkThe Africa Innovations Institute realizes that for agriculture to contribute to the achievement of the SDGs and CAADP goals of accelerated agricultural growth, poverty reduction and food and nutition security, innovative approaches are needed. Such approaches would call for transforming the research results or inventions into innovations which ensure that farmers and agri-businessmen use and turn new knowledge and technologies into goods and services, which result into food on their plates or income into their pockets. This is the area AfrII aims to address and to bridge the gap.

To do this, AfrII undertakes innovative research and provides technical backstopping to farmers, private companies and other actors along the agricultural value chain. It also works with the end users to develop markets; connects producers and processors to markets and sources of services; forms institutional arrangements that unite groups of enterprising farmers, processors and other entrepreneurs and helps link them with potential partners and other services. It also undertakes applied and adaptive research on

agricultural and environment sustainability, integrating nutrition into agricultural projects and building capacity of early career scientists through training, mentorship and student thesis supervision.

In doing this, AfrII forges SMART partnerships with a wider community of actors including public, private, civil society, philanthropic and funding organizations who can help in addressing the challenges of translating research results into goods and services.

1.5. Key areas of work 1.5.1. Applied research and innovation developmentThe institute focuses on generating and transforming knowledge, practices and approaches into innovations for sustainable income, food and nutrition security of farming communities.

1.5.2. Facilitating access to and utilization of knowledge and innovations This is an important strategic priority area for the institute. Our work in this area is geared towards enhancing stakeholder capacity to collectively innovate for increased efficiency and profitability of their commodities.

Innovation in this context entails putting information and knowledge into use, whether it is new, accumulated or simply

Figure 2: Ms. Angela Ajam, a Scientist at AfrII, analyses soil sample for nutrient content


used in creative ways. To this end, the Africa Innovations Institute works on two fronts by facilitating access to, as well as building capacity of smallholder farmers and SMEs to utilize knowledge and innovation to boost production capacity and unblock agricultural system challenges.

1.5.3. Capacity and Institutional Development The capacity building component of our work is conducted at individual, community and institution level. Our aim is to enhance the ability of national and regional stakeholders to effectively respond to their mandates; and perhaps more importantly, to enable local actors sustain the momentum of our efforts even outside the framework of our project interventions.

AfrII’s role in building and strengthening capacity has included;• Developing research capacity- AfrII engages

in training and mentoring of BSc, MSc PHD and Post- doctoratal and early career scientists in research approaches, scientific communications, and research resource mobilization.

• Undertaking capacity development for organizations in the region.

• Providing technical assistance on strengthening institutional structures, systems and monitoring, evaluation and learning.

1.6. Our Programmes1.6.1. Commodity Value Chains Through this programme, AfrII works with key actors involved in prioritized commodities to address key constraints at both the supply and demand side of the value chain; support value addition; and enhances participation by smallholder farmers, SMEs and commercial firms in the value chains; and in commercialization of commodities. The projects undertaken at AfrII under this programme are; Cassava: Adding Value for Africa-II (CAVA II), Cassava seed systems, Cassava GMarkets, Sesame and Rice Value Chain Development.

1.6.2. Climate Change

Climate change is a big challenge and threat to agricultural development in the region. The weather is variable and unpredictable with frequent episode of unusual weather events such as floods, drought and hailstones. This programme seeks to develop and enhance community-based climate change adaptation initiatives and supportive policy measures that improve food security and health among rural communities in the arid and semi-arid regions of Africa. Two projects are undertaken in this programme i.e.; Adaptation to the impact of climate change and variability; and Securing Livelihoods in the cattle Corridor of Uganda.

1.6.3. Infectious Diseases ManagementDuring the last two decades, there have been incidents of high profile epidemics of human, animals and plant diseases worldwide. The burden is worst in Africa in comparison to other continents, making this issue a major threat to food and nutrition security. These burdens can produce a spiral of social, economic and environmental decline so this programme focusses on early detection, monitoring and response because these are vital in developing cost-effective strategies to minimize impact.

1.6.4. Agriculture, Environment and Human WelfareThe programme aims at achieving improved human welfare, particularly food and nutrition security, household well-being and sustainability of farming and the environment through agriculture. The two projects in this programme are Improving Nutrition Outcomes through Optimized Agricultural Investments (ATONU) and the Vital Signs monitoring systems for agricultural and environmental sustainability.

1.6.5. Capacity and Institutional Development ProgrammeThis Programme supports national and regional organizations, programmes and institutions to develop their individual, organizational and societal capacities for implementation and sustainable management of selected development programmes, commodities, pests and disease situations. Under this programme,


three projects are carried out i.e. Enhancing the Science, Technology and innovation Capacity of Root and Tuber Cops in ACP countries; Building Science and Innovations in Sustainable Management of Infectious Diseases in Eastern and Central Africa; Support to the Implementation of the Comprehensive African Agricultural Development Programme (CAADP).

1.7. Cross-cutting issues1.7.1. Collaboration, Partnerships and LinkagesOur research and development work is planned and implemented in close collaboration with numerous international, regional and national partners, institutions and individuals; local community based structures, farmer organizations, the media and academia. International partnerships continue to plays a key role of supporting and promoting the work of AfrII.

Our work is financed through contributions from private donors, enterprises and foundations, and through general fund-raising efforts. And the Institute continues to explore the possibilities of collaboration with local and international organizations around the globe. Additionally, the work of AfrII has benefitted from partnerships with sub sector associations, saving and credit cooperatives, micro finance institutions, private sector actors in various industries

1.7.2. Gender and equity concernsOur work is continually guided towards promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment. Within our framework we integrate specific key concerns of women in our sectoral response and mainstream gender as a cross-cutting issue in all our programmes. This component is manned by experienced and committed staff with an earnest passion for gender issues.

The concept of partnership is fundamental to what we do- the development of new institutional arrangements and improved partnerships among stakeholders - remains central to innovations in agricultural production systems and the development of the sector as a whole.

Working in partnership


Commodity Value Chains Programme2

Mr Francis Alacho, the CAVA Project Country Manager, receiving a book manual of CAVA Project Management from FUNAAB.


2.1. IntroductionRecent studies have revealed that food staples command the largest market share in the region (Table1). Evidence suggests that, following liberalization, this market potential is a growing and unfulfilled demand for most African food crops in local, regional and international markets. Despite this potential

commercialization of staple commodities and responding to market opportunities remains a key challenge to commercialization of agriculture in Africa. Yet smallholder farmers in Africa have not been able to respond effectively to market signals and exploit opportunities because of a number of structural and institutional constraints that limit market participation.

Through this programme, AfrII works with key actors along the value chains of prioritized commodities to address key constraints at both supply and demand side of the value chain. It supports value addition; enhances participation by smallholder farmers SMEs and commercial firms in the value chain.

2.2. The Cassava Adding Value for Africa project (C:AVA)

2.2.1. Introduction.The Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (C: AVA) project supports adding value and commercialization of cassava in Africa. The crop is the most important staple and the back bone of food security in Uganda. It is important for its high yielding ability, drought resilience, high carbohydrate content and long storability of roots in the ground with minimum deterioration. In Uganda, it is seen as a pro-poor vehicle for economic transformation;

has an industrial potential as raw materials for bakery, biscuits, starch, beverages, livestock feed, packaging, breweries and pharmaceutical industries. The project is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF).

The C: AVA I Project was implemented from 2008/9 to 31 March 2014. The project aimed at developing value chains for High Quality Cassava flour (HQCF) in Uganda so as to improve the livelihoods and incomes of at least 16,000 smallholder farmers as direct beneficiaries including women and disadvantaged groups. The project is also implemented in other African countries namely Nigeria; Ghana; Tanzania and Malawi, and the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich. UK.

The C: AVA I project successfully piloted development of value chains for HQCF, by supporting farmer processors to establish HQCF processing sites and to process HQCF in Eastern, Northern and Central Uganda. Further, it facilitated processors to supply, on contract arrangements, HQCF to end-user industries such as rural bakeries, beer breweries and biscuit manufacturers who use it to make composite flour, beer and biscuits respectively.

The project also supported a partnership with the end user industries and worked with them to develop alternative products using high quality cassava flour (HQCF). It also supported and worked with smallholder farmers to improve production and to supply own cassava roots and process them into HQCF. The project is implemented countrywide with specific focus in the districts in Bukedi, Teso, Lango regions namely Kibuku, Pallisa, Budaka, Bukedea, Kumi, Soroti, Serere, Ngora, Oyam, Kole and Lira. The C:AVA I project ended 31 March 2014 and was succeeded by the C:AVA phase two project (C:AVA II).

This project originally aimed to significantly improve the livelihoods and incomes of at least 16,000 smallholder households as direct beneficiaries including women and disadvantaged groups. After the strategy refresh in 2012 the number of target beneficiaries was reduced to 7,762 consisting of 4,032 farmers and 3,730 farmer processors.

Table 1: Food Staples: Largest Market Potential (COMESA, 2009)

Market valueCOMESA Region US $ billions PercentTraditional exports 8.6 13Nontraditional exports

7.9 12

Food staples 50 75Total 66.5 100


It aimed to achieve this by promoting the use of HQCF as a versatile raw material for which diverse markets had been identified in pilot studies. The project focused on three potent intervention points: (i) ensuring a consistent supply of raw materials; (ii) developing viable intermediaries acting as secondary processors or bulking agents in value chains and (iii) driving market demand and building market share (in, for example, bakery industry, components of traditional foods, plywood and paperboard applications). These intervention areas were subsequently modified as summarized in Table 2. It supported (a) farmers and farmer/processors in production

and primary processing of cassava and HQCF; (b) intermediaries to meet the requirements

of end users; and (c) end users to adopt use of HQCF in the manufacture of various end products, such as biscuits, bakeries products, paper boards, and other products.

A generalized value chain for HQCF is presented in Fig.4. The chain involves farmers, farmer/processors, village processing units, intermediaries and end users. Grits are prepared by drying grated cassava, which is then milled and sieved to produce HQCF.

The vision of success is that by April 2014, 4,032 farmers would be selling fresh cassava roots and benefitting annually by an average

of $102 by end of March 31st 2014 and that 3,730 farmer processors would be benefitting annually by an average of $125 by end of

Farmers/Farmer Processors (often working in groups, two options:

A. Farmer sells roots to an intermediary

B. Farmer/processors processes roots into grits and sells often using service of a Village Processing Unit to grate/dewater roots

Intermediaries

A. Buys roots from farmer and processes to HQCF and sells to end users

Or

B. Buys grits from farmer and mills to HQCF (acting as market intermediary/bulking agent) and sells to end users

End user: e.g. bakeries replacing 10%-30% of wheat with HQCF

End user: e.g. making “instant” fufu or other traditional products

End user: e.g. industrial use in plywood products

Roots

Grits HQCF

HQCF

Roots Grated roots

Village Processing Units

Provides grating/pressing service to farmer/processor

Table 2: Original and modified objectives of C:AVA before and during project implementationOriginal objectives Modified objectives during implementation

1 Ensuring a consistent supply of fresh cassava roots as raw material for processing by intermediaries

To tailor identified demand and sun drying processing capacity of the identified farmer/processor associations

2 Developing viable intermediaries acting as secondary processors or bulking agents in value chains

To maintain HQCF product quality

3 Driving market demand and building market share (in, for example, bakery industry or paperboard applications).

Develop a sustainable value chain to end-user industries

Figure 4: Generalized value chain for High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF)

2Farmer-processors are farming households who process their own cassava production into cassava grits.3Village Processing Units are enterprises based at the village level that offer a processing service (typically grating or milling) to farmer-processors. These are likely to be micro-scale entrepreneurs typically employing 1-2 people or using family labour.4Intermediaries are likely to be small-medium scale enterprises. Their primary function is to act as bulking agents to purchase either root or grits from farmers/farmer-processors.. They may also provide secondary processing services such as milling grits to flour/or even in some cases mechanical drying of grits. They sell high HQCF.5End Users also enterprises, often medium in sized who are users of HQCF. They include bakeries, plywood manufacturers and food processing and marketing companies selling and packaging traditional processed products.


March 31st 2014. Further, at least 2,016 tons of High Quality Cassava Grits (HQCG) and High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) of consistent quality would be produced and sold to end user industries by March 31st 2014 and offer additional employment to 300 persons. In addition there would be additional benefits including: employment at the village and intermediary level, reduced raw material costs for end users, reduced need to import wheat, development of the capacity to upgrade other, similar food ingredient value chains, and, where comparative advantage exists, aggressive exporting.

2.2.2. Market opportunities studies. A market value chain analysis done between April to June 2009, (AfrII 2009) established the market opportunities in 6 segments totalling to 13,400 tons per annum, (Table 3). The main market opportunities were rural bakeries, biscuit industry, urban bakeries, wheat flour milling and composite flour millers. These market opportunities are based on partial substitution, with HQCF, of competing products in various industries. Subsequent market studies were done in May 2012.

As shown in Table 3 the two studies confirmed the market opportunities earlier identified in 2009. These studies showed that the bakeries and biscuit manufacturing have had consistent potential demand. They also revealed that

composite flours that were initially showing very low potential market, now has a high potential market demand. Surprisingly the anticipated high demand from wheat millers to make composite flours is non-existent. The three new major markets for animal feed, paper board and breweries that were non-existent in 2009 are likely to account for 36% of the market share by 2019. This is mainly due to the high costs of substitutes i.e. maize bran for feed, high costs of importing corn starch for paperboard and the need to utilize more local resource for the breweries. Market for plywood does not feature because they are already utilizing cheaper low quality cassava flour. C: AVA 2 is therefore designed to meet the expected HQCF demand of over 30,000 tons per annum as shown in the Table 3.

2.2.3. Pricing of HQCF The price of HQCF is based on the general principle of 80% of the price of wheat flour. Based on this in 2009, the pricing was estimated to be in the range of US $ 446-526 per ton during the project preparation.

During implementation a farmer participatory cost benefit analysis was done which showed that the cost of producing 1 kg of HQCF was between UGX 850-1,080 per kg. Based on this the selling price has been between UGX 1300-1700 per kg (averaging US $ 600 per ton) thus making it more competitive than corn starch

Table 3: Market opportunities for HQCF from 2009-2013 and projections to 2019

Market segment Opportunity for HQCF Market opportunity(tons)

2009 2012 2013 2019

Rural bakeries 5 -10% substitution 300 0 1,000 7,000

Biscuits 25% - 35% substitution 2000 250 300 4,000

Urban bakeries 5 to10 % substitution 7,500 0 2000 7,000

Wheat millers Perhaps 5% substitution 3,500 0 0 0

Composite flour Very limited <100 700 700 2,000

Ply wood textiles small 250 0 0

Animal feed 0 1,600 1,500 6,000

Paper board 0 500 500 1,400

Breweries 0 2,000 2,000 3,750

Total 13,400 5,300 8,000 31,150

1 Banana, maize, rice and wheat based foods have taken increasing market share in rapidly urbanising and affluent Ugandans. The reason for this is that these products have become associated with western style urban ‘progress’ and sophistication in the minds of consumers.


and wheat flour but not attractive to breweries and animal feed manufacturers. Penetration of the later markets would require a reduction in the cost of production so as to make it more competitive with potential substitutes. The breweries has put the project on notice to arrange supply of 2,000 tons per year of HQCC based on the favourable laboratory tests carried out on the samples from four C:AVA processing sites. The sample tests were carried out in their laboratories in Nairobi and Germany.

2.2.4. Major Achievements of CAVA Phase 1:

2.2.4.1. Institutional strengthening:

There was strong capacity building of local institutions. The major institutions that benefitted were AfrII, Vision Terudo, MACDO, FADEPU-EU, AFAMCOS, PATA, P’KWI, SOSPPA and EAPPA Table 4. AfrII was the Uganda implementer of the C:AVA project and was strong in cassava production aspects with limited experience, knowledge and skills in cassava processing, marketing, business development and cassava product development aspects . During the project period, Afrll developed strong capabilities

in all these aspects and is now acting as a One- Stop-Centre and service provider in areas that support cassava commercialization and industrialization especially in areas of processing, quality control and market development and linkages. AfrII’s field presence was strengthened with opening of the Kumi field office in the C:AVA project area.

In the first 3 years, field implementation was undertaken by the NGOs: Vision Terudo, MACDO, FADEP-EU. Whereas these NGOs were strong in mobilization of farmers groups and cassava filed management, they had limited experience, knowledge and skills in HQCF value chain development. The knowledge and skills of extension workers and key farmer

trainers was strengthened through training of trainers on cassava agronomy, pest and disease control, designing and setting up of HQCF processing units (based on sun drying technology), processing safety and quality control, as shown in Table 4.

Training were also conducted in the areas of equipment fabrication and repair, business development, market and linkages and product development using HQCF (Table 5). AfrII and

Table 4: Number of persons trained, their institutions and areas of training in cassava production and HQCF processing.

Topics covered Institution Number of traineesFemales Males

Common errors in cassava production and rapid stem cuttings

P’KWI,TCIP-U,PATA, FADEPU-EU, MACDO, Pallisa DLG, Kumi DLG, SOSPPA, Vision Terudo, TCIP-U

11 22

Training of quality regulators in cassava production techniques by UNBS

AfrII, P’KWI, AFAMCOS, SOSPPA, EAPPA, BUKEDEA DLG

4 7

Processing and quality control for HQCF/HQCC

OKODE, AFAMCOS, PATA, PELUM, P’KWI, SOSPPA,EAPPA, VISION Terudo, MACDO, FADEPU-EU, KAMEKE ACE,TCIP

76 95

HQCF processing site prototype development

OKODE, AFAMCOS, PATA, PELUM, P’KWI, SOSPPA,EAPPA, VISION Terudo, MACDO, FADEPU-EU, KAMEKE ACE

76 94

Requisite HQCF/HQCF schedules, records and instructions

OKODE, AFAMCOS, PATA, PELUM, P’KWI, SOSPPA,EAPPA, VISION Terudo, MACDO, FADEPU-EU, KAMEKE ACE

76 94

Meeting UNBS certification requirements and HQCC and HQCF specifications

AFAMCOS, PATA, PELUM, P’KWI, SOSPPA,EAPPA, VISION Terudo, MACDO, FADEPU-EU, KAMEKE ACE

50 81

Cassava processing and agro processing technologies

Nakasongola DLG, Nakasongola District Farmers association, ACAPROMA

17 13


the trained extension workers undertook trainings of the beneficiary farmers and farmer processors who are members of PATA, PKWI, SOSSPA, EAPPA and AFAMCOS Associations

and cooperatives. Currently there is a critical number of trainers who are well equipped with all aspects of HQCF processing, marketing, product development and utilization as shown in Table 5. The project also strengthened the ability of the associations to operate as legal entities that can execute business transactions involving contracts.

2.2.4.2. Production of fresh cassava roots for processing.After the trainers had acquired knowledge and skills on common errors in cassava production and rapid stem cuttings, they were able to train more beneficiary farmers in PATA, SOSPPA and P’KWI. As a result, several farmers adopted improved cassava farming practices which increased their fresh cassava roots yield from 12 to 20 tons per hectare.

An attempt was also made to distribute new improved cassava lines (TME 14 and Akena) but they proved highly susceptible to CBSD and

were abandoned after the first year. Based on observations by C:AVA staff and farmers, NASE 3 (Migyera) showed strong field tolerance to CBSD. Studies done in May and July 2013

confirmed that NASE 3 showed the least leaf and stem symptoms as well as roots necrosis (Table 6). Farmers were advised to abandon the susceptible varieties and switch to NASE 3. Since then fresh cassava root production has been consistent, available and has been able to meet the amounts required for HQCF processing at a stable price.

Apart from its low conversion ratio (4 kg of fresh cassava root to 1 kg of HQCF), Nase 3 is resistant to CMD, has high level of tolerance to CBSD, has white flour and other properties preferred by most end-users. This has made it quite popular among farmers and end users.

The trend in volume of fresh cassava roots produced for processing from 2009-2014 is shown in Fig. 5. Cassava root production for HQCF processing started slowly in 2010; it picked up in 2012 as farmers gain more interest and by 2013, about 8,000 metric tons of fresh roots were being produced for processing. This

Table 5: The number of persons trained, their institutions and topics covered in the training (equipment fabrication and maintenance, value addition and cassava business development.

Topics covered Institution/ Number of traineesFemales Males

Fabrication of cassava graters (800 kg/hour) and press with 50 t hydraulic jack (500 kg).

Africa Innovations Institute, Tonnet Agro-engineering Co Ltd, Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute.

0 3

Repair and maintenance of processing equipment

AFAMCOS, PATA, P’KWI, SOSPPA,EAPPA, VISION Terudo, MACDO, FADEPU-EU, KAMEKE ACE

40 64

Baking using a mixture of HQCF and wheat flour

AFAMCOS, P’KWI, PATA FADEPU-EU, MACDO vision Terudo, SOSPPA

97 91

Business development OKODE, AFAMCOS, PATA, PELUM, P’KWI, SOSPPA,EAPPA, VISION Terudo, MACDO, FADEPU-EU, KAMEKE ACE

76 94

Table 6: Incidence of CBSD (%) on cassava varieties in selected villages implementing CAVA projectLocation Nandere village Natoto B village Kakuja central villageField No. NASE 3 NAM (TME -series) NASE 3 BIBINA

(TME-series)NASE 3 KABARATA KERE

(TME-series)1 6 - 0 88 0 -2 0 100 0 100 0 -3 5 - 0 - 0 -4 4 - 0 - 0 1005 4 100 0 100 0 -6 6 - 0 100 0 -7 0 - 0 67 0 508 0 - 0 97 0 -9 8 - 0 87 0 -

10 5 - 0 100 0 -MEAN 4 100 0 92 0 75


figure reached 11, 000 tons by 2014. The rapid increase in the volume of cassava produced for processing was triggered by the demand for HQCF by end users. This stimulated farmers’ interest in producing cassava since they had ready market and could produce, sell and get money readily.

2.2.4.3. Processing of HQCC, HQCF and other products (Gari, Tapioca, starch)

2.3.4.3.1. Community based processing (CPGs).

This was the main strategy adopted for implementing the CAVA project - phase one (CAVA I). Through this strategy, farmers were organized into groups and several groups

formed a processing cluster. This was usually at the parish level. The members of these groups (Farmer-processors) were supported to grow their own cassava for processing.

Several processing clusters formed Processing Association or Cooperative at the sub-county or district levels’ and were supported to acquire, set up processing machines and operate an HQCF Processing Center(s) (Fig 6). This consists of a processing shade, machines such as a grater (s), chipper(s), a dewatering machine, a set of sun drying racks, a store and sometimes a hammer mill and an underground septic tank for disposing waste water and other materials. The unit is all enclosed in a perimeter fence to exclude stray animals and other unwanted members. Many of these processing units are certified by UNBS and NEMA.

The processers were trained to produce HQCF and linked to end user markets to whom they would sell their products. They processed HQCF using sun drying technology but later solar drying technology was introduced.

2.2.4.3.2. Adapting and improvement of processing equipment.

In the Uganda C:AVA strategy it was decided that processing would be based on equipment existing in the three processing associations before the project implementation started in 2009 mainly by SASAKAWA Global 2000 and IITA. This equipment had been acquired Fig. 6 Cassava Processing Centre


through other earlier projects. During implementation, it was realized that the equipment were not well suited to production

of HQCF. They were not made of stainless steel and were rudimentary with very limited processing capacity. (Fig 7) For instance the screw press could not dewater more than 200 kg of grated cassava at a go and needed a lot of manual energy that only men would handle. With such a set of equipment, it was not possible to produce HQCF that met the technical specifications and quantities were too small to support aggressive promotional activities and the immediate demands.

To this end Tonnet Agro-engineering Company Ltd (Tonet) was asked to fabricate improved

versions of the press and grater based on IITA prototypes. But even these were made out of ordinary steel with a five ton hydraulic press. With this set of equipment, the quantities were still limited due to the slow dewatering process that would take two –three (2-3) hours. A decision was therefore made by the project management to carry out a regional training in Lilongwe Malawi for Uganda, Malawi and Tanzania potential fabricators. Two engineers from Tonnet Agro-Engineering Co Ltd and Makerere University Agricultural Research Institute Kabanyolo (MUARIK) together with the Country Manager participated in the training. The outcome of this training was a Malawi grater and press prototypes with specifications which each country adapted to their local conditions. The transition of the press types is illustrated in Figs 6a, 6b as described.

2.2.4.3.3. Building capacity to fabricate locally improved equipment.

As a follow up of the training of fabricators in Malawi, local capacity had been strengthened to fabricate processing equipment. Tonnet Agro-Engineering Co Ltd in Kampala, had fabricated and supplied 26 cassava graters and 26 presses by March 2013 since 2010. While IRVIN Global Ltd in Soroti had fabricated 10 graters and 9 presses by March September 2013. All the above have Malawi or modified specifications. There is now adequate local capacity to fabricate and supply HQCF processing equipment as well as carry out after

Fig 6b Improved screw press by Tonnet Fig 6a Malawi press prototype

Fig. 7 Screw press before C:AVA


sales service, regular repairs and servicing.

The organizations that have procured the above equipment are from Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. In Uganda, Mukono ZARDI procured 2 graters and 1 press from IRVIN Global Ltd for Kisalizi farmers in ACAPROMA association in Nakasongola. Daniel Musiitwa has also ordered for a grater and press. FAO

was linked to IRVIN Global Ltd to procure motorized graters and hydraulic presses while Afro-General Engineers and Contractors Ltd in Iganga was recommended for cassava chippers. Due to increasing demand for HQCC, PATA took 2 chippers for repair in Iganga and P’KWI took 1 chipper for repairs in Soroti. Another fabricator identified for chippers is Agro-

tech Engineering Services in Kampala. NAADs organized a West Nile two-week training for 12 fabricators of graters and presses facilitated by IRVIN international.

However, the quality of all equipment locally fabricated has remained an issue and C:AVA-Uganda has recognized the need to bring various fabricators together to share on

experiences, agree on specifications and on how to improve quality at the commencement of C:AVA II. UNBS was approached on this issue and advised that the fabricators can start on self-regulation.

Table 7: Sun drying space in the HQCF processing sites, 2014.Sn Association Processing site Bamboo racks sun

drying space (sq. m)Metallic termite-proof racks (sq.m)

Raised concrete (sq.m)

1. PATA Kadama 220 300 02. PATA Buseta 260 118 03. PATA Kagumu 150 0 04. P’KWI Kachede 220 53 05. P’KWI Kotiokot 190 48 06. P’KWI Kobale 200 0 07. SOSPPA Abuket 250 61 08. EAPPA Kyere 180 137 09. EAPPA Odapaeta 160 89 010. AFAMCOS Arapai 0 0 504

Total 1,830 806 504

Fig7. Grated Cassava being dried on wooden sun drying racks at PATA Processing Site, Serere district.


2.2.4.3.4. Promoting Flash drying technology.

C:AVA made several presentations in the form of investor packs developed by the project to private sector players (such as

TCIP, WindWood Millers Ltd, Masindi District Farmers Association, Katon manufacturers, Britannia, Riham and Balaji Group East Africa Ltd), on the opportunities in investing in flash drying. So far TCIP has signed an MoU with AfrII/C:AVA to prepare for the procurement and installation of a six cyclone flash drier from Nigeria. TCIP and Wind Wood Millers Ltd have prepared draft business plans that have been shared with the C:AVA Project management for installation of 3 ton/day flash dryers.

Katon Manufacturers Ltd has expressed interest in partnering with an investor interested in procuring a flash dryer and will be willing to provide managerial skills. Balaji, Riham and Britannia have expressed interest to buy HQCF from flash dryer investors who can produce certified HQCF with a UNBS quality mark. Balaji group East Africa Ltd has invested in paper board and biscuit manufacturing and has requested for samples for trial runs in the paper board factory.

2.2.4.3.5. Developing infrastructure to support sun drying.

To successfully undertake and support sun drying technology for HQCF processing there

was need for appropriate infrastructure. The type and durability of sun drying racks has transitioned from wooden materials to fully designed metal structures and welded –mesh for drying trays in order to progressively

increasing its lifespan and withstand termite destruction.

In the first 3 years, the infrastructure exclusively consisted of raised poles and bamboo racks totaling to 1, 830 m2 with a capacity to process 4.5 tons of HQCF per day. However these were susceptible to termites. The capacity was further boosted by constructing an additional 806.1 m2 termite resistant raised sun drying racks and 504 m2 sq. M of raised concrete platform constructed by World Vision Uganda for AFAMCOS (Table 7).

2.2.4.3.6. Amount of HQCF produced.Over the five year period, a total of 4,289.05 tons of HQCF and HQCC were processed in 14 processing sites of which 10 were directly under C:AVA-Uganda (Table 8). Initially the main product was HQCF for use as a raw material for the end-user industries. The main HQCF and HQCC producers were Kadama, Kachede, Abuket and Arapai processing associations (Table 8). In the other sites, mostly from our partners, C:AVA provided technical training in HQCF/HQCC processing, quality control, product development business development and market linkages.

Table 8. Production of HQCC and HQCF per site from April 2009 to March 2014Processing site Quantities of HQCF and HQCC produced (tons)

2009/2010 2010/2011 2011/2012 2012/2013 2013/2014Kadama 2 35 194 209 277Buseta 0 50 91 152 164Kameke ACE 0 0 0 0 97Kachede 5 32 69 207 198Kotiokot 0 20 35 123 93

Kobale 0 14 0 0 0Abuket 0 42 227 392 351Kyere 1 28 165 147 195Odapaeta 0 0 25 69 78Arapai 0 0 0 0 260Loro 0 0 0 0 63Kisalizi 0 0 0 0 26TCIP-U 0 0 0 0 120Bar 0 0 0 0 35Total 8 220 805 1299 1957Target 75 216 792 1296 2016Achievement (%) 10 102 102 100 97


During the course of the project implementation, a niche market for safe good quality cassava flour grew exponentially hence accounting for 50% of the market share in table 8 and figure 8. Initially for composite flours, HQCF was promoted but consumers preferred flour from

HQCC. As a result the processing sites added a new process line for HQCC based on the same food safety management principles of HACCP, Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) for foods and drinks, Good Hygiene Practice (GHP) and quality control checks so as to meet the market and consumer demands.

As shown in Table 8 the project has been able to more or else meet its targets with 2013/2014 achievement of 97 %. A major achievement was made from 2011/12 when the quantity of HQCF and HQCC processd increased from 220 to 805 tons. The trend in volume of HQCF processed from 2009-2014 is shown in Figure 8. The volume of HQCF processed started slowly in 2009/10; it picked up in 2011/12 as processors gained more experience and interest and by 2013, about 805 metric tons of HQCF were being produced. This figure reached close to 2,000 tons by 2013/14. The rapid increase in the volume of HQCF processed was made possible by increasing the number of processors and expanding the

drying capacity they have particularly in new areas and regions such as Arapai in Soroti, Loro in Oyam, Kisalizi in Nakasongola district.

2.2.4.3.7. Processing of Gari, tapioca and starch.

In PATA, besides HQCF, there has been

processing of other products namely gari, tapioca and starch. Gari is a versatile product because during HQCF processing the wet cake meant for HQCF can be fermented if the weather is cloudy. The gari market is in Kampala where the buyer packages and re-brands and puts it in the supermarket shelves. There is also a dealer from Nairobi, Kenya who takes weekly deliveries by bus from Mbale to Nairobi.

Table 9: List of approved EAC standards for cassava and cassava based productsSn Code Name of standard1 DEAS 776-2012 Production and handling

of fresh cassava- code of practice

2 DEAS 778-2012 Fresh bitter cassava -specification

3 DEAS 779-2012 High quality cassava flour-specification

4 DEAS 780-2012 Fresh cassava leaves-specification

5 DEAS 781-2012 Biscuits–specification 6 DEAS 782-2012 Composite flour-

specification 7 DEAS 48-2012 Bread–specification


Tapioca is sold locally while the starch is sold to Islamic University in Uganda and neighboring secondary schools for science teaching. Starch is derived from the de-watering effluents.

2.2.4.3.8. Quality standards

At the beginning of C:AVA in Uganda, there were no UNBS standards for HQCF except for general cassava flour that was not related to HQCF. During the project life, C:AVA worked with Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS), Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA) and other East African National Bureaus of Standards and developed seven East African Community (EAC) Standards (Table 9) to support investments in the cassava industry and facilitate national, regional and international trade in cassava products. It is important to note that the biscuit, composite flour and bread specifications were not new but were modified to allow for the inclusion of different levels of HQCF as desired by the end-user industries and consumers. The approved EAC standards for cassava and cassava based products are shown (Table 9).

2.2.4.3.9. Certification of HQCF by Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS).

After industrial tests and trials, several end-users showed enthusiasm to utilize HQCF as a raw material in their industries. However all food industries are obliged by law to utilize products that have been certified with a quality mark and found to be safe and fit for human consumption. These are biscuit manufacturers, bakeries, breweries, animal feed millers and composite flour millers. The food industry is keen and requires low levels of cyanogenic compounds in the HQCF. According to the EAC standards the specification for cyanide must be below 10 ppm but some industries require considerably lower level of cyanide. The food industries insisted that they could only take large quantities of HQCF that had been certified with a UNBS quality standard mark. AfrII approached UNBS who wrote a proposal to ASARECA which was funded. The objectives of the project were: 1. Enhance access and availability of

information on harmonized East African Community cassava products standards,

2. Enhance capacity of the value chain actors

in the application of the harmonized standards and

3. Increase effectiveness of the regulators in monitoring compliance to the EAC harmonized cassava standards.

The target countries for the UNBS project were Uganda and Tanzania. In Uganda, the selected target areas were beneficiaries of the C:AVA project. These were: (i) P’KWI with 82 farmer groups in Bukedea district comprising 1,640 farmer/cassava processors; (ii) AFAMCOS with 300 farmer/cassava processors in Soroti and Amuria districts; (iii) SOSPPA in Serere district with 320 cassava farmers/processors and (iv)PATA with 875 farmer/ cassava processors in Pallisa, Kibuku and Budaka districts. The main outcome of this project was that the processors produce HQCF products that meet EAC specifications and standards (Table 10).

Further with support from AfrII, UNBS sent a team of quality auditors regularly to inspect the HQCF processing sites. They made several inspection visits and provided advice on how the sites should be reorganized to meet the certification requirements based along the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) concept. They also organized trainings for quality control committee members of the HQCF processing sites.

In addition, several industries have taken samples for testing in hi-tech laboratories in Denmark, Germany and Kenya. Ugandan industries have also taken samples to test for their quality specifications. The quality of HQCF tested in the UNBS laboratory showed improvements in the quality specifications, particularly in areas of moisture content, biochemical properties, moulds and bacterial counts. One of the breweries found that all the samples sent from 4 processing sites passed their tests in Germany and has asked AfrII to initially work out a delivery mechanism of 2,000 t per annum.

As a result of training and awareness creation of the cassava products EAC harmonized standards, the attitude of the processors became more positive and they continued contacting UNBS on their own seeking for


advice and certification. A total of 11 C:AVA-Uganda quality regulators in cassava production techniques were also passed out by UNBS

after 3 subsequent trainings with certificates. The AfrII Food Technologist also had a 2 month safety and HACCP training in the USA funded by UASID and is now a certified HACCP trainer.

The processors have got their own brand names and most are certified. They are now aware of the benefits of hygiene and sanitation in food and drinks manufacturing and are now paying for the handlers to be checked by the respective district health personnel to be certified fit to handle food processing.

2.2.4.3.10. Quality of processed HQCF.

Apart from profitability of HQCF processed using sun drying technology, the product

proved consistently of very high quality over the two trial periods. Laboratory analysis results done at NRI, University of Greenwich, UK (Tables 10) show the superior quality of the product.

The product produced by all the processors had excellent pH, moisture content, and the particle size was good except for the product from Kadama – PATA which failed in the June test and was borderline in the December 2012 tests just like for Kachede -PIKWI. In addition

Table 10. Laboratory test results from NRI UK for HQCF quality parameters for samples from different processors using sun drying technology, Uganda - June 2012Association/ Company pH % MC Particle Size Color Odor Foreign matterTest results, June 2012Kachede-P’KWI 6.4 9.4 ok creamy white slight noneBuseta-PATA 6.5 10.6 ok creamy white slight noneKadama-PATA 6.3 13.1 fail creamy white yes Large particlesOdapaeta-EAPPA/SOSPA 6.6 10.9 ok creamy white yes - strong noneKyere-EAPPA/SOSPA 6.4 10.6 ok creamy white yes - strong noneAbuket-EAPPA/SOSPA 6.4 10.0 ok White none noneFGI (Arapai) 6.0 11.3 ok Beige yes dark particles

Test results, Dec.2012Kachede-P’KWI 6.4 13.4 borderline white Slight noneBuseta-PATA - - - - - -Kadama-PATA 6.6 13.4 borderline creamy white Slight noneOdapaeta-EAPPA/SOSPA - - - - - -Kyere-EAPPA/SOSPA 6.3 11.1 ok creamy white Slight noneAbuket-EAPPA/SOSPA 6.2 10.9 ok white Slight noneFGI (Arapai) 5.1 10.5 ok creamy/beige none none


the colour of the product was white or creamy white for all the products, and the odour was none or slight for most processors except for Odapaeta and Kyeere -EAPPA/SOSPA which had strong odour. There was no foreign matter in samples from all the processors except

for Kadama-PATA and FGI (Arapai) which respectively had large and dark particles in the June 2012 sample but this had been sorted out by December. The results demonstrates the superiority of HQCF produced by Community Based Processors using sun drying technology.

2.2.4.4. Market outlets for the processed HQCF and HQCC.2.2.4.4.1. Volume marketed.

The trend of volume of HQCF and HQCC marketed annually from 2009-2014 is shown in Figure 9. The volume started slowly in 2009/10; it picked up in 2011/12 as more end users appreciated the product. Rapid increase was witnessed from 2011/12 through to

2012/13 and by 2014, close to 2,000 metric tons of HQCF and HQCC were being marketed annually. The rapid increase in volume marketed is due to opening of new markets as more end users adopted use of HQCF and HQCC.

The main market outlets for the HQCF and HQCC are shown in Table 11. The main markets are agri foods industries that mill composite flours, rural bakeries and paper board manufactures followed by other smaller ones such as urban bakeries, biscuits manufactures and breweries (Table 11). The first three respectively control about one half, a quarter and about one tenth of the total markets available. The rest control about one tenth of the total market.

2.2.4.4.2. Market outlets.

Agri-food industries - composite flour market:

Figure 10a Variety of HQCF products by local processors. Figure 10b local bakery explains how to make cakes using HQCF

Table 11. Market shares of HQCF and HQCC produced from April 2009 to March 2014Year End users

Rural bakeries

Urban bakeries

Biscuits manufactures

Agri foods industries

Paper board manufactures

Breweries Total

2009/10 8 0 0 0 0 0 82010/11 27 0 133 61 0 0 2202011/12 276 0 2 361 167 0 8052012/13 336 302 0 456 205 0 12992013/14 496 0 0 1293 155 13 1957Total 1142 302 135 2171 527 13 4289Market share (%)

27 7 3 51 12 0.3


This is driven by the growing population of the urban middle and high income class who prefer to consume safe, quality, nutritious and health foods. Another major enabling factor is the availability of EAC standard for composite flour mix of wheat flour and cassava flour for bread and biscuit manufacture. Some of the major composite flour millers include: Maganjo Grain Millers, Family Diet Limited, East African Basic Foods, NUMA Feeds ltd, MACO ltd, SESACO ltd, EDRAC ltd, Busia Millers Ltd and Akiba Products Ltd.

The millers process and package the composite flours in sizes that range from 1 to 50 kg according to customer requirements. These composite flour packages are mostly sold in the 45 listed supermarkets in Uganda with a negligible amount sold by retailers. Some of the major supermarkets selling composite flours include Nakumatt, Uchumi, Tuskys, Shoprite, Quality Supermarkets among others. Generally the supermarket outlets provide shelf space to the millers and pay them after selling the flour. This tends to slow down their cash flows and capacity to expand to meet the growing market demand. The farm gate price of the HQCC is between US $ 400 to 520 per

ton. After cleaning, packaging and labelling, the composite flour is sold between US $ 1600-2000 per ton.

The main challenges faced by the composite flour millers include acquisition of UNBS

Certification and Quality Mark which costs them about US $ 4,000 in addition to regular laboratory tests; The cost of packaging material imported from Kenya attracts a high import tax which is passed on to the consumers. Increasing quantities of the composite flours are now exported for consumption to Ugandans in the diaspora. The millers often get orders of 40 to 100 tons per month which they have failed to meet due to the limited capital outlay. In 2014 there was an expression of interest to export 400 tons per month to Botswana, TCIP-U had an order to export 100 ton per month and Family Diet Ltd got an order of 40 tons per month.

Rural bakeries

This market includes small bakeries and home baking cottages mainly operating in Eastern Uganda. Twenty five rural bakeries from Soroti, Jinja, Mbale, Kachede, Kadama, Abuket and Ongino were trained over the past 5 years. In total 188 individuals were trained to use HQCF in baking. This market has been favoured by the hike in wheat prices in the last 3 years as well as the preferred taste by local consumers of the baked products with an inclusion of HQCF.

From a commercial perspective, wheat flour costs on average UGX 2,500 per kg (US$ 1.0 per kg) from the handful of large millers in Uganda. In contrast HQCF is currently offered between UGX1400-1700 (US$ 0.55-0.65 per kg) per kg, therefore HQCF moves a huge economic

Figure 11 Variety of HQCF products


sense in bakery. Some of the bakeries that have taken to use of HQCF is COHAD based in Kumi, is small scale but fully commercialized. It produces muffins with 50 % HQCF, mandazis and doughnuts with 30 % HQCF and sells its products in a radius of 50 km as shown in the captions below (Fig 10b).

Paperboard manufacturing

This is one of the most promising market outlets but has remained limited due to problems experienced by the manufacturer who had adopted its use and competition from a cartel of corn starch importers from India who also own the majority of paperboard manufacturing industries.

According to the market research in 2012, two of the smaller paperboard companies in Uganda already use cassava starch for their SBAs. One sourced HQCF from a C:AVA group (100-200 MT per annum), the other from Mombasa. According to this manufacturer,

one of the main advantages is that only 150 kg of HQCF are required for 1,000 litres of water as compared to 200 kg of corn starch to obtain a similar type of adhesive. This would correspond to a 25% cost reduction, assuming that the price for HQCF and corn starch is the same. During the C:AVA II investment study several companies expressed a lack of knowledge on how to use HQCF, i.e. mixing it with other ingredients such as water, borax, and caustic soda and needed to be given technical assistance in the form of factsheets, or preferably on-site training will. Plans are underway to do this.

Urban bakeriesThese are bakeries in Kampala and other major towns. This outlet has been cautious in using HQCF. Currently C:AVA-Uganda is developing an MoU with Kampala Capital City Authority to carry out an intensive training and promotion of use of HQCF in baking.

Biscuit manufacturers The C:AVA project had made a major market penetration when one of the biscuit manufacturers (Riham) started using and developed a biscuit based on HQCF. This market was lost when UNBS confiscated a consignment of 10 tons from their stores because the HQCF lot had no quality mark. Due to the difficulty in getting certification and a quality mark from UNBS, the orders from the biscuit manufacturers fizzled out. However, this market is still promising because the biscuit manufacturers and the C:AVA project have been involved in activities that will facilitate

Table 12: Possible biscuit manufacturing – cost savings due to HQCF useDifferent scenarios using wheat flour and HQCF Value (UGX)Scenario 1 (baseline):100% biscuit / wheat flour; 100 kg @ UGX 1,880/kg 188,000Cost savings 0Scenario 2 (10% HQCF):90% biscuit / wheat flour; 90 kg @ UGX 1,880/kg 169,20010% HQCF; 10 kg @ UGX1,500/kg 15,000Total cost: 184,200Cost savings (compared to scenario 1) 2%Scenario 3 (20% HQCF)80% biscuit / wheat flour; 80kg @ UGX 1,880/kg 150,40020% HQCF; 20kg @ UGX 1,200/kg 24,000Total cost: 174,400Cost savings (compared to scenario 1) 7.2%

Source AfrII 2013

COHAD statement July 16 2013

-We use 30% in our mandazi and doughnuts. -We use 50% in our muffins (queen cakes).-We use 60% in our biscuits.-HQCF is adding value to these products and is helping us reduce the cost now the price of flour has been significantly increased (taxed). (Source: CoHAD presentation, CAVA Planning meeting,2013)


the use of HQCF in biscuit manufacturing. They participated in standard setting meetings at the East African Community level. The standards include use of HQCF in biscuits under certification. Possible scenarios for use of HQCF in biscuit manufacturing have been studied (Table 12). Assuming a company uses

a total of 200 MT of biscuit flour per month, scenario 2 would lead to a cost saving of US $ 10,880 per month or US $ 130,560 per annum. The total annual demand of HQCF would be of the order of 480 MT if a 20% inclusion rate were to be assumed. Scenario 3 where HQCF price is reduced to UGX 1,200 per kg would even be more attractive (AfrII 2013). The calculations are based on one mix (i.e. batch) of biscuit dough consisting of 100 kg of flour and 40 kg of other ingredients (sugar, oil, etc).

Breweries.

During the Uganda C:AVA II investment study, the potential HQCF/HQCC market demand in the breweries was put at 3,750 tons per annum. This market was pursued by the project. A presentation was made to one of the interested breweries who subsequently asked for a sample that they tested in a Nairobi laboratory. The results were meeting their quality requirements and they dispatched a team consisting of the Quality Controller,

Procurement Officer and Agri-business Manager to visit the C:AVA processing sites to verify the capacity to process HQCF/HQCC. Thereafter they requested for samples from Arapai/AFAMCOS, Abuket/SOSPPA, Kachede/P’KWI and Kadama/PATA which they sent to Germany for testing in the laboratories.

They have been satisfied with the test results and have expressed interest to enter into a contract for supply of 2,000 tons per annum. C:AVA Uganda is currently working out a strategy with the processors in the 3 regions to meet this order. The main challenge is the low price being offered. There is need to develop strategies to reduce processing costs to break into this market with an anticipated demand of the order of 4,000 tons per annum.

Potential of exports for animal feed manufacture:

An importer from China working in partnership with a Ugandan company is carrying out a reconnaissance for processing and export of 5,000 tons per month of HQCC for animal feed in China. Initially they want to commence with 200 tons per month and gradually expand the processing capacity. C:AVA Uganda advised them to consider setting up a processing plant. If this leads to a feasibility study, it will be a major area of focus that fits with the proposed strategy in C:AVA II.

Figure 12: Profitability of sun drying technology in production of HQCF (Source: Hellena 2012)

AssumptionsCassava yield: 12-20 t/haCost of labour: US$1 per day

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

Oct-10 Mar-11 Jun-11 Sep 2011 Dec 2011

US$/T

HQCF

Costs of HQCF (sun dried) and projected market prices, Uganda

Capital costs

Other sun drying costs

Wet mash processing

Farmer's margin

Cost of FCR

HQCF pr ice B iscuit

HQCF pr ice R ural

wheat flour


2.2.4.4.3. Profitability of HQCF from sun drying technology.

The costs and profitability of processing HQCF using sun drying technology in Uganda is shown (Fig. 12). The results show that when all other factors (capital, fresh roots, processing, drying costs), processors still retain some good margins throughout the year, the greatest margin being realized during December, when the price offered by the biscuit manufactures was highest. Therefore processors should always strive to access the highest price possible. The product remains profitable even when prices are lowest such as in October 2010 and March 2011.

2.2.4.5. Number of beneficiaries from HQCF processing. The two main categories of beneficiaries that were being tracked during the project life were farmers and farmer processors already defined in chapter 2. The beneficiary numbers achieved against set targets are presented in table 13. The numbers for 2013/14 were achieved because of expansion to new processing sites that included Kameke ACE, Loro, Bar, Kisalizi and TCIP-UTable 13: Cumulative number of farmers and farmer processors from April 2009 to March 2014.Year No. of

farmersNo. of farmer processors

Target Achieved Target Achieved2009/10 250 225 31 312010/11 432 1342 400 1969

2011/12 1584 2800 1465 2463

2012/13 2592 3100 2398 26502013/14 4032 4078 3730 37371These were farmer groups

2.2.4.6. Promoting investments in the cassava industryA number of activities were undertaken to promote investments in the cassava industry. These included attendance in expos and shows, stakeholder meetings, presentation of investment packs, development of business plans, linkages to financial institutions, development of IEC materials, creating awareness and alliances, leveraging other

institutions and resources and lobbying.

2.2.4.6.1. Expos and shows:

AfrII through C:AVA project participated in a number of expos and events both nationally and regionally. The national events were arranged by AfrII with the participation of selected beneficiary associations while the regional ones were facilitated by the service providers. The most recent ones to be held in September 2013 and March 2014 were the Domestic Investor Expo 2013 and SME Event 2014.

2.2.4.6.2. Stakeholder meetings.

Several project meetings were held starting with the launch workshop in 2009 attended by sixty one participants drawn from Government Ministries and parastatal organizations, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), farmers’ organizations, the business community and the media.

Towards the end of C:AVA I in July 2013 a national workshop was held to seek input into C:AVA II design. During the workshop, presentations were presented by the beneficiary associations and end-user industries.

2.2.4.6.3. Investment packs:

Figure 13. Visitors to the AfrII’s stall inspect and admire HQCF and products during the September 2013 Domestic Investor Expo 2013, Hotel Africana, Kampala


Following a cost-benefit analysis which showed that HQCF processing was profitable using flash drying, an investment pack was developed to promote the investment opportunities. This investment pack was presented to prospective investors that included Britannia biscuits, Riham biscuits, Katon paperboard manufacturer, Tropical Crops Initiative Uganda, Masindi District Farmers Association and Windwood Millers Ltd.

2.2.4.6. 4. Business plan development for investment in flash drying.

TCIP-U and WindWood Millers Ltd have prepared their draft business plans for investment in flash drying which have been shared with the project.

2.2.4.6.5. HQCF shop in Kumi.

A meeting with COHAD was held on how to set up a shop in Kumi town for their bakery products made out of HQCF in partnership with AfrII. This would help create more awareness of HQCF to the locals, increase

consumption and utilization of cassava based products, increased market for HQCF and improve AfrII and C:AVA visibility in the areas of operation. C:AVA would fund promotion, create awareness and conduct more training on inclusion of HQCF in baking.

2.2.4.6.6. Linkages to financial and other service provider.

The actors targeted for accessing the credit

facilities from financial institutions are: a) processing centers; b) bulking and marketing centers c) intermediaries or SMEs and d) End-users. The finantial institution expressed interest in financing the HQCF value chain as they have vast experience in value chain financing i.e. Epuripur, sorghum through Nile Breweries Ltd. Its major condition for accessing credit was to have a closed value chain where the buyer can guarantee a market and a formal contract with producers.

The interest rate is 12 % for agro-processing equipment and 25 % for running capital though negotiable. A meeting was organized between Post Bank, Eastern Agro-Producers and Processors Association (EAPPA), Kameke Area Co-operative Enterprise, Family Diet Ltd and TCIP-U on how to access credit facilities for investment in the processing and marketing of Cassava products. After the meeting Family Diet Ltd signed a contract with EAPPA to supply 5 t per month and Kameke ACE in Pallisa to supply 5 t per month of improved cassava chips.

Family Diet Ltd. Family Diet Ltd and TCIP U are in negotiations with Post Bank to access the loan facility. The finance institution also asked C:AVA to explore the issue of guaranteeing the loans. Other finance institutions willing to give loans for players in the value chain include Housing Finance Bank, Uganda Development Bank and Centenary Bank.

Figure 14. Signing of MOU with potential investors (a) Tropical Crops (Uganda) Ltd; (b) Windwood Millers Ltd


2.2.4.7. Forging partnership with other institutions and programmes. 2.2.4.7.1. Agricultural Technology Transfer (AgriTT).

This 3 year project is funded by DFID-UK through DFID-China. The project aims to work with 40 farmer groups in 4 districts (Kiryadongo,

Masindi, Buliisa and Hoima) to utilize new technologies from China to grow and process cassava in Uganda. It is implemented by MAAIF, AfrII and Makerere University and the district local governments of Masindi,Hoima, Kiryandongo and Bulissa.

2.2.4.7.2. The cassava seed system project: This project, funded by the BMGF, aims to improve food security, increase profits and

timely access to disease-free cassava planting material by small-scale farmers resident in cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) and cassava mosaic disease (CMD) affected areas of Uganda. It started in November 2013 and will run for 4 years. It is recognized that quality seeds can boost agricultural production by over 40%. In Uganda over 96% of cassava

farmers access cassava planting materials from their own saved seed or from fellow farmers whether these are improved varieties or landraces. This poses several challenges, particularly due to the lack of consideration for health status and quality of the planting materials.

The project ensures that seed entrepreneurs have access to clean cassava seed that they can multiply and sell profitably. The National Seed Certification Services (NSCS) is responsible for the regulation and certification of basic and quality declared planting materials.

2.2.4.7.3. Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) The project carried out two sets of trainings in HQCF processing for participants sponsored by PELUM Uganda, an association of NGOs in Uganda.

2.2.4.7.4. Uganda Investment Authority (UIA)

A draft Concept note and MoU was developed to support cassava processing in Nakaseke, Nakasongola, Busoga and Bukedi regions

Figure 15. Partners on Cassava Seed System project in project in a group photo after a meeting on progress of the project.

Figure 16. Potential Partners (a) VECO EA (b) Sefs Word Vision Uganda


where UIA has a project on cassava value addition.

2.2.4.7.5. KILIMO Trust - Development of Inclusive Markets in Trade and Agriculture (DIMAT) project.

Kilimo Trust in partnership with UNDP are implimenting the Development of Inclusive Markets in Trade and Agriculture (DIMAT) in Uganda. This four year project (2011-2014) involves analysis and mapping of strategic value chains, linking producer groups with the market, providing customized business development services among other things.

The project collaborated with in areas of training in HQCF processing and marketing.

2.2.4.7.6. Vredesailaden Country Office East Africa (VECO EA):

VECO-EA will collaborate with AfrII to learn from the C:AVA experiences. Through this CAVA will access and work with the farmers and organisations developed by VECO-EA which has 8,000 farmers organised into 53 rural producer organizations at sub county level in 8 districts of Kibuku, Pallisa, Bugiri, Ngora, Tororo, Busia, Iganga and Luuka.

2.2.4.7.7. ACET - Uganda Cassava Study

AfrII was contracted by African Centre for Economic Transformation (ACET) to undertake this study. The overall objective of the study was to find out how to increase cassava smallholder productivity and to improve post-production value (storage, processing, and market access—domestic or foreign) in order to improve the incomes and food security of smallholders in Uganda. It also aims to increase agriculture’s contribution to an overall economic transformation that reduces poverty in the whole country. This was done by looking at cassava and their products in Uganda from the point of view of: (a) increasing productivity on-farm; and (b) increasing value-capture or value-addition along the product value chain (both on-farm and off-farm). This helped identify interventions in the production of cassava in Uganda that can be effective in improving productivity and raising the incomes and resilience (including food security) of smallholders. The findings

and recommendations on cassava was used to produce a Uganda country report that highlighted the linkages between smallholder poverty reduction, promoting sustainable development using productivity improvements and value-addition along crop value chains agenda.

2.2.5. Success stories 2.2.5.1. Introduction. HQCF has been profitable enterprise and a cheap substitute for wheat flour, along the value chain. Farmers in Eastern Uganda were able to produce and supply increased amounts of cassava roots to processing centers, which boosted the production of HQCF in the region. This also facilitated the development of more reliable markets for processed cassava products, thus supporting increased incomes for the smallholder farmers as summarized below. More details of these stories are given in the evaluation and impact section of this report. Selected examples of success stories are summarized below.

2.2.5.2. Mr. Eugene Ekinyu (RIP). Mr. Eugene Ekinyu (RIP) a farmer from Serere district and a beneficiary of the project through SOSSPA, was able to sell over 45 tons of HQCF by 2011. The participation of Mr. Ekinyu and

Figure 17. Hon David Wakikona, Minister of State for Trade, Uganda (extreme left) prepares to deliver his keynote address and to launch the report on the Uganda Cassava Study during the on report launch and dissemination workshop, Golf View Hotel, Kampala, 2014.


members of his association led to increased incomes. “I have managed to educate my children. Other members of the association have been able to construct iron sheet-roofed homes and educate their children, while others have bought land to expand their farms” Mr. Ekinyu from SOSPA.

2.2.5.3. Michael Ikara. In Bukedea district, Michael Ikara, a member of (P’KWI) was able to learn improved methods of growing cassava. This knowledge boosted both the quality and quantity of his yields, and facilitated Mr. Ikara’s gradual increase in financial gain from farming to trading in HQCF. By 2011, he had sold over 6 tons of HQCF to the existing markets. As a result of his great success, Mr. Ikara was able to invest his profits in the acquisition of land, expansion of cassava production, and construction of a permanent home for his family. His improved practices

and better housing is illustrated in the captions below (Fig 19).

2.2.5.4. Mrs Zaituni Emuutu.Mrs Zaituni Emuutu, a member of P’KWI, also benefitted from processing and selling HQCF to local bakeries and other markets. Through the reinvestment of her profits from the project, she was able to start up a thriving orange garden and livestock farm illustrated below (Fig 20). She also trained other farmers for a small fee. One of the trainees had this to say “I am going to transfer the new skills and knowledge acquired to my fellow farmers and together we shall translate the knowledge into practice. According to my experience during the two day training, team work is the best way to go in order to achieve High Quality Cassava Flour within 24 hours. Fortunately, the market is

Figure 19. Improved housing structure built by Mr. Ikara using income from sale of HQCF

Fig. 18. Mr. Ekinyu (RIP) from SOSPA, prepares and fries his HQCF the income from which he used to buy a truck and house


readily available and the price is better than the usual flour we have been making. So, we are sure that our determination and effort will pay off”.

2.2.5.6. Joseph Engwedu Joseph Engwedu, an entrepreneur in the baking industry substituted wheat flour for HQCF in his brand of bread “Fena Bread”, a product of Josa investments. On discovering the high demand for the HQCF product, Mr. Engwedu was able to fully adopt the use of HQF in producing bread for his market in Eastern Uganda.

He asserted, “I was surprised by the delicacy of bread I made with the partial substitution of HQCF. Now I know that using HQCF will ultimately widen my market base” “The bread is a bit heavier than the one we usually make using wheat flour, the gold colour of ready bread has also become more attractive and the taste is ok. These plus the fact that it costs less than the wheat flour qualifies it to be a suitable substitute with which we can address the challenge of fluctuating prices for wheat flour that has for long affected our business”

Some bread consumers in Soroti who tasted bread made from a combination of wheat flour and HQCF had a positive feedback. “It tasted like they had added some eggs to the usual mixture, the texture was also much thicker and heavier than the usual bread. I consumed just 2 instead of the three tosses for a meal” Says

Amidha Abdallah, a resident of Soroti District

2.2.6. Lessons learnt 1. Involving local NGOs requires direct supervision by AfrII, AfrII was originally mandated to supervise local service providers, to implement the project due to weaknesses in the contract issued to them. However , it proved difficult difficult for AfrII to effectively supervise the NGOs and ensure the timely achievement of project deliverables. Therefore, in order for the project to work efficiently at national level, national institutions like AfrII should directly engage local service providers to implement activities.

Fig.21. Members of Community Processing Group in Alito sub-county turns over their grated cassava as it dries on raised drying racks dry.

Fig 20. Mrs Emuutu bought land and Ox ploughs and set up a citrus orchard with income from HQCF


2. Demonstrating potential use of HQCF to end users creates demand for the product. The gradual increase in demand for HQCF was a result of demonstrating the benefits of utilizing HQCF as a partial substitute for competing raw materials such as corn starch and wheat flour to end users. This demonstration involved the development of customized investor packs projecting the financial savings, outlining the social impact of the investment and conducting trials. This showed that it is possible to develop and expand market for cassava products if the end user can clearly see the benefits.

3. Conducting trial rans with end users leads to adoption. Supporting end users to conduct trials in utilizing HQCF as a raw material for their industrial products led to creation of interest in HQCF once these trials were successful. However, due to the fact that adoption of HQCF involves extra costs and risks such as changing of production lines or formulas, there was a recurring need for assurance on the consistency of the quantity and quality of HQCF. This is a key aspect to address in order to ensure market creation for HQCF.

4. End users require ready raw materials not investment to produce it. Though the end users were interested in the product and could clearly see the benefits of investment, they were reluctant to take on the extra responsibility of investing in the processing of HQCF. Thus, the project would see more success in identifying and supporting SMEs/investors to specialize in processing of HQCF rather than focusing on end users integrating in the value chain.

5. Encourage specialisation along the value chain farmers cant be both producers and processors. In a bid to develop the HQCF value chain, smallholder farmers were supported by the project to vertically integrate into processing and utilization of HQCF. However our experience has shown that transforming ordinary small scale farmers into processors, agri-business dealers and product developers is a gradual process that cannot be accomplished in a short project life. Thus the project needs to encourage specialization along the various segments of the HQCF value chain. Farmers

should specialize in cassava root production and increasing yield, while the few emerging farmers with entrepreneurial skills and SMEs can invest in processing. Business models should then be strengthened to instill responsibility and build trust between root suppliers and processors.

6. Recover starch loss during dewatering.According to results of labaratory analysis, HQCF has approximately 50 % less starch than HQCC. It is believed that this starch is lost during de-watering in the HQCF processing procedure. This starch can be recovered from the effluent as a bi-product.

7. Encourage equity and transparency in the CPGs. Most of the associations were grappling with governance issues which were having an impact on the participation of other members. Only a few well established farmers (especially the founders and their families) were benefiting from the activity. Therefore, early identification of these members within an association and providing them incentives to allow other members participate is necessary.

8. Building and cementing a good working relation with the government and government agencies greatly helps to galvanize support for the project.

Fig.22. Members of Kyere Processing Group, Serere district demostrates value added products they have made from HQCE.


9. Stimulate local use of the product. The training of rural SMEs to utilize HQCF provided an instant market for HQCF as their demand was easily satisfied by the processors. Kyere processing site in Serere, has been supplying at least 2-5 bags of HQCF weekly within Kyere Trading Centre. The proceeds from these supplies enabled the site to process and deliver HQCC to Family Diet which resulted in the award of a supply contract. Thus creation of markets at rural level to absorb some of HQCF produced by processors provided an incentive and working capital for increasing production and quality to meet urban market demand.

10. Sun drying based on community processing and SMEs is a viable, effective and profitable technology for drying HQCF. The sun drying technology based on the HACCP procedure enabled production of HQCF that was compliant to quality standards.

11. Promote setting up and use of permanent drying ralks. Sun drying trays forged out of bamboo and wood were vulnerable to attack by vermin such as termites. The project hence promoted metallic drying trays, which were found to be more durable and economical but were more expensive and limited the available sun drying space.

12. Build and support local capacity to fabricate equipment. Farming Associations were originally selected on the assumption that they had existing equipments for processing. However, the equipments were found to be rudimentary and not of food grade. Based on this, AFRII and NRI agreed to acquire better equipment from Tonnet Agro-Engineering Co Ltd which were found to be ineffective during project evaluation. Attempts to build the capacities of fabricators in forging stainless steel equipment was constrained by regular breakdowns. Therefore, it is important to build capacity of fabricators and support them to continuously interact with processors so as to make suitable, effective and more efficient equipment.

13. Change perception of the public on the inferiority of cassava products. The negative perception on cassava products that are poor

quality and consumed by the poor had a great influence on the adoption of HQCF as a raw material for industr.ial products. End users in the food industry who are largely influenced by the perceptions of their consumers were reluctant to adopt HQCF, particularly the bakery industry where wheat flour is considered superior to cassava flour. However, where demonstration of HQCF processing and sensory testing of various bakery products from HQCF have been carried out interest and appreciation of HQCF by both the end users and the consumers has been achieved. Thus changing this perception through sensory tasting, promotions and creation of awareness is the key to boosting acceptance and utilization of HQCF in food industries, especially bakery.

14. Financial institutions are willing to provide value chain financing. Thiss is if the relationships among actors in the value chain is formalized with contracts. Thus contractual agreements between farmers, processors and markets in the HQCF value chain can increase access to financial services for all the actors.

15. Always seek buy-in from stakeholders. Advocacy and publicity campaigns promoting the benefits of the project to the local farmers were also instrumental in seeking a buy-in from stakeholders. Thus supporting association members to set up processing sites through cost sharing by different stakeholders in the community is instrumental in ensuring utilization of the facility by members and backstopping by the local government.

2.2.7. Implications for the CAVA 2 project1. Promote investment in flash drying. C:AVA 2 shall promote investment in flash drying by SMEs so as to address the need for end users to have an assured source, quantity and quality HQCF. This will involve conducting study tours for interested SMEs with developed business plans to demonstrate flash drying technology for HQCF processing in countries where it’s working. In addition, risks of investment by the SMEs will be minimized by providing incentives and buying out some of their risks.


2. Recover starch from the effluent. The HQCF processing procedure should be revised so as to recover starch from the effluent. This may involve the inclusion of a container to trap effluent from the press and then allowing for the starch content isto settle before decanting. This recovered starch could be added in the HQCF to increase starch content if high starch is required or sold as a bi-product. This would significantly add value per unit processed.

3. Reduce costs of HQCC/HQCF processing. A direct intervention should be made in reduction of costs of HQCC/HQCF processing through supporting fabricators to make improved processing equipment (graters, chippers etc) with high efficiency. Research should develop CBSD resistant varieties with high dry matter content and thus lower conversion ratios. Fabricators of cassava processing equipment should be supported to form a platform to promote continuous sharing and learning; and lobby for standard specifications for cassava equipment. This platform will thus be linked to UNBS and the Uganda Association of Professional Engineers to develop the standards and certify them.

4. Use existing processing sites as community based incubation centers. Existing processing sites should be used as community based incubation centers for training, demonstration and meeting local demands within the catchment area; and recruitment centers for SMEs and investors in HQCF processing. Any new community based processing units should be set up as cooperatives to minimize dominance by founders in order to promote equity. MOUs between the C:AVA project and supported processors (including processing associations and SMEs) will be developed to spell out the contributions of each partner and lay out the exit strategy. The project will work closely with local government agencies such as DCOs, local health inspectors and DAOs to enhance their collaboration and ensure their support to the HQCF processing sites. In C:AVA 2 or other future projects, government should always be integrated in the process.

5. Collaborate actively with other value chain actors. Collaboration among HQCF/

HQCC value chain actors through formal contracts/MOUs should be promoted using approaches that will increase the level of trust and commitment among the key players in the value chain. This should enable C:AVA to become an enabler in the value chain. AfrII should also be supported to become a one-stop-center for information regarding cassava commercialization and use as an industrial crop. The AfrII websites should be further developed to cater for this and be linked to the main C:AVA site. Mass promotion of HQCF/HQCC and other cassava products will be emphasized through exhibitions, stakeholder forums and media as there is need for more exposure of the products to the public.


2.2.8. Impact Evaluation of the C:AVA project.

2.2.8.1. Introduction and Evaluation MethodologyAn end of project evaluation for CAVA was carried out during August - October, 2014. This report presents a summary of the main findings; key lessons learnt; recommendations and conclusions on the performance of the project. The logic behind C:AVA theory of change is that; if large enterprises start using cassava flour, and large numbers of small farmers can supply this new demand, a substantial number of sustainable market led new livelihood opportunities will be created.

At the time of design in 2009, C:AVA Uganda was expected to reach and enable 16,000 farm households to increase their income by a minimum of 50% through regularly supplying 10,700 tons of HQCF and grits of consistent quality into the emerging cassava-based products market. This would simultaneously enable at least two intermediaries to profitably buy and process smallholder farmers’ cassava roots into HQCF for the plywood, food processing and bakery industries in Uganda. The project was also to ensure that two end users have profitably substituted portion of their annual raw material input demand with HQCF.

During the strategy refresh meeting in 2012, project targets, objectives and needed activities were scaled down partly because of lack of reliable source of good quality disease-free planting material in the country, and high cost of operating motorized dryers. Revised targets were that the project would benefit 7,762 households by April, 2014. A total of 4,032 farmers would sell fresh cassava roots and receive benefits of USD 102 per year on average. HQCF would be produced with consistent quality and purchased by end-user industries by 2014 and 300 persons would get additional employment.

Evaluation data was obtained from both secondary sources (project documents) and primary sources. Sampling frame from which data was collected through individual

household interviews and Focus Group Discussions was made up of 325 randomly picked households (out of target of 360) 18 randomly picked groups spread over 9 clusters out of 72 active groups, and all 4 associations. Data generated was entered and analyzed using SPSS & STATA computer applications. Key findings were obtained through comparison at project area level among the treatment and control groups, and over time. Some comparisons between Associations were also made.

2.2.8.2. Main FindingsDemographic and socio-economic characteristics are typical of Ugandan small holder farm households and village locations. Household size average is 7.4, with nearly 50:50 male : female; young population (49.6%) below 16 years; 81% basic literacy rates, but on average only 27.3 % with improved housing (concrete floors and iron sheets on roof); Households that reported increase in income of over 20% from the project start were 5.2% on average. Non CAVA project area realised larger income reduction rate (averaging 10.2%) compared to 1.8% in the CAVA project area. In addition, households whose incomes reduced in non CAVA area by 20% during the project period (2009 - 2014) were 13.5% compared to only 3.2% in the project areas.

Farming was reported as the largest major occupation (85% ) of farmers in the project area. Atleast 44% of the households engage in trading as a minor occupation. Livestock owned by HH as farm assets include: chicken as most kept among the livestock at 51.2 % of total livestock (in terms of numbers) with cattle at 16.2 % and goats at 15 % as second and third most kept animals respectively.

Ownership of mobile phones improved among households in the CAVA project area since the intervention began. The number of households without any phone reducing from an average 69% in 2009 to 54%. By 2014, the number of households with at-least 2 mobile phones increased among male household members from 24.2% in 2009 to 45.6% in 2014. This increase doubled among female HH members;


from 6.3 % in 2009 to 13.2 %. Similar figures in non-CAVA areas were much lower.

An average of 70% of HH in CAVA areas could find a drug shop within walking distance from their homes. This means that HH are now able to “purchase” health care services. Only 10.5% of the road network within the project area is tarred but reported to be in bad condition. Another 42% is both un-tarred and in bad condition leaving only 47% in fairly good condition but un-tarred. There is limited connectivity to the national power grid for households in the CAVA project area. Though on average, 25% of households had access to hydroelectric power in their communities, which is significantly higher than the national average now (2014) estimated at 10%.

In terms of farmer level indicators, households that possess between 1-5 acres of farm land constitute 50% of the total sample with 27% owning over 5 acres of CAVA areas. The average farm holding was 2.1 acres, and 1.7 acres in non-CAVA HHs. Cassava was the main food crop grown, with 74.9% in CAVA areas reporting it as number one most important crop followed by sweet potatoes at 37 %. Only 14 % in non-CAVA areas reported cassava as number one crop - but still ranked as number one.

Reduced food self sufficiency, which may lead to insecurity is felt in CAVA areas more around April up to August. However, less than 20% felt food insecure at any one time of the year. An average of 58% of various decisions in the households are made jointly between female and male household members in CAVA areas. This is slightly more than in the non CAVA areas where 57% was recorded.

On farmer group organization, an indications of institutional stability, most farmer groups (81%) have formal registration and hold a registration certificate from sub-county and district authorities. However, with few exceptions, most of the groups have membership below 25 farming households, but relatively low membership turnover. Over 76.4% of the members felt that the groups are functioning well.

Cassava is major crop grown in both CAVA & Non-CAVA areas out of the first 8 most important crops. The farmers are mainly engaged in three activities: cassava production, processing and marketing. At least 4% of the groups engage in production alone; 65% engaged in both production and processing and 27% engaged in the entire process until sale of HQCF. Over 42% of all groups are led by women as chairpersons and overwhelmingly 73.7% of treasurers in all farmer groups are women. On support services, CAVA is supporting the majority of service provision to farmer groups and associations and other support is being provided by other partners such as Vision Terudo, aBi Trust, CIP and NAADS. Other service providers are Sasakawa, NASSARU, KADO and FADEP.

Most groups received training in HQCF processing. Sun drying has been instrumental in reducing the cost of cassava processing and at the same time keeping the product from distortions associated with drying on the ground and other post harvest losses. Almost all farmer groups (at cluster level) have set up similar raised beds to sun-dry the cassava. While groups incur initial sunk costs to set them up, the cost is offset by the value of using the beds for many subsequent seasons.

Field assistants were able to find processing equipment in use (Fig25) at various processing clusters for the various associations.

Fig24. A grater (front) and presses (back0 used in processing of cassava by project members


Availability and access to this equipment has turned around the fortunes of farmer groups and lowered the cost of processing since most of the work is being done in bulk.

With deepening of rural electrification by Government it is hoped that more of this equipment if availed will increase value addition and incomes for farmers while reducing the cost of transporting dried cassava to these (mostly urban based) processing firms.

Training provided through farmer groups has made it possible for quality control at the household level with innovative ways of making it possible. There is also better product handling and quality control as (Fig 26).

Ultimately increase in the volumes of HQCF will determine the success of clusters, associations, farmer groups and individual households. Due to pressing financial needs it has not been possible for most farmers to process all their cassava into fine HQCF instead they prefer to sell grits earlier on in the value chain. Our observations are that volumes and quality of HQCF will increase as more returns accrue from this process; and more farmer households will be willing to see their produce through to the final stages of the value chain.

According to communities, key benefits from CAVA project are: 1) Increase in income that has led to better

health outcomes, enabled household to afford fees, build permanent houses and purchase other non-food items;

2) Acquisition of knowledge about cassava production and processing from various training sessions attended which has translated into increase in yields and production as well as income;

3) Increase in food security;4) Increase in group cohesion and solidarity; 5) Exposure to new markets (schools, hotels,

prisons, and rural bakeries).

The four aspects that majority desire to see emphasised and tackled during any follow up phase are:1) Increase access to agricultural loans

through farmer associations or groups. In this regard most farmers needed ox ploughs purchase motorcycles to transport the bulk;

2) Better storage facilities for harvested and processed cassava;

3) Increase in access to better processing equipment to produce more HQCF; and

4) Certification of the HQCF by UNBS.

In Cassava production, processing and marketing, 24% of households in CAVA area plant newly released and improved varieties (NASE 13 and NASE 14), compared to 19% among non CAVA households. A large proportion of farmers (42%) in the non CAVA area and 29% in the project area depend on fellow farmers for planting materials, and from own farms - initially obtained from research

Fig25. Sun drying of grated Cassava on raized racks

Fig26. A member of the Community Processing groups sieves grated HQCF to ensure quality and fineness of particles


Table 13. Cumulative Opinion of contributory factors that have caused the most significant change since project inception 2010

Progress Makers

AssociationEAPPA P’KWI PATA SOSSPA

Situ

ation

now

co

mpa

red

to 2

010

mai

n co

ntrib

uting

fa

ctor

s

Situ

ation

now

co

mpa

red

to 2

010

mai

n co

ntrib

uting

fa

ctor

s

Situ

ation

now

co

mpa

red

to 2

010

mai

n co

ntrib

uting

fa

ctor

s

Situ

ation

now

co

mpa

red

to 2

010

mai

n co

ntrib

uting

fa

ctor

s

Group farm - Productivity improvement

Considerably better

1,3 Considerably better


1,2 Moderately better

1

Steady supply of roots, high quality of roots - own farm and from other sources

Considerably better

1,3,8 Moderately better



1,4

Group strength as measured through turnover and profits

Moderately better

1,2,5 A little better 1,4 Considerably better

1,4,6 No change 8,9

Members incomes, from contribution to group activities

Moderately better

1,2,3 Considerably better



1,8

Food and nutrition security

Moderately better




1,8

Group functioning - leadership and governance

A little better 1,6,5 Considerably better

1,6,5 No change 9 No change 5

Change in group numbers

No change 1,6,2 A little better 5,8,1 No change 1,4,5 No change 5,1

Women role in group activities and in decision making- production, processing and marketing

Moderately better




1,2,3

Access to credit and financial services

No change No response

No change 3,8,9 No change No response


Group linkages and marketing collaborations

Moderately better

1,3,5 A little better 1,6 A little better 1 Moderately better

1

Any other groups / individuals “copying” the approach from your group?


Moderately better



1

Key:1- C:AVA support, 2 – Government support, 3 – Other agencies support, 4 – better economic conditions /better margins from Cassava farming and processing, 5 – Group leadership and governance, 6 – Group cohesion and solidarity, 7 – Support from other NGOs /agencies, 8 – Individual members own efforts, 9 – Remunerative market linkages /relationships


and Government extension services. Very few (2.1% and 0.9% use manure/ fertilizer and herbicides respectively) in cassava production areas, while a significant 16% apply recommended spacing. At least 24% of households in the CAVA areas get 3 tons while 8%-11% receive 3-6 tons of fresh cassava roots per acre compared to 5% on non CAVA area and 1-3% receiving 3 and 3-6% respectively. At least 94% of households agreed that more processing of cassava into HQCF is being done now than at the time of the project’s inception. Total volume of processed cassava flour stood at 260 tons in the last 12 months in the four Associations alone (excluding AFAMACOS, etc). Out of this total, about 70 tons were processed into HQCF, HQCG and HQCC. Most of the associations possessed cassava processing equipment. However, while the installed grating / chipping capacity stood at an average output of 8 - 10 tons per day, the mostly single installed press had capacity of 1 - 2 tons per day. This means that limited quantities of HQCF can be processed at any one day because pressing has to be done within minutes of grating to prevent fermentation setting in. Lack of capacity of pressing grated cassava mass is therefore a major limiting factor in HQCF processing. This needs to be looked into a a matter of urgency.

From group members that participated in the survey, 43% believed that since the project’s inception, there has been a slight change in processing of cassava with 57% still noting that there hasn’t been much of a difference in the level of processing. Most respondents felt that overall the project made a significant contribution in the following three areas:

a) The project has increased the volume of processed cassava by 73% from where the processing was before the project by making available the needed technology to process the cassava into HQCF;

b) Through organization of production and marketing, the project has provided new opportunities for farmers to sell cassava as a result of community/group processing;

c) Up to half of the farmers group in the CAVA area noted that this project has provided

their first opportunity to participate in a group and carry out collective/community processing.

According to the communities there has been significant change on the cassava landscape since project inception (Table13).

Major changes are in increase in farm productivity, volume and quality of roots supplied for processing ; household income; food and nutrition security of beneficiary households; and access to credit, financial and other services. There has also been major improvement in farmers and SME insitutional strengthening, partnerships and linkages with outsiders and the market. Great progress were also recorded in areas of women empowerement. The main contributing factors to these changes are the CAVA project intervation of government and other agencies, group learning and strenght and access to markets (Table13).

The challanges facing the cassava value chain are summarised in Table 14. In the production segment , the challanges are scarcity of land, lack of good quality planting materials, high mechanisation costs, and affordable capital. lack of processing equipment, inappropriate technologies and problems associated with market for flour and roots. Access to services is also a challange for many actors.

2.2.8.3. Implications and ConclusionsIn terms of effectiveness and impact, at group level 65 % of groups surveyed are engaged in both production and processing, and 27 % are engaged in production, processing and marketing, against only 4 % of groups engaged in just fresh tuber production alone.

CAVA has successfully introduced quality cassava processing as a key element in the commodity value chain. Equipment provided and processing skills imparted through various trainings have capacitated the groups. The foundation for use of processing technology driven agriculture development in poverty alleviation has been created. Forward and backward linkages have also emerged in


the form of fabricators for equipment used in processing, input dealers as backward linkages, and processing level employment, transportation, bulking of sale produce as some of the forward linkages that have scope for expansion and deepening.

TheCAVA-1 project exceeded its target of reaching 7,762 households farmers and processors and achieved 7,815 farmers (4,078 farmers and 3,737 processors). Livelihoods

have improved for 16.9% of these farmers who reported average increase in income of over 20% since 2009 when the project started.

The increase in livelihoods is also evidenced in increase in ownership in household assets like mobile phones, improvement in the quality of housing, and improvement in literacy. Overall CAVA project has made a significant contribution to increasing the volume of processed and marketed HQCF by providing

Table 14. Household perceptions of challanges along the cassava value chain : Red = severe; green = modorate; and yellow = no much of a problem

Very serious

Serious Moderately serious

No problem

Cassava ProductionLack of sufficient land to farm 31 22 32 15Lack of sufficient labour for farming 16 24 42 19Inadequate planting materials and other inputs 13 30 16 42Not enough mechanization equipment available 15 23 29 33Mechanization where available is too expensive and unaffordable

32 35 - 33

Lack of capital and funds to run farm 33 36 27 3Problems associated with land tenure - 20 27 53Animals destroying cultivated cassava farms - - 82 15Unstable prices for cassava inputs 51 33 6 9Cassava Processing and MarketingLack of sufficient cassava processing equipment 38 51 7 4Lack of sufficient labour for processing - 13 52 32Lack of raw materials - 18 20 59Lack of clean water 19 6 10 61Lack of capital and funds to run processing unit 4 15 47 4Technologies are not appropriate to existing processors situation

8 29 39 20

Problems of processors recalling the main features of technologies introduced to them

- - 25 63

Problems of getting adequate follow-up and advice on processing from extension /service providers

- 24 32 40

Problems associated with marketing of processed cassava products

54 39 - 4

Problems associated with marketing cassava roots 33 17 11 35Access to Services

Some farming Technologies being advised are not appropriate to existing farmer’s situation

8 11 53 24

Problems of farmers recalling the main features of technologies introduced to them

- 4 - 85

Problems of getting adequate follow-up and advice from the extension workers

- 24 24 48

Lateness in supplying technology packages 17 23 28 29Distance of the extension /community development workers offices to the village

- 19 51 26

Problems of securing loans/credits for farming 26 63 - 7


processing equipment, organizing the farmers into producer and processor groups as well as linking them to markets.

The project has opened new market opportunities for smallholder farmers to market their cassava through the sale of HQCF. Many farmers acknowledged that it is their first time to get involved in collective/ group processing and marketing.

Areas of under achievement (especially where no change was noted) include: • Group strength as measured through

turnover and profits• Change in group numbers• Access to credit and financial services

2.2.8.4. Overall Lessons, Strategic Conclusions and Recommendations:

Market and investment studies, which established (and estimated) an existing and growing demand for HQCF and other cassava products were only carried out in 2012 and 2013. These partly informed revision of project targets. These are critical studies and were most useful during project design. They also informed implementation approaches and targets to be achieved. In this way costly mid-term project design changes can be minimized.

At production level: Over the duration of the project, farmer organization improved and this created structures through which farmers obtained modern and disease resistant planting varieties. Because of the benefits realised by the households involved in the project, more households have joined the farmer groups. As farmer groups expand, their prudent management through clusters and association is critical for the sustainability of current achievements of CAVA. A critical aspect is galvanizing organized production through building farming capacity at the household level. It is important to improve farm productivity particularly yields that drive cassava production with both food security and commercial orientation.

At processing level: For farmers to maximize the benefits from cassava production, the subsequent cost of processing should be as

low as possible to incentivize the progression along the value chain. The survey noted that there were gaps at processing level especially in provision of equipment (with a matching capacity complement) to enable more efficient processing of cassava. It is important therefore to invest further in processing equipment at levels that reduce marginal costs of value addition to maximize returns from HQCF. The change of focus to sun-drying made processing in Uganda more cost efficient and manageable among farmers while minimizing post-harvest losses.

At marketing level: Overall, the volumes of HQCF processed remain lower than expected due to the cost associated with processing; sale of cassava by farmers before being processed and limited equipment. According to the survey about 63% of all farmer groups and associations sell their processed cassava as a group or individuals occasionally (compared to 27.3% who sale through groups regularly). Those that regularly sells through contract are only 26%. Limited collective sale of cassava products through processing clusters is linked to limited sale contracts between the farmers and end users. Progression towards contract sales is highly recommended as it guarantees intermediate market and unleashes confidence among processors. In addition, there were also minority concerns that certification of the HQCF by acquiring the S-Standard of UNBS is an issue that needs to be addressed to increase the credibility in the market

At the overall management level: While CAVA has been the main provider of service support to farmer groups, associations and clusters, other organizations including aBi Trust, Vision Terudo, Sasakawa, KADO, FADEP (many contracted by CAVA) and others were also contracted to improve the functionality of the group networks around which the project is premised. It was evident that there is more external service support and time needed for this support to yield the desired impact at the group and farmer levels especially around processing, quality control, book keeping and group dynamics. Sustainability will be ensured if the project set up a business development framework that links processors with end


users who demand the HQCF and HQCG in the project area and Kampala; This should be supported by negotiated sales contract that guarantee the market for the produce.

At a stategic level it will be good for the project to strengthen its current ties with the district local governments in the project area as well as with strategic NGOs with which it could synergize (for instance Enterprise Uganda which has a track record of providing technical support for SMEs in the agricultural sector). More work is also needed to encourage more market end-users to increase substitution use of HQCF in their market products. A schematic presentation of the organisation of a future similar project (CAVA_-2) is illustrated in Fig.27.

Figure 27: Organisation of a future similar project CAVA-2.


2.3. The Cassava Adding Value for Africa Project – Phase II (CAVA II)

2.3.1. Introduction. The C:AVA II project is a five year project which started in April 2014 and ends in March 2019. It is funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The project is led by the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Nigeria. Africa Innovations Institute (AfrII), the Food Research Institute (FRI), Ghana, the Tanzania Food and Nutrition Centre (TFNC), Chancellor College, University of Malawi (UNIMA) and the Natural Research Institute of the University of Greenwich (NRI-UoG) -UK and the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Nigeria, are the implementing partners. The CVA II project areas are shown in Fig.28 below.

Project objectives. The overall CAVA II project objective is to create, by 2019, an annual

demand for 69,030 tons of fresh cassava roots (FCR) to be supplied to processors by smallholder farmers. The key focus areas are to: (1) increase fresh roots yields and productivity of smallholder farmers (SHFs) cassava production; (2) develop and continuously expand cassava processing capacity of small and medium scale entrepreneurs (SMEs) and Community-based Processing Groups (CPGs) using sun drying, solar drying and flash drying technologies; (3) expand cassava products options, and market opportunities for processed high quality cassava flour and other similar products.

Specifically, the above would focus on (1) developing new markets for cassava products and linking smallholders and processors to the markets, at scales that will enable the farmers increase their incomes and adopt new productivity enhancing technologies. It is expected that through these, the project will increase the incomes of value chain actors, especially (23,010) smallholder farmers and (462) processors in Uganda by at least USD

Figure 28: Details and locations of the Uganda C:AVA II project areas ( green shaded area in the Lake Kyoga Basin).

Sub-region DistrictBukedi Pallisa

KibukuBudaka

Teso BukedeaKumiNgoraSerereSoroti

AmuriaKatakwi

Lango KoleOyamApacDokoloAmolatarLiraAlebtongOtuke

Central NakasongolaNakasekeKiryandongoLuwero


12,609,934 million in 5 years. The project is also expected to open markets and stimulate sales of more than 183,547 tons of fresh cassava roots, from SHFs, into HQCF and other cassava product value chains; and to work along the cassava value chains and remove bottlenecks that have slowed growth and progress during previous project phase. The target for 2014/15 is shown in Table 15.

Key beneficiaries. The key beneficiaries are farmers, members of community processing groups (CPGs), SMEs, other traders, end-user industries and financial institutions engaged in the cassava value chains. The project specifically targets smallholder farmers who grow and sell cassava fresh roots to Community Processing Groups (CPGs) and process the balance traditionally for home consumption and sale in the traditional markets. CPGs are those whose members process cassava fresh roots into HQCF and High Quality Cassava Chips (HQCC). The main end-user industries targeted include biscuit manufacturers, paperboard manufacturers, bakeries, composite flour millers, breweries and animal feed millers. A significant portion is used by the rural bakers based in rural growth centers who sell their products in markets, schools and shops.

2.3.3. Facilitating business opportunity meetings for investorsCAVA II organized and facilitated six business opportunity meetings for existing and potential cassava processing entrepreneurs, end-users

and financial institutions on investing in cassava processing. This attracted 525 participants (403 males) from Kampala, Nakasongola, Lira, Apac, Soroti, Pallisa and Ngora (Table 16).

The objective was to stimulate capital investments into HQCF processing and markets. These were coupled with series of group and individual investment meetings held in Kampala and Kumi. CAVA II provided appropriate information packs to various categories of potential investors in the cassava value chain; provided business support services in form of market information, business plan templates, packaging and branding, quality assurance, advisory services and certification. Draft business plans were developed and used to guide the processors in financial acquisition for investments and maintenance of businesses. The business opportunity meetings were beefed up with processing demonstrations, especially in up country areas.

Table 15: Summary of key Indicators of progress towards achievement of targetProjects Target Actual achieved Achievement (%)1. Yield increase (tons ha-1) 12 ? -2. Demand for (volume of) FCRs from smallholder

farmers going into targeted value chains (tons)12,289 10,954 89

3. Total income 856,529 1,404,724 164.8 Total smallholder farmers income (USD)589,881 451,736 76.5 Income from processors (USD)266,647 952,998 357.44. Number of processors 103 82 - SME- Flash dryers 2 0 SME - sun drying 25 30 120 CPGs 78 52 66.75. Potential markets (tons fresh roots equivalent) 12,289 7,823 - HQCF - baking products (tons) 6,989 3,252 46.5 HQCF – paperboard (tons) 974 51 5.2 Grits - animal feed (tons) 945 0 0 Grits – beer (tons) 3,381 7,465 220.8 Gari- (tons) 0 186 OpportunitySource: CAVA II project report 2014

Table 16: Participation at the Business opportunity meetings

Meeting Centre

Participants

Male Female Line TotalNakasongola 78 25 103Apac 99 32 131Soroti 45 8 53Pallisa 54 32 86 Ngora 49 12 61Lira 78 13 91Total 403 122 525


2.3.4. Developing Capacity of StakeholdersCapacity of AfrII staff developed: The Agricultural Innovation Engineer was sponsored by the project to attend intensive training workshop on proposal writing, grants sourcing and intellectual property held at FUNAAB-Nigeria from August 5th -7th , 2014 (Fig 30). The training workshop was convened to educate participants from Uganda, Ghana, Tanzania, Malawi and Nigeria on the importance of grants management and intellectual property rights. Writing winning grant proposals and scientific papers were covered. Members were encouraged to pursue teamwork, collaborate and build good relationship with others partners. Having good track record was

emphasized for any organization or individual to shine. Trainees were encouraged to always have continuous capacity development, develop new devices with practical values and unearth new knowledge.

2.3.5. Strengthening capacity of implementation partners

The aim of this activity is to support and build capacity of implementation partners to enable them mobilize farmers and farmer groups to adopt improved cassava technologies and to produce enough fresh cassava roots for sale to processors. The project facilitated 26 meetings on cassava production, targeting the identified and existing cassava processing units.

Figure 23. (Left) HQCF business opportunity meeting held at UBL, Luzira in Kampala, 2014; (Right) AfrII staff demonstrates cassava chipping during a meeting in Kamake, Palisa district, 2014

Figure 30. Mr Ogwang S.B of AfrII in a photo during the training.


These came from the districts of Nakasogola, Nakaseke, Lira, Apac, Otuke, Soroti, Amuria, Ngora, Bukedea, Pallisa, Bukada, Kumi, Ngora, Serere, Jinja, Iganga, Kiryandongo, Kabermaido, Aleptong, Dokolo, Amolotar, Kole, Oyam, Kitgum, Butebu, Kamuli, Mukono, Bigiri

and Kibuku. Details of the participants and contents of the trainings are summarized in Table 17. The meetings enabled the farmers, processors and aggregators to create business linkages and networks. A total of 9477 out of whom 5850 females benefited (Table 17).

2.3.6. Supporting value chain actors in business management and meeting HQCF quality control. Members of 26 processing units (CPGs and SMEs) were trained and backstopped on HQCF processing, good quality management practices, HACCP and promotion of good business management practices (Fg 25).

UNBS inspected, prequalified 10 of these processing units for certification. On HQCF production and business management, several Farmer Groups, twelve SMEs and CPGS from the project area were trained and backstopped in record keeping, cost

saving, business planning and management, care and maintenance of equipment and processing areas, and proper HQCF storage (as summarized in Table 17)

Reporting formats, cost estimates, daily stock sales and expenditure templates were developed and provided to them and other processors who could not attend the training.

2.3.7. Strengthening capacity for fabricating and maintaining equipment The program identified and trained 22 male local fabricators from Kampala, Nakasongola,

Table 17: Capacity building (Training and mentorship) of SMEs and CPGs 2014Capacity building 2014

Male Female TotalRecord keeping 220 310 530HQCF processing & quality standards 1683 2425 4108Business skills 1903 2735 4638Cassava production and best agronomic practices 267 329 596Raised drying racks fabrication 22 0 22Solar screen drying technology 62 51 113Total of beneficiaries 4157 5850 9477

Figure 25. AfrII team (standing) facilitates a cassava production meeting in Pallisa, 2014


Lira, Apac, Soroti and Kumi districts in fabricating, installing and maintaining cassava processing equipment such as graters, chippers, sun drying racks and solar dryers, dewatering machines and presses. Four machine fabrication centers (Pentagon and Tonnet in Kampala), SIAMMCO in Soroti and another one in Iganga towns were contracted to make processing equipment for several CPGs and SMEs in order to expand cassava processing capacities in the project areas. At least a total of 308 garters, 308 presses and 158 chippers were fabricated and sold to processors (Fig 26).

2.3.8. Expanding HQCF processing capacity.

2.3.8.1. Recruitment of new SME processors. New SMEs processing cassava were recruited from different regions of the country, profiled and supported to produce and market HQCF to existing markets (Table 18). Most of the SMEs identified were from Teso, and Lango regions. Some were from Bunyoro, Busoga and Buganda (especially from the districts of Nakasongola). Teso region had the highest number of new SMES recruited because the CAVA project started from there in 2009. The number of new processors by districts are shown in Table 18. At least one or two processors can be found in each of the districts mentioned. More new processors are located in Nakasongola, Ngora and Soroti districts. This is because the CAVA

p r o j e c t

Figure 26. (left) Members of Otuke 306 Mixed Farm Ltd receive training on HACCP for HQCF processing; (right) Records and business management training in Kagumu ACE, Palisa district, 2014.

Figure 27. ACAGA from Alito receives a chipper from Pentagon Engineers Ltd


has operated longest in these districts and has stimulated great interest among the potential processors.

Many of the processors are either individuals, groups or associations. Some have 30 VSLAs through which members save and borrow money. Most of them have 25-100 acres of cassava; some infrastructure (grater, chippers, presses, drying racks and milling machines) for processing cassava; and are producing and selling local chips, HQCF and Gari to local and urban consumers. Some are already doing business in mobile chipping especially in Mukongoro, Kanyum, Butebo, Agule sub counties in Teso region. A few have up to 1,829 m2 of drying racks for cassava chips and grits. Cereal World located in Jinja in particular have a network of 10,000 farmers each with 1-2 acres of cassava in Apac, Pallisa, Budaka, Soroti, Bulisa and Hoima; Nwoya, Busia and Namutumba. They have a bin dryer and are interested in buying a flash dryer.

They plan to invest in production of ethanol,

composite flour and starch from cassava. Others such as NADIFA, etc, are also interested in investing in a flash dryer. They did a feasibility study in flash dryer business but have opted to start with sun drying. Within the 32 profiled SMEs, existed 2345 acres of mature cassava roots enough to produce 402 HQCF. The neighboring cassava famers had a mature cassava root of 6920 acres with an HQCF potential of 1185 tones (Table 19).

2.3.8.2. Recruitment of new Community Based Processing Groups (CPGs). New CPGs processing cassava were recruited from different regions of the country, profiled and supported to produce and market HQCF to existing markets (Table 20). Most of the CPGs identified were from Teso, Lango and Bukedi regions. Some were from Busoga and Buganda (especially from the districts of Nakasongola). These are the focus districts of CAVA and AgriTT projects. Teso region had the highest number of new CPGS recruited because the CAVA project started from there in 2009. The number of new processors by districts are

Table 18: Number, districts and regions of Uganda from where new SMEs were recruited and profiled in 2014 for processing HQCF

Regions of UgandaDistricts Acholi Buganda Bukedi Bunyoro Busoga Lango Teso Grand

TotalNgora 4 4Nakasongola 3 3Soroti 3 3Kiryadongo 2 2Lira 2 2Masindi 2 2Oyam 2 2Alebtong 1 1Amuria 1 1Apac 1 1Budaka 1 1Bugiri 1 1Busia 1 1Iganga 1 1Jinja 1 1Kaberamaido 1 1Kaliro 1 1Kumi 1 1Luwero 1 1Nwoya 1 1Otuke 1 1Pallisa 1 1Grand Total 1 4 3 4 4 7 10 33


shown in Table 21. At least one, two, three or four processors can be found in each of the districts mentioned. More new processors are located in Kibuku, Bukedea, Ngora and Serere districts. This is because the CAVA project has operated longest in these districts and has stimulated greater interest among the potential CPG processors.

Most of the CPGs have processing sheds, stores, cassava chippers and graters, sun drying racks. Membership varies from about 30 members to as many as 4,000 members

as with Kumi District Farmers Association who membership stands at 4,000 and have 12,000 acres of cassava. In many cases, members of this group collect funds for buying processing and drying equipment and distribute cassava stem cuttings to members. Some such as AFROSEN own and hire tractors for planting cassava and they do mobile cassava chipping and grating. Within the CPGs existed a total of 8,481 members with mature roots of 42,405 acres with an HQCF equivalent of 72,693 tones (Table 21).

Table 19: Number of new SMEs recruited and profiled per district in 2014 and amount of mature cassava (FCRs) available from own fields and the neighborhood for processing into HQCF.

Own mature fresh cassava roots and HQCF equivalent (Tones)

Neighbors fresh cassava rootsand HQCF equivalent (Tones)

District NO of New SMEs

FCRs( Acres) HQCF equivalent

FCRs HQCF equivalent

Amuria 1 100 17 900 154Soroti 3 600 102 500 88Pallisa 1 700 120 600 103Apac 1 120 21 100 17Bugiri 1 50 8.6 400 69Nakasongola 3 45 7.7 500 86Kaliro 1 20 3.4 20 3Jinja 1 80 14 1000 171Otuke 1 45 8 30 5Iganga 1 45 8 30 5Lira 1 15 3 200 34Alebtong 1 100 17 800 137Ngora 4 100 17 1000 171Busia 1 20 3.4 200 34Masindi 2 20 3.4 300 51Kiryadongo 1 100 17 30 5Luwero 1 10 1.7 50 9Budaka 1 10 1.7 50 9Nwoya 1 50 8.6 50 9Oyam 2 50 8.6 20 3Kaberamaido 1 15 3 30 5Kiryadongo 1 30 5 10 2Kumi 1 20 3.4 100 17Total 32 2345 402.5 6920 1187

Source: CAVA II project report 2014


2.3.8.3. Repair of old and faulty processing equipment. There were a number of CPGs in the project areas who had faulty cassava processing equipment acquired from other agricultural development projects. At least 26 sets of these were identified for repair. The project negotiated and entered into an arrangement

with Pentagon Engineering Ltd for repair of these equipment. A set of 4 was repaired by December 2014 and the rest were repaired in 2015. A number of the CPGs were members and pay annual subscription to Village Savings and Loan Schemes (VSLS).

Some members were able to mobilize credits from these schemes to set up the minimum

Table 21: New Community Based Processing Groups (CPGs) identified and profiled

District No CPGs Beneficiaries Total FCRs for processing and HQCF equivalent

Females Male Total FCR ( Acres) HQCF equivalent

(MT)

Kole 2 45 15 60 300 514

Oyam 2 28 16 44 220 377

Aleptong 2 86 38 124 620 1,062

Kumi 1 2,500 1,500 4000 20,000 34,285

Kibuku 4 438 146 584 2,920 5,006

Bukedea 3 690 230 920 4,600 7,886

Apac 1 198 161 359 1,795 3,077

Serere 3 285 95 380 1,900 3,257

Lira 1 225 75 300 1,500 2,571

Bugiri 1 71 39 110 550 943

Ngora 3 702 398 1,100 5,500 9,429

Nakasongola 2 244 256 500 2,500 4,286

Total 25 5,512 2,969 8,481 42,405 72,693Source: CAVA II project report 2014

Table 20: Number, districts and regions of Uganda from where new CPGs were recruited, profiled and supported in 2014 to process HQCF

Regions of UgandaDistricts Busoga Buganda Bukedi Lango Teso Grand TotalKibuku 4 4Bukedea 3 3Ngora 3 3Serere 3 3Alebtong 2 2Kole 2 2Nakasongola 2 2Oyam 2 2Apac 1 1Bugiri 1 1Kumi 1 1Lira 1 1Grand Total 1 2 4 8 10 25


processing infrastructure based on the business plans developed by the project and approved by members. In addition, many organizations partnered with the project to assist CPGs and SMEs set up processing facilities. These partners were Kilimo Trust, VECO EA, World Vision Uganda, FAO, District Local Governments, Uganda Investment Authority, Sasakawa Global 2000, Hope, Cereal World, AgriTT.

2.3.8.4. Expanding processors’ sun drying capacity. To stimulate HQCF processing and demand for fresh cassava roots, the project carried out a capacity needs assessment for processing

and supported a number of CPGs and SMEs in Nakasongola and Lango regions to set up permanent drying racks (Figure 30). These were to serve as demonstrations in the new project areas. The members were encouraged to have exchange visits to facilitate cross learning and to attract more prospective members and other organizations to invest in processing and sun drying technologies. A total of 30 cassava processing units complete with processing sheds, chippers or graters, and permanent

drying racks were subsequently set up through support from collaborating partners such as World Vision, FAO and NAADS. These led to supply, by smallholder farmers, of 7, 822,672 tons of fresh cassava roots for processing into HQCF. A total of 2000 tons of HQCF was realized and sold to specified markets.

Figure 28. (Left) Members of PATA (Kadama) CPG receive training on grating and (right) drying of grated cassava for HQCF production, 2014.

Figure 29. Members of Alito CPG receive training on processing HQCF (Left). Demonstrating chipping FCR (Right).


2.3.9. Introducing efficient flash drying technology into Uganda.The project presented investor packs to nine potential investors. These are Cereal World, TCIP-U, Windwood Millers Ltd, Adyaka Wholesalers Ltd, 306A Mixed Farm Ltd, Yield Uganda, Pamrone Investments Ltd, Agrideco Ltd and Charles Akora. They have been assisted to prepare business plans and the project arranged, in March 2015, a study visit to Universal Industries Ltd in Malawi for the investors to familiarize themselves with flash drier operation. Four most promising investors (Cereal World, WindWood millers, Adyaka Wholesalers and 306A Mixed farm Ltd) undertook the visit. Two of those who went to Malawi made a business decision by end of March 2015 to order for a flash drier. The two are WindWood Miller Ltd and Adyaka Wholesalers Ltd. Already they have invested large tracts of land where some have planted over 50 acres of cassava; have warehouses or stores; trucks, tractors and would mainly need to finance the procurement of the flash drier, its shipping and installation. Some have approached financing institutions and are likely to make up their minds after the trip. At least 2 are most likely to order for a flash drier.

2.3.10. Creating demand for fresh cassava roots for HQCF processing.The FCRs sold for processing into HQCF and

gari were 10,954 tons which was 89 % of the target demand for baking, paperboard and brewing industry as at December 2014. The 10,954 tons of FCR sold earned the smallholders an equivalent of US $ 451,736. This is because 2014 has been a favourable cassava production year due to adequate rains and the price of roots remained at US 29 to 58 per ton. However in Uganda most of the SHFs are also members of the CPGs that benefitted from the US $ 952,998 (357.5 % of target) earned by processors. This reinforces the

Figure 30: Fabricating and setting up permanent metallic drying racks at 306 Mixed Farm Ltd, Otuke district, 2014

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Brewery

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Composite Flour millers

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Stock

Figure 31. Proportions of FCRs(tons) sold to different end user markets in 2014


project’s strategy of deliberately developing some SHFs into SME processors or supporting SHFs to organize themselves into groups to process their FCRs into HQCF so that they can maximize their incomes.

The processed product was sold to biscuits, paperboard, composite millers, local bakeries and gari producers (Figure 37). Of the 10,954 tons of FCR produced, 7,465 tons of FCR processed into HQCF was sold to one breweries alone. Most of the HQCF sold to the breweries was through Aggregators. these are Uganda Limited, YourChoice Limited, WindWood Millers Limited, Acila Enterprises Limited, Namunkekera Limited, Bisoboka General Enterprises Limited, among others. The aggregators collect HQCF from different CPGs and SMEs and assemble them before delivery to the breweries.

The brewery market is growing rapidly and all the breweries are increasing the amount of local materials used in production. Lager beers brewed from local materials like cassava, sorghum and maize have lower excise duties and are cheaper, more affordable and now account for most of the beer sold and consumed in rural areas.

2.3.11. Building capacity of cassava processors in business development and management. Akullu A., Okello G. O., F.Alacho, Ijala A., Ogwang S.B., Awio T., Otim D., Asere G.

2.3.12.1. IntroductionThe CAVA II project launched its intervention in April 2014 building on the lessons learnt from CAVA I. The aim of CAVA II is to create an annual demand for 69,030 tons of fresh roots from smallholder farmers by 2019. It is targeted that these roots should be processed by SMEs using sun drying and artificial flash drying operations, and community processing groups using solar and sun drying operations while farmers sell fresh cassava roots to earn a minimum of USD $200,000. In order to achieve these, capacity building of the processors was crucial. Therefore, a study was conducted to understand the strengths, weaknesses,

opportunities and threats the processors face and to develop recommendations and strategies to address them and to exploit the opportunities.

2.3.11.2. Methodology A team of cassava experts , agriculturalists and business development specialists visited and had key informants interviews (KIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) with local agricultural officers and CPGs and SME processing HQCF, and HQCC in Kumi, Paliisa, Otuke, Lira, Apac, Bukedea, Amuira, Soroti, Kole with the purpose of understanding their investment needs and challenges and opportunities. Focus group discussions (FGDs), individual interviews and site observation was used to obtain the relevant information. The main tools used were prepared checklists and questionnaires. However in some instances where focus group discussions could not be possible, the team relied on KIs, individual interviews and site observation approaches to obtain the necessary business information. Data was analysed using SPSS and Stata. The work was conducted in September- December 2014

2.3.11.3. Findings and Recommendations2.3.11.3.1. Characteristics of processing

entities

A total of 18 processing entities in eastern and northern Uganda were sampled. Of these, six were SMEs and twelve were registered Community Processing Groups or Cooperatives

Figure 32: Needs identification meeting in PATA, Kibuku district


(CPGs). They engage in cassava as a major crop for their livelihoods. Many of the CPGs operates on annual subscription, shares, and membership fees. They grow and process their own cassava and also run a micro-credit and savings scheme from which members save and borrow money. The SMEs finance their own operations and farm as a business. Some have a network of farmers who supply them with cassava roots for processing, and can borrow money under village savings and loan association (VSLA). Others offer their

farm and processing units for training of their communities in the areas of good cassava production practices, agribusiness skills and investment generation to raise funds for their enterprises.

2.3.11.3.2. Strengths and weaknesses of HQCF processors

Strengths. The greatest strengths of the processors (Fig. 33) are their extra interests in processing and baking cassava, good accessibility to cheap and plentiful cassava

33

Fig.34


roots for processing and are located in areas with low cassava disease pressure. Many of the CPGs have large number of members who are active and highly motivated. Some own full set of processing machinery, have adequate HQCF production and storage capacity and have had long association with the CAVA project which has imparted in them good processing skills.

Some are organized, efficient, motivated, are credit worthy and have big ambition for cassava processing.

Weaknesses. The main weaknesses of HQCF processors are shown in Fig 34. The main weaknesses facing most of them are poor organizational structure, insufficient drying space, limited business skills, weak business leadership, limited capital and high reliance on grants. Some of them lack processing machinery and structures, produces products of low quality, are inflexible in pricing of HQCF, lacks adequate processing and marketing skills, have poor clients’ relationships and lacks a village saving culture.

2.3.11.3.3. Challenges and threats facing cassava processors.

The challenges facing the processors are shown in Fig.35 and Fig 36. The main ones are high interests rates on loans; shortage of investment capital, and inadequate leadership and business skills.

High labour and transport costs; competition from other foods and from established processors; and unfavourable weather conditions for drying during wet seasons are also important challenges. Others are weak organizational structure, limited sun drying capacities, and poor storage facilities, among others.

The main threats (Fig. 36) in cassava processing include inadequate finances for processing investments, and competition from HQCF substitutes and from other processors who are already established in the business. Other threats include high transport and production costs, reliance on grants, weak team work and internal organization for some CPGs and SMEs.

Fig.35


2.3.11.3.4. Opportunities and interventions required to address weaknesses and threats.

Addressing weaknesses. There is huge capacity at AfrII’ CAVA project for training and mentorship of processors in various aspects of cassava production and HQCF processing, entrepreneurship and business development. In addition UNBS is willing to work with AfrII and the processors on quality control and certification of products. Further, there are some organization who are willing to either

partner with or provide some funding for agro-processing. AfrII and its partners are willing to link the processors to these sources of finance and partnerships for processing machinery. The AfrII team and partners are also willing to train and strengthen the CPGs and SMEs

in areas of group dynamics, governance and accountability.

Therefore the key interventions to address the weaknesses (Fig.37) are training and mentorship in: quality control and enlisting UNBS certification; business skills and leadership development, savings and resource mobilization, cost saving and price control, access to markets, and strengthening group dynamics, governance and accountability.

Addressing threats. There are opportunities in identifying and specializing in niche markets. For instance, the paperboard and brewing industries require special types of HQCF which are very different from the ordinary cassava flour. This is a huge market. Therefore

Fig.37

Fig.36

Interventions to address weaknesses of processing entities


processors can specialize in producing products for this market. They can also diversify their products to capture other specialized markets. Opportunities also exist in acquiring skills in market penetration and development, accessing finance, grants and low interest loans. The AfrII team and its partners are well positioned to assist the processors in these aspects. There are also opportunities for the processors to partners with others to share costs, and capture economies of scale. Opportunities also exist at AfrII on training in business management, leadership, team building, governance and accountabilities which processors can tap into. Solar and flash dryer technologies are now available. These can overcome the threats posed by weather during sun drying.

Therefore interventions (Fig. 38) to address these threats are: promoting differentiation and diversifications of products, enhancing skills of processors in access to markets, grants or low interest loans, leadership and business management, costs cutting and record keeping, partnership to share costs and capture economy of scales. Processors will also need special skills in team building, governance and accountabilities, and should be assisted to use weather independent drying technologies such as solar and flash dryers.

2.3.11.3.5. Performance of processing entities

Performance were assessed of processing entities (14 CPGs and SMEs) in terms of the quantity and quality of HQCF processed and sold; their level of business skills; team motivation; and organization and management of the business entity. The ratings were based on 0-10 scale where 0 = upcoming, 1-4 = weak, 4-5 = basic, 5-6 average, 6 -7 = good, 8-9 = very good and 10 = excellent. Results of the assessment is shown in Table 22.

Of all the processors, Afamcos (CPG), Kameke, Akuta (SME), Pkwii and Buseeta had produced at least over one hundred metric tonnes of HQCF in 2014. Production of HQCF by the others were low and some such as Anotocao

and Agege, had hardly started production. Many of them had received training in product quality management but have not yet applied this knowledge in processing. Of the processors only two entities (PATA and PKWII) had received UNBS certification, the others are yet to be certified. The levels of business skills were low among all the processors except for PATA and PIKWII who had a fair to good level of business skills.

Level of organization and management of the processing entity was fair to average for most of them except for Agege, Buseeta, Afosen,

Fig 38. Intervation for addressing the threats


Ebukit and Akuta were it was weak. Team motivation was generally high for most of them especially for Adyaka Wholesalers Ltd, 362 Mixed Farm Ltd and Amac Investments

Ltd processing entities whose team motivation were very high.

2.3.11.3.6. Link between capacity and performance of processing entities

Business skills. Relationship between level of business skills and either quality of organization and management of the

business entity, team motivation or quantity of HQCF produced by processing entities was investigated (Fig. 40). Level of organization and management of the business and motivation

of the team increased to a maximum and declined slightly as the level of business skills of the managers increase. The relationship was best described by a polynomial equation Y = -0.2057x2 + 2.3632x - 0.3686, (R² = 0.8241) and Y = -0.2754x2 + 2.8562x + 1.6028 (R² = 0.5479) for the former and latter respectively. Similarly, quantity of HQCF produced increased

Table 22: Details of perspectives of cassava processing entities in Uganda, 2015Site Business

SkillsMotivationas a Team

Organisation & Administration

Quantity of Product

(Kgs)

Quality certification of product by UNBS

Adyaka (SME) 4.5 9.1 6.3 46,160 Trained but not yet applied for itAmach (SME) 5.1 9.0 6.1 42,874 Trained but not yet applied for it362 Farm (SME) 4.5 9.1 6.2 21,100 Trained but not yet applied for itAkuta (SME) 2.1 7.6 4.5 178,310 Applied for itAnot Ocau (CPG)

2.1 8.3 5.4 0 Trained but not yet applied for it

Agege (CPG) 1.1 2.0 1.1 0 Trained but not yet applied for itEbukit 3.0 7.7 4.6 61,200 Applied for itAfamcos (CPG) 3.5 5.4 5.4 206,200 Trained but not yet applied for itAlito (CPG) 4.2 8.7 5.6 5,150 Trained but not yet applied for itAfosen 2.2 7.5 3.4 19,087 Trained but not yet applied for itKameke 5.5 8.7 6.0 180,600 Trained but not yet applied for itPata 7.4 8.2 6.2 53,000 Obtained UNBS markPkwii 6.8 8.0 6.1 132,400 Obtained UNBS markBuseeta 2.0 7.0 3.0 127,400 Trained but not yet applied for it

Fig.39


as the level of business skills increased. These results indicate that business skills has a big impact on how an organization is managed and the level of motivation of its staff. It further underscores the cardinal importance of business skills on the performance of an organization. Performance of the processing entities will therefore depend on an optimum level of business skills, organization and management of the processing entity and motivation of its staff. Companies with good levels of these factors tend to perform better. A processing entity striving for success should therefore ensure these issues are addressed and balanced.

Organization and management. The effects of both business skills of staff, organization and management of processing entities on staff motivation is shown in Fig. 40. The level of team motivation increased as both business skills and organization and management of the processing entities increases. This reached an optimum and remained so as the two factors increased. The relationship was best described by a polynomial equation Y = -0.2754x2 + 2.8562x + 1.6028, R² = 0.5479. However the two factors could only account for 55% of the variation, implying that other factors in addition to management and business skills, are also important in team motivation. These could be terms and conditions of service, remuneration and working environment. Unfortunately these factors were not examined in the present study

and shall require further investigation.

Team motivation. Relationship between business skills, team motivation, on levels of organization and administration of processing entities is shown in Fig. 41. Levels of organization and management of processing entities increased with increasing levels of business skills and motivation of its staff. It levelled off with further increases in the two factors. The relationship was best represented by a polynomial equation Y = -0.2057x2 + 2.3632x - 0.3686, R² = 0.8241.

The results indicates that as team motivation and business skills increase, the levels of organization and management of the processing entities will also increase to a maximum beyond which further improvements in the two factors will have little or no effects. This emphasizes the importance of balanced and adequate levels of team motivation and business skills of staff on the organization and management of the entities. It is therefore important that processors improve and balance the levels of motivation and business skills of its staff it they want to excel.

Performance. The motivation of team and effects on performance is shown (Fig. 42). The results show two distinct clusters of processing entities. The first cluster, the lower right hand cluster, consists of processing entities with high level of motivation, good to fair organization

Fig.40


and management arrangements, but have low production. Most of them are SMEs. The members in this cluster are highly motivated but the production is still low mainly because they are business minded new entities which have recently joined the CAVA project.

The top right cluster is characterized by those with good to fair organization and administration arrangements. They have high

level of motivation and high production. This cluster consists of SMEs and CPGs who have been in the business for quite some time and have received more mentoring from the CAVA project.

The third but small cluster are those who are

neither motivated nor producing. Members of this cluster are new and have not yet started fully in the business.

The results show that staff motivation and good level of organization and management are required for good performance. Therefore processors should aim at achieving good level of management and staff motivation if they want to succeed in the business.

2.3.11.4. Discussions and RecommendationsThe results have given a deeper insight into the functioning of the cassava processing CPGs and SMEs, particularly their strengths, weaknesses, challenges and the threats which they face. It has clearly brought out a

Fig.42

Fig.41


clear link between capacity and performance of processing entities and the opportunities and interventions required to address the weaknesses, challenges and threats. Of critical importance is the need to build capacity in business skills, leadership and governance, team motivation and organizational

development and management in order to improve performance.

The general recommendations to improve performance of the processing entities are summarized in Fig. 43. Among the top general recommendations are: conducting

training and mentorship in business skills development, marketing, governance and leadership, resource mobilization for investments, processing and quality management, group dynamics, team building and motivation. Improving access to finance and low interest loans or grants; encouraging

business opportunity meetings, exposure visits, and linking processors to markets; co-ownership of processing and drying machinery and forging partnerships with others should also be undertaken, among others. Specific recommendations for each processing entities are given in Fig. 44.

Fig.43

Figure 45: ACAGA at Alito, Kole district hosts a demonstration and a mother garden, provides training services to other farmers


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2.3.12. Building synergies with other projects - Cassava Seed Systems project.

2.3.12.1. Demonstrations and training in seed production. The CAVA program created synergies with Cassava Seed Systems project to identify and establish 32 rural based cassava seed entrepreneurs (CSEs) to multiply certified cassava seed planting materials with new cassava varieties such as NASE 14, NASE 19 and NAROCASS I. The CSEs were trained in seed production practices and seed business management. Demonstrations of cassava production technologies were established at the selected CSEs (Figure 45). These were used as training sites for farmers and as mother gardens for production of clean planting materials of new varieties.

2.2.12.2. Promoting good quality seed production and management practices.The project identified and profiled 20 farmers groups countrywide to produce quality declared planting materials of new varieties such as NASE 14. These sources were inspected by MAIF and declared safe sources of QDPM for access by farmers. Cassava farmers, programs such as NAADS and other NGOs were linked to these sources for purchase and increased access of QDPM by farmers (Fig 46).

2.4. Cassava Growth Markets ProjectAlacho F.O., A. Ijala, S. B. Ogwang, G.W. Otim-Nape and G. Aseere

2.4.1. Background The Cassava Growth Markets project (CassavaGMarket) aims at improving the livelihoods of smallholder cassava farmers through enabling them access better growth markets for their products. It is a four year project that conducts research to generate knowledge and technologies to support the cassava adding value (C:AVA) project interventions. The project is led by the Natural Resources Institute of the University of Greenwich in UK, and is implemented in Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania and Malawi respectively by the Africa Innovations Institute (AfrII), Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), the Food Research Institute of Ghana, the Food and Nutrition Centre and Naliendele Agricultural Research Institute, and Chancellor College of the University of Malawi respectively. The target beneficiaries of the project are smallholder cassava farmers; processors; end users and employees of processing enterprises; and scientists in beneficiary countries. The project is organized into work packages as summarized in Table 23 below.

Figure 46: Left: MAAIF seeds inspector (Mr Erongo Moses - centre) in the field in Ngora with Mr Okiria Joseph (-right), a cassava farmer; Right: Quality declared cassava planting materials in (left) Kapir, Ngora District


Table 23. Work packages of the Cassava GMarkets project.1. To assess the impact of climate change on

cassava flour value chains. 2. To understand the impact of cassava brown

streak disease on volume and quality of HQCF and products.

3. To develop specific technologies to improve the efficiency of households, community and SME level processing.

4. To ensure the safety and quality of processed cassava products in market-oriented production.

5. To expand the range of uses of HQCF and related products to meet identified market demands.

6. To maximize the gender and livelihood impacts of cassava value chain development.

7. To establish, document and disseminate best practices.

2.4.2. Key activities and achievements 2.4.2.1. The impact of processing methods on acidity and level of cyanide in cassava flour 2.4.2.1.1. Introduction.

Varieties with variable cyanide levels are grown in Uganda. About 200,000 metric tons of local cassava chips from these varieties are traded every year in the country and in regional markets. The local chips are poor in quality and hygiene and are sometimes fermented. They are milled into flour that is used to make local bread (Atap, Kalo or Kwon) for home consumption. This food is usually off-color, tends to have a strong fermented smell and falls short of good manufacturing practices (GMP) and cannot be packaged and sold in supermarket shelves. Consequently it is generally shunned by the elites and the growing middle class in Uganda and the wider Eastern Africa region.

In order to address the above concerns, AfrII, through its CAVA project, has developed innovations for producing high quality cassava flour (HQCF) which could meet consumers’ and industry requirements. The main challenge with such products is whether the cyanogenic content of such flour would falls within the

food safety requirements of <10mg/kg of the product (FAO, 2013). It is however known that effective processing can remove the cyanogenic compounds and produce safe products for human consumption. In addition there is a great deal of knowledge about the mechanisms of cyanogenic breakdown during processing. The main challenge with HQCF processing now is to optimize processing to ensure that safe products are always produced. This is specifically important when bitter varieties such as NASE 3 which has high cyanogen content are used for processing.

The main objective of the study was to find out the extent to which cyanogenic content of HQCC and HQCF are removed when different methods are used in cassava processing for human consumption and to provide appropriate recommendations. The specific objective is to determine the cyanide and acidity levels of cassava flour processed using different methods.

2.4.2.1.2. Materials and methods.

Mature cassava roots (11-13 months) from a bitter cassava variety (NASE 3) were collected from three different farms and kept separately. The fresh roots were peeled, washed and subjected into three processing methods (Table 47) using procedures of Amsalu et al, (2011). The processing methods are: 1. Peeled cassava roots were washed, grated

using a cassava grater and de-watered using a cassava press and then sun dried (Treatment 1 - G).

2. Peeled fresh cassava roots were washed, chipped using a motorized cassava chipper and sun dried (Treatment 2 - C).

3. Peeled cassava roots were cut into 4 parts, washed and soaked for 24 hours then chipped using a motorized cassava chipper and sun dried (Treatment 3- S).

Fresh cassava roots of 13-18 months old of Nase 3 variety were purchased from 3 different farmers (A, B, C) from Serere district, Eastern Uganda. Each farmer was at least 500 meters away from each other. The roots were subjected to three processing methods of (1) chipping only (C), (2) grating only (G) and (3) soaking for 24 hours followed by chipping (S) and drying. Each farmer supplied 100kg of cassava roots which was weighed and divided


into 3 small portions of 33kg, 34kg and 33kg for processing through each of the three methods (fig 47).

For treatment 1. 33kg of cassava roots were weighed out from 100kg supplied by each

farmer (A, B, C). The roots were then sorted, peeled, weighed, washed 3 times, chipped, dried for ~6hrs, milled into flour, weighed, packaged and sealed. For treatment 2. 34kg of cassava roots were weighed out from 100kg supplied by each farmer. (A, B, C). The roots were then sorted, peeled, weighed, washed 3 times, grated, pressed, weighed, dried for 3hours and 47 minutes, milled into flour, weighed, packaged and sealed. For treatment 3. 33kg of cassava roots were weighed out from 100kg supplied by each farmer (A, B, C). The roots were then sorted, peeled, weighed, washed 3 times, soaked for 24hrs, chipped, dried for about 6hs, milled into flour, weighed, packaged and sealed.

The samples from treatments 1 and 2 were processed within one day and milled on the second day while samples from treatment (3) were peeled, washed, soaked for 24 hrs, dried

and milled on the third day. Duration for the different unit operations for each processing method were recorded and weights taken at various stages. After a given sample was processed (chipped/grated) the processing equipment were thoroughly washed, rinsed

and disinfected to remove any excess residuals left by the previous samples so as to reduce sources of error and cross contamination. A schematic presentation of the structure and procedures for the experiment is summarized in Fig. 47. The treatments were replicated three times. At least 1kg from resultant flour from each processing method was taken and subjected to pH, cyanogenic, starch and protein contents analysis at the National Crop Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) in Namulonge. The results obtained were then compared against the standard set by UNBS (UNBS, 2013).

One of the major challenges experienced was pressing a small quantity of cassava mash. This needed more wooden slabs to ensure the efficiency of the cyanide removal. In addition, it was hard to get cassava of the expected maturity level of 10-12 months. Most farmers

Figure 47. Diagrammatic representation of the layout and processing steps for the trial on the effect of soaking cassava roots on cyanogenic and starch contents, Abuket, 2014


in SOSSPA had cassava of at least 13-18 months

2.4.2.1.3. Results and discussionsEffects on pH and Protein of cassava flour. The results of the trials are shown in Table 24. None of the treatments had a significant effect on the pH of any of the cassava flours. The pH level remained within 6.28 - 6.36 which were within the acceptable levels for human consumption; implying that none of the methods affect the pH of cassava flour. The processing methods however affected the protein levels of the flour. Cassava flour processed through grating had a significantly lower protein levels compared to those obtained through chipping or soaking; implying that grating significantly reduces the protein content of cassava flour (Table 24).

Effects on cyanide content of cassava flour. There were significant differences between the three processing methods in their effectiveness in reducing cyanide content in the cassava flours (Table 24). Soaking chips for 24 hours was very effective in reducing the cyanide levels in the flours. The cyanide was reduced to very low levels - 4.75 ppm or below, compared to the FAO and EAC recommended minimum standard of 10ppm (FAO, 2013); implying that such a flour is very safe for human consumption.

Grating also had a significant effect on cyanide content of cassava flours. The cyanide content was reduced to about 9 ppm which is also below the FAO and EAC recommended minimum standard of 10ppm. This also implies

that cassava flour obtained through grating can be safe for human consumption, however (1) time is needed to allow the enzyme Linamarinase to complete hydrolysis of the cyanogenic glucoside before dewatering and (2) the dewatering process should be effective in removing all the soluble HCN in the grated cassava mass before the material is dried.

Flour from un-soaked chips had very high levels of cyanide. The levels were about 12ppm and sometimes almost hit 15ppm, compared to the FAO and EAC recommended minimum standard. This indicates that chipping and drying cassava does not reduce cyanide contents to levels acceptable for human consumption. Unfortunately this is

the common method used by traditional and commercial rural processors. Therefore caution is needed in processing and using such products.

Changes in weight of cassava during processing. Changes in weight of cassava during different stages of processing for each of the methods is shown in Table 25. About 70% - 80% loss in weight of fresh cassava is incurred during processing. The highest being through grating. About 30% loss is incurred at peeling. Another 24% loss incurred in milling grits for HQCF (Table 25).

On average if the process is well controlled and losses minimized, 3kg of chipped or 3.5 kg of

Table 24. The effect of soaking and grating cassava roots on PH protein content and cyanogenic potential of cassava flour, Abuket, 2014

Treatments/ Parameters Farmer A Farmer B Farmer C MeanpHSoaked -HQCC 6.36 6.33 6.29 6.33Grated -HQCF 6.29 6.30 6.28 6.29Un-soaked HQCC 6.30 6.36 6.35 6.34Protein (%)Soaked -HQCC 0.75 0.50 0.71 0.65Grated -HQCF 0.46 0.50 0.34 0.43Un-soaked - HQCC 0.71 0.68 0.69 0.69Cyanogenic potential (ppm)Soaked -HQCC 4.75 4.75 4.75 4.75Grated -HQCF 7.25 9.75 9.75 8.92Un-soaked - HQCC 9.25 12.25 14.75 12.08


grated fresh cassava roots should yield 1 kg of dry cassava flour as opposed to current ration which is between 1:3 -1:4 and 1:5.respectively. The difference between weights in the chipping and grating method is due to quantity of starch lost during grating, pressing and milling. Other losses are due to peelers eating cassava, diseased roots that are thrown away, good parts of the roots which are thrown away as peelers get tired, and some bits of cassava remains on the machine parts and surfaces, and some are blown away by wind.

The ratio of FCRs: HQCF or HQCC is in the ratio of 1:3, 1: 5 and 1:4 respectively for chipping, grating and soaking respectively. The ratio of 1:5 for grating and 1:4 for soaking are very low conversion ratios and makes processing of HQCF too expensive. Therefore great care is needed during processing of cassava roots in order to minimize such losses. In addition, ways should be devised to reduce losses at peeling to about 10% or less, and minimizing losses at milling of grits to about 5%. If this is achieved HQCF will be competitive with HQCC.

Processing and drying time: Drying took between 4-6 hours (Table 25). Significant differences were observed regarding the time it takes to dry the cassava. Grated cassava dried twice faster than chips. This is because much of the water from the grated cassava was removed through pressing before putting it in the sun to dry unlike for chipped cassava which are put in the sun for drying with all its original water. Further drying can greatly be reduced if advantage is taken of the morning sun and drying started by 9am. The sun energy is more concentrated between 9am and 3pm and we can achieve faster drying of the cassava flour within this timeframe.

If harvesting can be done as early as possible and peelers are made to be more efficient, processing 100kg of HQCF can take about four

hours (1 hour for peeling, washing, grating ,pressing and 3 hours for drying). Ample drying space and frequent turning of chips/grits can also reduce on the processing time as thin layers of the HQCC/HQCG will be spread for even drying. Prior preparation of all the processing equipment will ensure a smooth flow of activities hence reducing time wastage in between operations.

Appearance of the cassava flour samples. Practically it’s hard to get cassava tubers of maturity levels of 10-12 months as we had anticipated earlier and the closest we got was cassava tubers aged 13-15 months. All the cassava roots supplied by farmers were mature, ranging from medium to big size. Some cassava tubers were over mature and were tending to fibrous as evidenced from off cuts thrown away at peeling. After chipping and grating, chips and grits processed from cassava supplied by farmers B were whiter than the samples obtained from cassava supplied by farmer A and C despite being the same variety.

After 24hrs of soaking, the residual water was cloudy, slightly yellowish in color and had slight off smell of cassava starting to ferment. All the soaked cassava tubers were white and there was no noticeable color changes. During the pressing operation it’s very hard to press a small quantity of cassava mash (20kg) as opposed to higher quantity. Since our quantity was small we had to cut more timber for pressing to be more efficient.

Effect on starch content of cassava flour: Cassava flour from grated cassava had a lower starch content. Starch was lost during washing, grating, soaking, pressing and drying. The duration of these processes affect the amount of starch lost. The lost starch can be recovered from the waste water and added to the grated cassava for drying.

Table 25: Loss in weight (%) of cassava for each method and stage of processing cassava into HQCF or HQCC, and duration of drying, 2014Processing methods

Weight loss during each processing stage (%) Drying time

Peeling Pressing Drying Milling Total Net dry weight (%)

Ratio Hours

Chipping 25.8 0 43.3 0 69.1 30.9 1:3 6.06Grating 28.3 23.9 3.2 23.8 79.2 20.8 1:5 3.47Soaking 28.3 0 44 2.1 74.4 25.6 1:4 6.01


2.4.2.2. Local acceptability of high quality cassava flour in Eastern Uganda 2.4.2.2.1. Introduction.

Cassava is a traditional staple food in Eastern and Northern Uganda where it’s locally consumed as Atap, Kwon or Kalo. These products are made from either pure cassava flour or a mixture of cassava and millet or sorghum flour. Traditionally the cassava flour used comes from traditionally processed cassava chips of very low quality. It is usually fermented, poorly dried and contaminated with sand and other materials and not very popular among urban or peri-urban elites. Although the demand for composite cassava flour is increasing at urban and peri-urban centers in Uganda (C; AVA market study, 2014), it was not clear whether composite flour form HQCF would be most acceptable given its relatively low starch content. A trial was conducted to assess the eating quality and acceptability of foods from composite flour made from HQCF.

2.4.2.2.2. Materials and methods

Mature cassava roots (11-13 month old) from variety Nase 3) were collected from three different farms. The fresh roots were subjected to three processing methods namely: 1. Peeled cassava roots were grated, de-

watering using a cassava press and sun dried.

2. Peeled cassava roots were cut into 4 parts,

and soaked for 24 hours then chipped and sun dried

3. Peeled fresh cassava roots were fermented for 2 days, crushed and sun dried

The grits and chips were milled into flour and uniformly mixed with millet flour in the ratios of 2:1 (cassava flour to millet) to make composite cassava flour as summarized in Table 26. The mixture was used to make Atap, a local food for eating.

The taste panel comprised of sixteen people of which 8 were youths and 4 were females. The experiment was conducted at (AFAMCOS) in Soroti Municipality. The foods made out of the flours were served with beef stew prepared in a traditional way. Seven qualities: colour, texture (hand feel), texture (mouth feel), aroma or odour, taste, flavour, pliability (elasticity/flexibility) and overall acceptability, were assessed on a 1-7 scale as follows: 1 - dislike very much , 2 - dislike moderately, 3 - dislike, 4 - neither like nor dislike, 5 - like 5, 6 - like moderately, 7 - like very much.

2.4.2.2.3. Results and discussions

Significant differences were observed in test preferences for foods prepared out of the various treatments of cassava (Table 27). Flour from grated cassava and millet flour had the highest preference score followed by that from soaked cassava but differences between the two were not significant. However, food from

Table 26: Design of the trial

Source of cassava Composition of flour used to prepare Atap

Gritted cassava + finger millet flour (2:1)

Soaked & chipped cassava + finger millet

flour (2:1)

Traditional fermented cassava chips + finger

millet flour (2:1)

Farmer 1 GC1 SC1 TC1Farmer 2 GC2 SC2 TC2

Farmer 3 GC3 SC3 TC3

Table 27: Eating acceptability:Source of cassava Cassava processing methodSource of cassava Flour from grated

cassava + millet flourFlour from soaked

cassava + millet flourFlour from fermented cassava + millet flour

Farmer 1 5.8 5.4 2.5Farmer 2 5.4 5.4 3.3Farmer 3 5.4 5.0 4.4

Mean 5.5a 5.27a 3.4bLSD 0.53


flour out of fermented cassava and millet flour had the least test preference and differences between the other treatments were very highly significant. These results indicate that foods from composite flour made out of either grated or soaked cassava or millet flour were more acceptable than those from fermented cassava flour (Table 27). It is therefore recommend that for high end markets composite flour from grated or soaked cassava mixed with millet flour be promoted for high end markets.

2.4.2.3. Technologies for improving efficiency of drying cassava chips and grits 2.4.2.3.1. The effects of screenhouse on drying efficiency of cassava chips

Introduction.

Several cassava drying methods are used by farmers and processors. This varies from traditional methods of drying cassava chips on bare ground to improved open air sun drying. These methods have problems of quality and efficiency. The common method of traditional sun drying is constrained by poor weather conditions during rainy season, resulting into

delayed drying, contamination with extraneous materials and loss of quality. Therefore there is urgent need for cassava drying structures which are efficient and independent of weather. To address these weaknesses a trial was set up in Amac in Lira district with the aim of establishing the efficiency and duration of drying chips in plastic screen houses.

Materials and methods

The experiment was conducted in the morning (10 am - 1pm) and afternoon (1.30-5.30) hours at Mr Wacha’s processing Centre in Amach sub-county in Lira district, Northern Uganda. Minimum and maximum air temperatures during the trial were 30-35°C and 18-20°C respectively. Annual rainfall is from 1,100- 1,500mm per annum, while relative humidity was about 50-60%. The treatments were

arranged in split plot arrangements as shown in Table 28 and Fig. 48. The main plots were 1. drying locations (a) drying racks inside the screenhouse (SH) (b) drying racks in open air (OP) outside the screenhouse. The sub-plots were heights above the ground for the drying racks with (1) metallic welded meshed- drying racks raised 3 feet from the ground (3FT)and (2) drying racks on flat grounds(0FT). Black

Table 28: Treatments and layout of the drying experimentHeight of drying racks Drying environment

1. Inside screenhouse (SH) 2. Outside screenhouse (Open air- OA)

1. Three feet from ground (3FT) 1.1. SH 3FT 2.1. OA 3FT

2. On the ground surface (0 FT) 1.2. SH 0FT 2.2. OA 0FT

Figure 48: Left - a 15m by 8m UV resistant clear polythene sheeting screenhouse in Amac Lira district with cassava trials on drying racks; Right – cassava on drying racks in open air drying conditions outside the screenhouse.


polythene sheeting was laid firm on the drying racks to absorb and conserve radiant heat. Procedures used by Thanh (1978); Chappell and Lebel (2009); Sanni et al., (2012) were used to conduct the experiment and to collect and analyze the data.

Fresh cassava roots (FCRs) were harvested, peeled, washed thoroughly three times and chipped into 2 -3 cm3 cubes using a motorized chipper machine of 5.5 HP. At least 3.5kgs of chips were weighed for each treatment and put into black polythene bags. Each samples of chips were spread onto the drying racks as per the treatment. Data was taken of the initial moisture content and temperature following the method of Chappell and Lebel, (2009). The moisture content and temperature of the samples; humidity of the surrounding air and room temperature were taken every thirty minutes using a Cup Moisture Meter (Model -Dramiski), an ordinary thermometer and Humidity Sensor Meter (Model- MC 7825G). The chips from each treatment were turned after every 30 minutes. The experiment was repeated three times in a day and for three days.

2.4.2.3.2. Results

Screenhouse orientation and air temperature. Increases in temperature inside

and outside the screenhouse is shown in (Fig. 49). Temperatures outside the screenhouse was about 270C. It varied from 300C – 40C inside the screenhouse. The temperatures peaked and dropped as time went on until 1pm when the morning trial was terminated. Apart from the fluctuations, no significant increase in temperature was detected for locations outside and those points in the extreme ends of the screenhouse. However, temperatures in the middle of the screenhouse increased steadily from 340C at the beginning of the experiment to about 450C by middle of the day when the trial was terminated. Similar trends was observed for the afternoon trial, for which temperature increases for all the locations inside and outside the screenhouse peaked at 2.30-3.00pm and declined gradually until 5.30pm when the trial was terminated.

Significant differences in temperatures were noted for different parts of the screenhouse (Fig.49 ). Highest temperature was recorded in the middle of the screenhouse. The temperatures were highest at the center than at the edges of the screenhouse. The air temperatures outside the screenhouse were lowest throughout the experiment. There was no difference between temperatures of locations south or north of the screenhouse (Fig.49).

Figure 49: Air temperature at different location inside and outside the screenhouse (left) before 1.00pm (right) after 1.00pm


The lower temperatures at the extreme ends of the screenhouse was expected. This is due to the loss of heat to the outside environment. The higher temperatures in the middle of the screenhouse implies that for faster drying,

samples for drying should be strategically located in these areas. Therefore drying racks should be placed in the middle of the screenhouse to capture the highest amount of heat possible. Further, drying should be

targeted at the warmest part of the day, which is any time from 11 am but best from 12noon to 4pm. For better results the screenhouse should be oriented in a north –south direction.

Changes in moisture content of cassava chips during drying. Changes in moisture content of drying chips for the different treatments are shown in Fig. 50. Reduction in moisture content of chips became noticeable about one hour after drying. The moisture content of the

Figure 50: Drying time of cassava chips as affected by drying racks and screenhouse

Figure 51: Conventional solar dryer 8m by 15m ( Left) made up of UV resistant clear polythene sheeting in Apac town and Mr Sam Opio (right) the proprietor inspects samples of cassava grits being dried.


chips then reduced substantially after one hour of drying and significant differences began to emerge after one and half hours of drying. Cassava chips on drying racks inside or outside the screenhouse dried fastest and after 2 hours the chips had achieved 12% moisture content. Chips dried on the ground in open air outside the screenhouse performed worst. The chips could only achieve 12% moisture content after three and half hours compared to two hours for those dried on raised racks in or outside the screenhouse.

The above results are interesting. It shows that when the weather is sunny and good, open air drying can be as equally effective as drying in screenhouse. The screenhouse therefore becomes indispensable during rainy seasons or bad weather, the period when open sun drying of chips is impossible.

Effects on drying time of cassava chips. The effects of drying cassava chips in screenhouse compared to open air is shown (Fig. 52a). Chips began to lose moisture after one hour of drying and by 2.5 hours and 4 hours after drying, the chips had achieved 12% and 8% moisture contents respectively. No significant differences were observed between drying

chips in screenhouse or in open air outside the screenhouse. However chips in screenhouse consistently had lower moisture content that those in open air. This started from one hour after drying until the end of the trial.

The results clearly indicate that when the weather is sunny and dry, drying in screenhouse or in open air are equally good. Therefore screenhouse becomes necessary and superior for drying during bad weather when no effective drying could be done in the open air. This ensures that processors are active all year around with a constant supply of HQCF for the existing markets. The structure excludes bees, reduces drying time, produces good quality chips and no stress from rain.

Mr Opio Sam, the proprietor of Adyaka Mixed Farm Ltd based in Apac town, N. Uganda remarks as follows: ‘‘These kind of solar dryers excludes bees, increases drying rounds by 2-3 times per day and produces good quality chips, especially preferred by Breweries and local consumers and brings total calm in the family’’.

Effects of raised racks on drying of cassava chips. The effects of drying cassava chips on

Figure 52a: Drying time of cassava chips as affected by screen house and open air; Figure 56b: Drying time of cassava chips as affected by drying racks and flat ground


raised racks or on ground is shown (Fig. 52b). Significant differences between the treatments were detected after 2.5 hours until the end of the experiment - 4 hours after drying. Chips dried on racks had consistently lower moisture contents and achieved 12% MC after 2 hours compared to 2.5hrs for chips dried on the ground. The results clearly indicate that drying of chips on racks is more efficient and superior than drying on the ground. Therefore it is recommended that raised racks be used for drying of cassava chips.

Raised racks allow free air circulation below and above the drying materials and this process speeds up removal of moisture from the chips which enables faster drying process unlike when the chips are on the ground. In addition, the racks produced high quality chips/ grit with minimum levels of contamination. These findings are in line with the work of Thahn, (1978) who reported 15% reduction of drying time by a black surface. It also agrees with the work of Tonui et al, (2014) who reported that solar structures reduced drastically the drying times.

2.5. Delivery System for Commercializing Quality Cassava Planting Materials in UgandaAlacho F.O; Awio. T.; Ijala. A; Ogwang. S.B; Aseere. G.; Okello. G.; Akullo. A. and Acola. B.

2.5.1. Introduction:The agriculture sector Development Strategy and Investment Plan (DSIP) of the government

of Uganda seeks to increase household incomes and improve food security through increasing agricultural production and productivity. However, this is only feasible if the small scale farmers, who contribute over 80% of agricultural production have timely access to quality planting materials. It has been reported that quality seeds are key and can boost agricultural production by over 40%. In Uganda over 96% of cassava farmers access cassava planting materials from their own saved seed or from fellow farmers whether these are improved varieties or landraces. This poses several challenges, particularly due to the lack of consideration for health status and quality of the planting materials. Majorly, two viral diseases are responsible for low quality of cassava planting materials: Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD) and Cassava Mosaic Disease (CMD), which are both perpetuated by the use of virus-infected cuttings.

Figure 53: Improved raised racks for drying HQCC in 306 A Mixed Farms Ltd, Otuke district, N. Uganda


Previous seed multiplication projects were initiated to respond to food shortages, provide emergency relief in war ravaged parts of the country, serving as part of re-settlement packages, or to disseminate virus resistant varieties to fight the CMD epidemic of the last 20 years. No system has been put in place in Uganda to efficiently regulate the production and dissemination of quality cassava planting materials.

This project envisions the establishment of a functional cassava seed system in Uganda, which will enhance uptake and utilization of certified cassava seed (CCS) and related innovations for sustainable productivity of cassava in the target project areas. A functional seed system in this case is defined as one with the following four key components working in tandem; (i) research to generate pre-basic seed and methods of seed production, (ii) regulation and certification of seeds for quality assurance, (iii) production of seed as a direct consumable input to meet the demand, iv) commercialization of quality certified cassava planting material production. Operationalization of such a system will incentivize farmers to produce for increased

household incomes and thus stimulate further production and enhance sustainability. Towards this endthe project is piloting a cassava seed system in Uganda, with specific objectives to; 1) enhance production of cassava pre-basic and basic seeds, 2) operationalize quality assurance of cassava planting material production, 3) commercialize certified cassava planting material production, 4) determine the economics of the cassava seed system, and 5) assess the rate and magnitude of degeneration of improved cassava due to virus infection.

The project is mandated to ensure that cassava seed entrepreneurs (CSEs) have access to clean cassava seed that they can multiply and sell profitably. The National Seed Certification Services (NSCS) of the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) is responsible for the regulation and certification of basic seed and CCS. AfrII is implementing objective 3 of the project which emphasizes commercialization of certified cassava planting materials production in Eastern, Northern and Central Uganda especially in Soroti, Amuria. Lira, Nakasongola and Nakaseke districts.

Table 29. Summary of key outputs achieved and challenges encountered during the year.

Key outputs for the year• Consultative meetings held with District Production Department in the project areas.• CSEs recruitment, selection and training strategy developed.• Inspection of CSE sites and fields by NaCRRI and MAAIF conducted• 10 sites for CSEs characterized and selected • Business and agronomic module developed in collaboration with NaCRRI, MEDA, CHAIN-

Uganda and BioCrops.• Study trip to Tanzania conducted and detailed technical report on lessons learnt produced.• On-farm trainings of CSEs and farmers in disease and insect pest management, agronomy,

protocols and standards conducted at the demonstrations fields.• 245 acres of land under preparation to receive basic seed.• Situation analysis report of the on-going seed multiplication initiatives produced.• 6 demonstration sites with a total of 11acres established. Main challenges encountered.• Minimum Isolation distance limits the intervention to only virgin areas.• Land opening in the virgin areas may mean big investment for farmers and will need highly

paying ventures in the near future.• On-going initiatives that focus on the traditional multiplication could cause conflicts and

contradictions in certified cassava seed production.


2.5.2. Key outputs and challenges encounteredThe key outputs and challenges encountered in the year are summarized in Table 29 below; and details are provided in the sections that follow.

2.5.3. Enhancing the Capacity of Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs (CSEs).2.5.3.1. Stakeholder awareness workshops. Consultative meetings were held with the District Production Departments of Nakasongola, Nakaseke, Soroti, Amuria and Lira. The main issue was that there are already ongoing initiatives on cassava seed multiplication though fields are not certified by NSCS.

The workshop resolved to have an MoU with AfrII, incorporate project work plans into the district’s planned activities; and the should appoint a focal person to work on the CSS project; and to share the monitoring and evaluation plan.

2.5.3.2. A checklist for selecting CSEs produced

CSEs recruitment, selection and training strategy was developed in collaboration with NaCRRI, AfrII, CHAIN-Uganda, MEDA and BioCrops. Key criteria for CSE selection are shown in Table 30 below.

The process of CSE selection involved conducting consultation meetings in the project regions. This is done in partnership with the relevant district production staff. Several candidate CSEs identified were visited. Many were already multiplying quality declared planting materials (QDPM) through other projects such as EAAPP, district local governments (DLGs), NGOs, NARO-ISSD. Inspections of CSEs sites were done by the National Seed Certification Service (NSCS), NaCRRI scientists and AfrII team as well. CSEs who met the minimum requirements were

given a go ahead to prepare their land to receive basic seed and were also facilitated to apply for registration as seed merchants. Initially the target was on individual farmers to be selected as CSEs but farmer groups (FGs) were also identified, inspected and those that qualified were included as CSEs. Additionally, the target was to work with CSEs with average

Figure 54: Farmers’ fields under informal cassava planting materials multiplication of NASE 14 variety

Table 30. Criteria for selecting cassava seed entrepreneurs (CSEs)• Active informal multipliers of quality declared planting materials (QDPM) of cassava and other crops.• Adequate land to accommodate crop rotation and expansion• Field location: Land should be located where there is good drainage• Financial capacity and willingness to finance the entire production activities• Willingness to learn• Enterprising/business oriented.


land size of about 10 acres but this was not practical with actual land sizes ranging from about 2 acres to 42 acres.

2.5.3.3. Sites for CSEs characterized and selected Ten (10) sites for CSEs were surveyed and inspected by a team of inspectors from NaCRRI, MAAIF/NSCS and AfrII (Table 31, Fig. 55). The 10 sites were approved as good sites

for cassava seed multiplication and were given a go ahead for preparation to receive cassava basic seed planting materials during the March-April, 2015 planting season.

AfrII team profiled additional 27 farmers (Table 32) that had good sites for certified cassava seed multiplication. They were inspected and approved as CSEs by the NSCS and NaCRRI and given a go ahead to start preparing land for receiving basic seed in March-April, 2015 planting season (Fig 55).

2.5.3.4. Business and agronomic modules developed:

Training modules and manuals were developed in collaboration with NaCRRI, MEDA, BioCrops and CHAIN-Uganda. The resource materials are summarized in Table 33.Other materials that were developed included the Cassava Seed Entrepreneurs recruitment, selection and training strategy; CSE application form; MoU template between AfrII and CSE; MAAIF agricultural seed registration form and CSE certificate of training.

2.5.3.5. Study visit to Tanzania conducted.Partnerships and Collaboration: It was discovered that MEDA worked well with the National Root and Tuber Crops Program and IITA to identify the seed material that was selected based on visual inspection and was tested and multiplied at Naliendele research, MEDA and by CSE to produce “basic seed”. MEDA also had a good working relationship with the Tanzania Government, Tanzania Official Seed Certification Institute (TOSCI). It was then noted that (i) the National Seed Certification Service (NSCS) of Uganda needs to inspect the multiplication plots and recommend them as

Table 31: Profile of CSEs whose fields were inspected and approved for seed multiplicationS/No. Name of CSE Project Region Contact Acreage 1. Ojakol Charles Soroti 0789415757 20 2. Egau Richard Soroti 0782504415 10 3. Akutu Augustine Soroti 0772539574 100 4. Alito Cassava Growers’

AssociationLira 0784298177 5

5. Amuja Johnson Lira 0712024319 40 6. Ogwal Emmanuel Lira 0752318078 10 7. Opio Samuel Lira 0772523736 30 8. Kassim Wajalubi Nakasongola 0774789053 209. Bogere Richard Nakasongola 0775681578 5 10. Ssekaboga Godfrey Nakasongola 0785045443 5

Total acres 245

Figure 55: Field survey and inspection for CSEs in December, 2014 in Soroti and Lira project areas


source of planting materials, (ii) multiplication plots for basic seed under CSS project be inspected and certified by the NSCS and (iii) all CSEs be registered as seed producers and sell certified seed.

CSE Selection and Registration: All the multipliers were registered by TOSCI and had certificates to show. It was then noted that there is need for NSCS to register all seed multipliers before they commence multiplication.

Development of seed standards and Certification of Quality Declared Seed (QDS): TOSCI was involved in developing protocols and standards while working with MEDA and research. TOSCI seed Inspectors were also trained on disease identification and agronomy. It was noted that inspection and certification standards should include CMD, CBSD, CBB and good agronomic practices. These standards should be monitored with research to continuously make amendments. Additionally, the capacity of seed inspectors should be continuously strengthened.

Cost-Sharing: MEDA was sharing the cost of producing certified seed with the CSEs. For instance, MEDA contributed 61.8% of the total cost of producing basic seed and the CSE

contributed 38.2%. It was therefore learnt that an MoU be signed between AfrII and CSEs specifying the roles and contributions of each party in the multiplication of certified cassava seed.

Table 32: List of Candidate CSEs whose fields were yet to be inspectedS/No. Name of Candidate CSE Project area Acreage1. Edimu Charles Andrew Soroti 202. Acol Wilbert Lira 103. Okello Bosco Lira 104. Ngetta Farmer Field School Lira 205. Judith Alyek Lira 206. Alengo Patrick Lira 507. David Ebong Lira 508. Ocheger Soroti 209. Kobuin ACE Soroti 1010. Kapir Multipurpose Cooperative Soroti 1011. Olado Paul Soroti 2012. Ojangole Max Soroti 1013. Kokong Village SACCO Soroti 2014. Kintu Margret Nakasongola 2015. Francisco Amulen Soroti 2016. Ebukit Esau Soroti 1017. Irene Acam Soroti 2018. Abonge Peter Nakasongola 2019. Limito Godfrey Nakasongola 1020. Kobale Cassava farmers Soroti 1021. Naume Mwidu Soroti 2022. Ocheger Daniel Soroti 1023. Okoche Soroti/Amuria 2024. Okiror Michael Soroti/Amuria 1525. Dokus Akullo Lira 5026. Loro Prison Farm Lira 2027. Okole Women Development Initiative Lira 20Total acreage 535

Table 33. Training modules and manuals were developed in collaboration with other partners - NaCRRI, MEDA, BioCrops and CHAIN-Uganda.Type of resource materials developed1. Business manual and workbook for CSEs2. Cassava Agronomy manual 3. Training photos4. Guidelines for pests and diseases of cassava 5. Cassava cost data collection template 6. Cassava cost and profit model 7. Simplified quick cost worksheet 8. Agronomic Standards for Certified Cassava Seed

Production 9. Cassava Pest Control module10. Cassava Brown Streak Disease manuals11. Cassava Mosaic Disease manuals 12. Cassava Disease Management module 13. Visual Aids and Key messages for cassava field

workers14.Standard Operating Procedure for Cassava Seed

Production and Distribution 15. Training of Trainers Manual for cassava growing

in Uganda16. Guidelines for field inspection by a plant health

inspector 17.Guidelines for stem multipliers and Business

planner templates


Market for Quality Declared Seed: CSEs are involved in the promotion and marketing of their QDS. For instance, a CSE participated in the NANE-NANE Agricultural Show and

their stall was the most visited by over 1000 farmers and was able to sell to 6 commercial seed producers and the farmers. He earned TZX 13.5m from sales after incurring a total cost of TZX 4.45m. From this experience, it was noted that the CSEs be given capacity to promote and sell their own seed. Other ways

of promotion include field days and radio talk shows. Additionally, the CSEs should be (i)

involved in the selection of commercial seed producers, (ii) selected from areas that have a high potential to sell their seed and (iii) given capacity to keep records of all expenses and

sales of certified cassava planting materials.

Integration: In one of the sites, the CSE was also an SME for High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) processing using sun drying technology and supported by the Cassava: Adding Value for Africa (CAVA II) project. The CSE had 3 acres of commercial seed derived from basic seed received from research selected materials. The CSE also had 20 acres of cassava for root production but was not under Good Agricultural Practices (GAPs). It was mixed, was infected with CMD, low plant population and not ridged and was not practicing what she had learnt in her own garden. Therefore, degeneration study should include the buildup of CMD, CBSD and CBB. Additionally, there is need to integrate CAVA II and CSS projects as much as possible.

Innovators, Winners, risk takers and champions: MEDA identified existing innovators, champions, risk takers, entrepreneurs and winners in other agricultural projects and clearly got a head start. It was learnt from this view point that there is need to consult with local governments and CBOs to identify the initial CSEs who are risk takers, innovators, winners, risk takers, champions and entrepreneurs. These characteristics should form part of the criteria for selecting CSEs and commercial seed multipliers.

Figure 56: Members of a demonstration site being trained on best cassava agronomic practices

Table 34: Farmers trained on cassava agronomy, standards and protocolsS/No. Name Gender District1. Awuco Victor Male Kole2. Owo Philip Male Kole3. Phoebe Awuco Female Kole4. Hellen Akullu Female Kole5. Amuja Johnson Male Lira6. Molly Egwang Female Apac7. Opio Sam Male Apac8. Florence Okello Female Apac9. Betty Ouni Female Lira10. Olado Paul Male Ngora11. Ebukit Esau Male Kumi12. Wajjalubi Kassim Male Nakasongola13. Abwango Patrick Male Otuke14. Cizaria Adur Female Otuke15. Opio Tom Female Apac16. Oleng George Male Otuke17. Okwadi Wilbert Male Otuke18. Alor Musa Male Otuke19. Jenty Agol Female Otuke20. Ocen George Male Apac21. Sarah Auma Female Kole22. Santa Okello Female Kole23. Rola Akite Female Otuke24. Akullu Rose Female Otuke


2.5.3.6. Trainings of CSEs on disease and insect pest management, agronomy, protocols and standards conducted.Within the established demonstration sites, the host farmers and the candidate CSEs were introduced to best cassava agronomic practices by the team of AfrII and MAAIF inspectors (Fig 58). Onsite agronomic practices and business skills mentorships were ongoing with the demonstration hosts.

2.5.3.7. Monitoring and Evaluation workshop: An Early Check-In on the Cassava Seed Systems Monitoring and Evaluation System and Orientation of Staff on the Results Framework workshop was held from 20th-22nd November at National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) conducted by i-TEC. This workshop

focused on how to set indicators that can be used to measure outputs and outcomes and, setting targets that need to be achieved at the end of the project. With this workshop, the Agronomist was acquainted with the project objectives, expected outputs and outcomes and setting indicators for Objective 3 where AfrII is implementing.

2.5.3.8. Roadmap for the cassava seed system projectA meeting on streamlining the roadmap for the Seed System Project was held on 13th December, 2014 at BioCrops Uganda (Fig.58). The meeting was convened to find out from NaCRRI (who is in charge of basic seed production) how many sites, size and varieties of the basic seeds of cassava planting materials were available and, the quantities of stems

Figure 61. Monitoring and Evaluation workshop at NaCRRI

Figure 58. A meeting on streamlining the roadmap for CSS Project at BioCrops Uganda attended by Laurent Good from MEDA and project team members from AfrII, NaCRRI, CHAIN-Uganda


needed for planting by CSEs facilitated by AfrII and CHAIN-Uganda. It was communicated by NaCRRI that the sites for basic seed multiplication were Nwoya, Kiryandongo and Kamwenge and cassava varieties available as

basic seed were NASE 3, NASE 14, NASE 19 and NAM 130. Quantities of basic seed needed for planting by March-April, 2015 (basing on a simple calculation that 1000 stems would plant an acre, the expected 300 acres each for AfrII and CHAIN would need 600,000 stems) would be approximately 3600 bags of basic seed with AfrII taking 1800 bags.

During the meeting, it was also noted that in project areas where AfrII is implementing the project activities (Lira, Soroti/Amuria and Nakasongola/Nakaseke districts), the common cassava variety is NASE 14 and therefore it was noted that AfrII would have a higher percent (70%) of the basic seed of NASE 14 and the balance of 30% would be of NASE 3, NASE 19 and NAM 130. AfrII would get basic seed from Nwoya and Kiryandongo sites. It was also proposed that each CSE be given only one cassava variety and that there would be cost-sharing between partners and CSEs in

transporting the cuttings to the CSE fields. NaCRRI was tasked to track the information on available quantities of planting materials, where they are, where the materials will be going (which partner); quantities of materials

to be given to each partner and the varieties available as well. A template was later sent by the agronomist to partners to fill in quantities of NASE 3, NASE 14, NASE 19 and NAM 130 that were demanded for the March-April, 2015 planting season. A summary of this is provided in Table 35.

Based on the inspected and approved first batch of 10 CSE sites with a total area of 245 acres, the actual demand for basic seed was 2450 bags. Upon approval of more CSEs, the basic seed requirement was approximately 4800 bags to plant 480 acres of land (Table 35). The above projections would need to be revisited to reflect the actual quantities of basic seed that would be received from NaCRRI multiplication sites.

2.5.4. CSEs Producing, Distributing and Selling Certified Cassava Seed Profitably

Table 35: Estimated basic seed requirement for March-April, 2015 planting seasonBasic seed site Project areas to be

suppliedPartner Variety Projected acreage

(March - April, 2015)

Kiryandongo (30 acres) Nakasongola/ Nakaseke

AfrII NASE3 19

NASE14 23NASE19 10NAM130 8

Nwoya (95 acres) Lira AfrII NASE3 47NASE14 150NASE19 20NAM130 16

Soroti/Amuria AfrII NASE3 105NASE14 68NASE19 0NAM130 11

Total 480

Table 36: Demonstration fields established at regional levelS/No. Region Name of farmer Variety Acreage1. Soroti Akutu Augustine NASE 3 3. 02. Soroti Olado Paul NASE 14 1.03. Soroti Ebukit Asau NASE 14 2.04. Lira ACAGA NASE 14 1.55. Lira Sam Opio Oceng NASE 14 1.56. Nakasongola Kassim Wajalubi NASE 14 2.0Total 11.0


2.5.4.1. Six cassava demonstration fields established using quality planting materials Six farmers were identified and 11 acres of demonstration fields were established in areas of Soroti/Amuria, Lira and Nakasongola/Nakaseke (Table 36). The team made some replications to cater for regional weather hazards as a mitigation strategy. The planting materials used were procured from cassava fields inspected and recommended by the NSCS inspectors.

2.5.4.2. At least 36 acres of land prepared to receive basic seed By this time, 245 acres of land was under preparation to receive basic seed by March-April 2015. The 245 acres of land was from 10 CSEs whose fields were surveyed, inspected and approved by NSCS inspectors as suitable sites for cassava seed multiplication.

2.5.4.3. Situation analysis report of on-going seed multiplication initiativesIndications of demand for seed were mapped out during the consultative meetings with districts. In all districts visited, selling and buying of stem cuttings was going on especially for newly released varieties. There were also known and recognized producers of good quality cassava stem cuttings who were mainly inspected by NaCRRI and district production technical staff but were not certified by MAAIF-NSCS. Most seed was sold commercially at between UGX 25,000 to UGX 65,000 under the tendering process. However realistic on-farm costs are between UGX 18,000 to UGX 25,000 per bag.

In Nakasongola/Nakaseke districts, there were farmers already multiplying cassava seed and they were being supported by the District Local Government, LIFE project by World Vision Uganda and FAO. For instance, FAO was working with 17 farmer groups with each group having 3 acres of cassava mother garden as a source of clean planting materials. The main variety that was being multiplied was NASE 14 and some NASE 3. There was already a Cassava Multi-stakeholder Innovation Platform. It was then agreed that during training of trainers’

(ToT) by CSS, staff from both the district, World Vision Uganda and FAO would provide trainers.

In Lira district, there was on-going cassava seed multiplication by Adyaka Wholesalers Ltd, Agency for Food Security Network (AFOSEN), Alito Cassava Growers Association (ACAGA) and Judith Alyek. Adyaka Wholesalers Ltd had about 60 acres of NASE 14 under multiplication. This was inspected by NaCRRI but was not formally certified by the NSCS (Fig 60).

AFOSEN was multiplying NASE 14 as well. Additionally, AFOSEN had a cassava processing equipments (a milling machine and cassava chipper provided by NAADS), tractor, boom sprayers (single and twin), 3 cassava planters, 3 cassava up-rooters, 1 disc plough, 1 manual disc harrow and 1 hydraulic disc harrow, NPK fertilizers and herbicides provided by NaCRRI. AFOSEN provided an excellent opportunity for learning in terms of mechanization and large scale cassava production. This initiative was a potential game changer as mechanization

Figure 59. On-farm training and learning at a demonstration field in Lira project areas


would spur both large scale multiplication of certified stem cuttings and root production for processing.

Alito Cassava Growers Association (ACAGA) had 5 acres of land under cassava multiplication but had 50 acres of land in one location to be put under cassava seed production. They also had a cassava processing shed, store and a cassava chipper. Judith Alyek had 10 acres under NASE 14 production and had 50 acres of land to be used for cassava seed multiplication.

In Soroti/Amuria districts, Mr. Ebukit Esau was multiplying 15 acres of cassava seed under the NAADS programme in Kumi and owned 100 acres of land which he was willing to put under cassava seed multiplication. Another farmer (Akutu) had 55 acres of cassava for root production and had 100 acres of land that could be used for seed multiplication.

2.5.4.4. Training workshop for CSEs on financing CCS activities

During the district consultative meeting, a number of financial institutions were found already working with farmers. These included Opportunity Bank, Uganda Development Bank, Post Bank, FINCA and other rural SACCOs. These and other financial institutions would be approached to understand their loan products that can finance cassava seed production.

Additionally, AfrII team concentrated on linking the potential entrepreneurs to the existing financial institutions such as Post bank, Centenary bank, DFCU bank, Opportunity Bank, Uganda Development Bank, FINCA, other microfinance institutions, rural SACCOs and vision fund. The CSEs had also been introduced to a possibility of registering their own SACCO and this would be concretized during their Business opportunity meeting when all the CSEs are brought together.

Figure 60. Inspection of land prepared by Alito Cassava Growers’ Association in Kole District to receive basic seed.

Figure 61. Fields under informal cassava seed multiplication at the farm of Adyaka Wholesalers Ltd


3 Climate Change Programme

Bush burning; a very destructive practice killing the forest cover in the country


Many times the men that cut down trees are summarily deemed remorseless

and uninterested in the survival of the eco-systems. The existence of external factors that can only be addressed through collective responsibility and correct legislation are often overlooked. Mr. Peter Opade, logger in Nakasongola district explains in the story below, why tree cutting for him and others in his trade is more necessary than a hobby.

My name is Peter Opade and I am 30 years old. I had only studied until senior four when my father, who was paying my tuition fees, passed away. Since then I have not had the chance to resume my studies. With a family of four children and a wife waiting for me in my home district of Pallisa in Eastern Uganda, I have no choice but to work as a logger, cutting down trees in Nakasongola

district. I had to come all this way to find work because farming in Pallisa district was unprofitable and I needed to do something

that would bring me quick returns.

In this job, I earn about Uganda Shillings 15,000 (USD 5) per sack of charcoal that is produced from the trees that I cut down. Throughout one charcoal burning cycle, my logs make about 30 bags of charcoal from my earning, I spend about the least amount on food, paying back debts and then whatever is left, I send back to my family in Pallisa. I hardly ever have anything left over to save and plan for the future that I often dream of.I would love to build my own home, pay my children’s school fees and take them back to school; I would also love a regular income. But none of this can happen right now while am working here in this jungle.

I do not really support the whole idea of cutting down trees because it destroys weather conditions and to be honest, the process is also making me a little sick. I often get chest pains that bring me a lot of discomfort, but to my desperate circumstances, I am forced to look for the best way to take care of my responsibility in life. Frankly I don’t know if the community is affected by tree felling because honestly they are the ones contracting me to do the work, but if it puts food on my family’s table, it is worth it for me to live in a makeshift tent for 3 months and go back to them for relief periods of about 1 month in between. I know that my children will thank me for it one day.If I had an alternative, I would like to become a produce dealer in my home district of Pallisa, because I am passionate about farming. But while am waiting on my dreams to come to pass, I will continue to put my fingers to the grind and make the necessary money I need to make my children’s dreams come true.

“I Have to Cut Down Trees to Survive!”-Peter Opade, a farmer

Recorded by Africa Innovations Institute, through its project, “Adaptation to the impact of climate change and variability funded by IDRC Canada, The project implements innovative strategies to enhance community–based climate change adaptation initiative in Uganda’s cattle corridor, particularly Nakasongola and Nakaseke districts. The projects also works toward the implementation of supportive policy measures that improve food security and health among rural communities.

“I do not really support the whole idea of cutting down trees because it destroys weather conditions and to be honest, the process is also making me a little sick. I often get chest pains that bring me a lot of discomfort, but to my desperate circumstances, I am forced to look for the best way to take care of my responsibility in life. If I had an alternative, I would like to become a produce dealer in my home district Pallisa, because I am passionate about farming”. Peter Opade, a Logger in Nakasongola district


3.1. IntroductionClimate Change is a big challenge to Uganda’s agricultural development. The weather is variable, unpredictable with frequent episodes of unusual weather events such as floods, droughts and hailstones which have had negative socio-economic impacts on agricultural production and the well-being of the people. It is postulated that the country will experience a pronounced negative impact of global climate variability and that will be among the countries hardest hit by the immediate impacts of climate variability, especially in fragile ecosystems such as the cattle corridor, a region currently experiencing unusually severe droughts, frequent dry spells resulting into reduced water and pasture availability. The situation has been exacerbated by increasing population pressure and changes in land use patterns, which has resulted into food insecurity and heightened competition and conflicts over resources.

The Programme aims at developing a deeper understanding of climate change , its impacts on the economy and communities livelihoods and how they respond to the impacts and development of adaptation and mitigation

measures. The projects are outlined below.

3.2. Securing livelihoods to the impacts of climate change.

3.2.1. Introduce and promote functional and sustainable village level innovation platforms

Formation of Farmers Groups. Each wealth category either identified existing group or formed a new farmers’ group (FGs) consisting between twenty to thirty willing members (taking into consideration gender). They held a meeting with all the registered members, reaffirmed the farmer who should host the platform, elected an executive and was assisted to write a constitution clearly indicating the governance and management structure of the platform; and how the they will operate.

Each farmer groups registered at their

respective Sub Counties as a community based organization (CBO). They were guided to elect an executive committee which consisted of eight member: a chairperson, vice chairperson, treasurer, secretary, mobilizer, two youth representatives (one male, one female) and women representative and defined the modalities of working together.

Establishment of innovations platforms.

During year one of the project, a total of 18 innovation platforms at village levels (one innovation platform in each parish that comprises of 10 villages) were identified, as described earlier (AfrII, 2013). Members of the platforms are local leaders, community workers, sub county extension staff and NGOs active in the area, agro input dealers. The platforms are intended for promoting knowledge sharing, exchange and experiential learning, and piloting interventions.

At the beginning of year two implementation of activities, these platforms were reviewed together with communities and minor changes were made especially for the ones proposed for the pastoralist communities. Innovations in pastures and fodder bank management which were to be hosted by R.Mwebaze and F. Kalema of Kigweri and Kyalushebeka parishes in Ngoma sub-county were dropped as these demanded a lot of money and the communities especially the rich and middle class farmers were less cooperative and less willing to allow others learn from their innovations. Also maize value chains development innovations which was to be hosted by Mr Gawera G.W. of Kyabutaika parish in Kakoge Sub County was also dropped and replaced with bananas and piggery, as per the request by the farmers. The revised innovations platforms and their details for implementation in year 2 are summarized in Table 37. The innovation platforms were established at parish level and per each group as agreed on during the joint feedback workshop sessions carried out in year one.

Functions of the Innovations Platforms. The functions of the Platforms which had been proposed in year one were reviewed by each group. Generally the groups reaffirmed the functions of the platforms as serving as (1) demonstration sites, (2) knowledge center where exhibits and information materials


on relevant technologies and practices shall be displayed for use by farmers, (3) Farmers Listening Club where prerecorded tapes and videos on improved practices shall be played regularly to members of the groups who will listen, discuss and internalize the messages; (4) a training center where farmers gather and are trained on agriculture and CSA practices and commercial farming and; (5) as a platform where farmers and other stakeholders meet and interact on issues to do with farming and markets. The farmers agreed to practice what they have learnt at the platforms on return to their farms.

Management of Innovations platforms. The FGs at each Platform were guided to elect a Management Committee (MC) drawn from members of the groups. They defined the duties of the MC as “to successfully manage the affairs and programme of the Platform”; and agreed on how each member of the group was to contribute to the management of the platform. It was further agreed that the management of the platform was going to be a joint responsibility between the community and the project. The daily operations pertinent to the survival of the demonstrations were responsibilities of the executives while the

Table 37: Details of innovation platforms implemented in Nakaseke and Nakasekke districts, 2014.Sub-county Parish Host of

platformWealth Group

Interventions at platform Status

Nakasekke DistrictSemuto Crop farming system

Kirema Muwanga C. Poor 1. Maize value chain development

Replaced with bananas

Kirema Lwanyaga C. Middle 2. Vegetables value chain development (tomatoes)

Implemented

Kirema Kayongo A. Rich 3. Banana value chain Implemented

Kapeeka Mixed farming systemKapeeka Nalumansi H. Poor 4. Improved pig husbandry and

marketingImplemented; added bananas

Kapeeka Kayongo W. Middle 5. Improved pig husbandry and marketing

Implemented, added bananas

Kapeeka Nalukwago R. Rich 6. Tomato value chain development

Implemented

Ngoma Pastoral farming systemKyalushebeka Mugisha Y. Poor 7. Cassava value chain ImplementedKigweri Mwebaze R. Middle 8. Innovations in pastures,

fodder bank management Dropped

Kyalushebeka Kalema F. Rich 9. Innovations in pastures, fodder bank management

Dropped

Nakasongola DistrictKakooge Crop farming system

Kyabutaika Ssembatya L. Poor 10. Innovations in pig husbandry and marketing

Implemented

Kyabutaika Kimuli D. Middle 11. Innovations in pig husbandry and marketing

Implemented

Kyabutaika Gawera G.W. Rich 12. Maize value chains development

replaced with bananas, piggery

Lwampanga Mixed farming systemLwampanga Mande R. Poor 13. Innovations in pig husbandry

and marketingImplemented

Kiwembi Luyinda S. Middle 14. Cassava value chain development

Implemented

Kiwembi Bogere R. Rich 15. Cassava value chain development

Implemented

Nabiswera Pastoral farming systemKyangogolo Sserunjoji S. Poor 16 Poultry husbandry ImplementedKyangogolo Mbazira S. Middle 17. Innovations in pig husbandry

and marketingImplemented

Kyangogolo Ntalo S. Rich 18. Cassava value chain development

Implemented


project provides technical back stopping. The platform manager’s role was to regularly monitor activities at the platforms and report progress to Africa Innovations Institute. The safety of the technologies and any other items at the platform was the concern of the host farmer, the executive and community as a whole. They also agreed that any other management issues arising will be handled as stipulated in the constitution governing respective farmer groups. Specific roles of the different actors as agreed earlier and reconfirmed during the implementation of year two activities are summarized in Table 38. The Group Link Farmer (GLF) was selected

by the members whose responsibilities were to mobilize the group members to carry out platform activities and to keep close contact with project team at AfrII and with the Sub-county Local Government extension staff. The Local Government roles are to mobilize and sensitize farmers and to provide enabling environment and source additional funding to out scale the innovations.

3.2.2. Piloting appropriate technologies at innovators farmsBuilding resilience and securing livelihoods of communities in the cattle corridor will require interventions that will increase productivity, enable them diversify from traditional enterprises; have access to markets, and enhance their adaptive capacity in order to reduce shocks from the risks of climate change. In addition, the interventions should contribute to reduction of carbon dioxide emissions to the atmosphere. To achieve these, the project introduced and piloted in the project area, several innovations that had been identified and prioritized during the livelihood profiling stage as described below.

3.2.2.1. Climate smart piggery production innovations.During livelihood profiling, several groups in the three farming systems in the two districts selected piggery as one of the intervention areas. The challenge communities were facing in the piggery production were poor breeds; traditional feeding and husbandry practices; infestation by worms and poor disease management; although the demand for pork and other pork products is rapidly expanding. As is the practice in the rest of the country, the majority of households that rear pigs in the cattle corridor keep 1-5 pigs tethered around the homestead. They feed the pigs with kitchen leftovers and crop residues. During the dry season, some farmers let their pigs free to move around in search of food. This free range method is characterized by low reproductive performance, slow growth rates, high worm infestation, and inbreeding. This has led to slow growth and poor performance of the pigs; social conflicts between pig farmers and crop communities as pigs roam around looking for food. The high prevalence of diseases such as African Swine Fever (ASF), Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), Gastroenteritis, swine dysentery and swine erysipelas result in high mortality and huge economic losses.

To address these challenges and improve production, the project introduced and piloted Deep Liter System (DLS) commonly known as Fermented Bed Technology (FBT). FBT is climate smart and environmentally friendly method of

Table 38: Roles of the Communities, AfrII and Local Government in managing the platformsRoles of Communities Roles of AfrII1. Provision of

land where the innovation center is to be sited

1. Prepared for 50% cost-sharing of costs of interventions

2. Formation of groups and registration

2. Provision of extension advice

3. Management of the center

3. Contribution to management

4. Provision of labor 4. Provision of knowledge and information to the community

5. Provision of security

5. Identification of new technologies (quality varieties of plants or breeds of animals depending on the

selected enterprise)6. Mobilization of

group members

7. Prepared for 50% cost-sharing of costs of interventions


pork production. It exploits biological activity of microorganisms that decompose cellulose and lignin in the bedding materials (twigs, crop straws, saw dust, wood shavings, rice or corn husks etc.), into simple organic compounds and generates warmth suitable for prime pork production.

The advantages of rearing pigs using fermented bed technology.

FBT offers many benefits but the core ones are its simplicity and efficient way to turn both manure and urine into finished compost. The absorbent bedding when healthy and designed accurately can actively breakdown all pig waste thus significantly decreasing odor and fly populations. The bedding also creates an immense amount of heat (approximately 600C) as the plant materials breakdown and decompose. This helps the pigs stay warm during cold weather and minimizes accumulation of fatty later below the skin which normally undermines pork quality. Further, FBT can create microbial rich compost for improving soil fertility. It also allows for natural behaviors such as rooting by pigs; it helps prevents the outbreak of disease; improves pigs immunity; reduces urine and manure disposal, cleaning frequency and the need for disinfection. Further, the construction of the housing structure is cheap and low technology. It can also be used to rear chicken.

Introduction of fermented bed technology to the communities.

The concept of FBT was introduced to the communities during the livelihood profiling exercise conducted in year 1 and farmers were keen to try it. The innovation was launched in November 2013 at several innovator farms (Fig 62) Members of the groups were trained on the innovation and guided in the construction of housing structures and the

preparation and management of the deep liter system. Ten cross bred piglets (landrace

crossed with Comborough breeds) were delivered to each innovation center after certifying that members had completed the housing structures and were ready to receive the piglets. Each innovation center was given nine female and one male piglets. The unique qualities of the cross breeds are their fast growth rates, high quality carcass and females produce many more piglets compared to local breeds.

Site selection. Meetings were held with the farmers to explain fermented bed technology, what it involved and what advantages farmers enjoyed once they adopted the technology.

Figure 62. Members of the Kyabutaika Innovations platform, Kakooge Sub County, Nakasongola district guides Mr Simon Ogwal (AfrII) on the site they have selected and cleared to locate the housing structure for the FMT. Mrs Mary Mutyaba, the leader of the group, shows Simon the direction the sun sets and rises so as to guide the layout of the housing structure.

Table 39. Details of innovator farm where FBT was established and piloted in Nakaseke and Nakasongola districts, 2014District Sub County Farming system Host farmer No. of PigletsNakaseke Kapeeka-Bugala Mixed Nalumansi F 10

Kapeeka-Kabele Mixed Senfuma GW 10Nakasongola Kakooge-St. Kizito Crop Kimuli Dan 10

Kakooge-Kyabutaika

Crop Tusubira 10

Nabiswera Pastoral Kyambadde 10Lwampanga Mixed Kwerigira S 10


Under the guidance of project staff and an animal production specialist, the farmers in each innovation center identified a suitable site to construct a pig house. In all the innovation centers, the sites were free of shade, had adequate air circulation and good drainage. The farmers were involved in excavation, building and roofing of the structure. The project supervised and monitored progress of work. Table 39 summarizes the location of the centers where the innovation was piloted

Housing structure. The construction of the housing structure involved measuring the dimensions of the structure and excavating a 16m2 pit to a depth of 100cm. The walls are raised using bricks up to 100cm. The corner columns raised to a height of 200cm above the ground. The pitch is 75cm and the roof is grass thatched or covered using iron sheets or any water proof material. If possible the brickworks were cement plastered to increase the durability of the wall (Fig. 63).

At Kyadobo village, Nabiswera Sub County, the host farmer belongs to Basooka Kwavuula Womens’ Group that is engaged in several income generating activities such as contributing to a savings and lending scheme amongst themselves. The introduction of this technology was welcomed because of the several advantages they were going to

experience while using it to rear pigs. Members made a duty rota indicating which households were responsible for feeding the piglets. The members modified the housing structure to fit their hot environment (Fig 63). Instead of using iron sheets to roof the structure, they opted for the cheap and cooler grass thatched roof.

They also used wooden poles as corner columns as opposed to the others who used burnt clay bricks. The use of poles and grass

that are readily available makes the adoption of the technology easier and cheaper.

Figure 64. A typical housing structure for pigs and chicken under FBT. In the foreground are dry maize stalk used as foundation material for bedding

Figure 63. Members of B. K. Womens’ Group prepares feed from sliced tender elephant grass to feed their pigs. The members were advised to supplement commercial feeds with locally available feed materials to minimize costs.

Figure 64. The different materials (saw dust, soil, salt, and lime) that make up the bedding material is heaped, mixed to uniformity and turned using the garden fork to over lay the foundation material (e.g. maize stover).


Bedding materials and fermentation. Bedding material consists of dry grass, maize or rice straws or small tree branches laid firmly on the floor. A majority of the houses used dry maize stover as bedding material since maize is the most commonly grown crop by the community. The bedding materials are placed in the pit up to a depth of 30cm. This is immediately overlaid by another 40cm of fine sawdust (65 bags) or rice husks mixed with loam soil (100kgs or 3 wheel burrows), lime (10kgs), and table salt (10kgs) (Fig 64) and moistened using water having Indigenous Micro Organisms (IMO) to start the fermentation process. The procedure for preparing the IMO is outlined in Text Box 1.

Preparing the IMO and inoculating the bed. Through their platforms, the farmers were taught how to ferment the bed (Fig 65). The project procured 1 Kilogram of IMO for the farmers and hired an animal production expert to train them how to prepare a solution of the

IMO and use it to ferment the bed (Text Box 1).

Introducing the piglets to the bed. The bed

Step 1. Purchase 1 Kg of solid IMO from a pig farmer already using the organic/IMO system of pig rearing

Step 2. A plastic drum of 200 liter capacity is filled with 10 jerry cans of clean water. Each jerry can has a capacity of 20 liters. Place the drum in a cool place protected from rain and direct sun rays since microorganisms do not grow well when put under direct sunlight.

Step 3. Add solid IMO into the plastic drum; 2 table spoons per 20 liter jerrycan; without dipping the table spoon in the drum. This is to avoid contaminating the remaining solid IMO in its original container. Total of 20 table spoons are placed in the drum.

Step 4. Five Kilograms of pure maize bran are weighed and added to the drum. In the absence of a weighing scale, to use hands/palms. Two full palms per 20 liter jerry can be added into the drum. In total, 40 handfuls are added into the drum. The maize bran acts as the food for the microorganisms. Cover the drum with a mosquito net to avoid contamination and insects falling in. The liquid is ready for use 24 hours later

Step 5. Liquid IMO is sprinkled on the litter and thereafter mixed using a combination of hoes and garden forks. Only the first 30cm of the litter is mixed with liquid IMO until a moisture content of 60% is achieved. This is achieved by sprinkling an initial 150 liters of liquid IMO.

Step 6. Starter culture. The balance of 50 liters remaining in the plastic drum is used to culture more liquid IMO following the steps explained above. The liquid IMO in the drum should not exceed six days before preparing new liquid IMO.

TEXT BOX 1: PREPARING THE IMO AND INOCULATING THE BED

Figure 65. Mr Simon Byenek demonstrates to farmers at how to prepare liquid IMO for inoculating the deep litter bed. In his hand is a bottle of solid IMO from which he scoops 20 spoonful for the mixing with 200 liters of water contained in the plastic drum.


was turned daily and allowed to ferment for eight days before the pigs were introduced into it. The piglets were transported either early in the morning or at night to minimize exhaustion and possible death. A 16m2 floor structure can hold between 10-15 three to six months old piglets. Once in the housing structure, the piglets are given multi-vitamins and were dewormed one hour before feeding.

Management of the bed. A garden fork was used to turn the bed for the entire period the pigs are in the structures. Turning the bed using a garden fork helped in burying waste and loosening the bed to encourage the pigs

to root. This practice reduces fly populations and odor in the structure which is one of the benefits of the technology. It is advisable to turn the litter at least twice a week. IMO is sprinkled each time the bed is turned (Fig 6). Adding the solution to the bedding once a week ensures a high level of micro-organism activity which will keep the bedding healthy and free from smell.

Feeding and disease control of the pigs. Plastic feed troughs are used to feed the pigs. The pigs were fed 4% of their weight daily and were weighed every seven days so that the feed is adjusted. The feeds were given in two equal parts: one half in the morning (9am) and the other half in the evening (5pm). It consisted of commercial feed composed of maize bran mixed with silver fish, blood meal, cotton seed cake and salt. The commercial feed were supplemented with grass and crop residues.

Benefits of IMOs. Micro-organisms decompose and convert complex organic materials such as dead plants and animals tissues, excreta and other organic materials into simple organic compounds such as organic manure, anti-biotic substances, enzymes and lactic acids

which suppress diseases and worms and promote environmental hygiene - no smell, no flies, no run-off

Performance of piglets under Fermented Bed TechnologySurvival of piglets. To monitor the performance of introduced piglets under fermented bed technology, members of innovation centers were trained on how to capture data, such as daily amount of feed given to the pigs, weekly gain in weight, disease occurrence and resulting mortality. Table 38 gives a synopsis of survival

of the piglets at different innovation farms and farming systems. Survival of the piglets under the FBT was excellent in all the innovation farms. Only 3 out of 60 piglets supplied in the first round died. Even then, these three were from two farms, the rest of the farms did not lose any piglets. No postmortem was carried out to determine the cause of deaths of the pigs, but the host farmers reported that the pigs lost appetite and died after a few hours.

Growth of piglets. The growth performance of piglets from innovations farm of St Kizito Farmers’ Group in Kakooge Sub County Nakasekke district in 20014 is shown in Figure 66. Generally the piglets began to accumulate weight gains rapidly until when record taking stopped (12 weeks later) At this time, the pigs were too heavy for the farmers to weigh conveniently. further, weight gains became more rapid as the piglets grew older.

Big differences in rate of weight gain were observed among the piglets; and it varied from 1-7 kg per week depending on the piglet. Male piglet KGE 10K put on fastest weight gains and the rate of growth were highest, putting on average 3-4 kg but sometimes up to 7kg of

Table 38. Piglets introduced to different host farmers in farming systems in Nakasongola and Nakaseke districts, 2014District Farming system. Host farmer No. of Piglets Deaths Nakaseke Mixed Nalumansi F 10 0

Mixed Senfuma GW 10 01 (female)Nakasongola Crop Kimuli Dan 10 02 (female)

Crop Tusubira 10 0Pastoral Kyambadde 10 0Mixed Kwerigira S 10 0


weight per week. The other remaining piglets (all females) had different rates of weight gains but KGE 05K, 07K and 09K grew much more slowly and weight gains were least.

Similar results were obtained at Kyabutaika village, Kakooge-Naksongola District (Fig 67), where the male piglet outperformed the rest and was followed by female piglets KGE01C and KGE 04C. Differences in rate of weight gains among the piglets were big. Piglets KGE06C KGE08C and KGE 05C registered the least growth rates.

Performance of the piglets in Lwampanga, and Nabiswera district are shown in Figures 68 and Figure 69 respectively. As with the piglets in Nakasekke districts, rapid increases in weight gains were observed among other piglets in Nakasongola district and differences between them were great. The male piglet NGA 01 registered fastest weight gains throughout the trial period and was followed closely by NGA03 and NGA 09. They were putting on 4-6 kg of weight per week at times. Apart from NGA 01, which is male, variations between the other piglets were less marked except for GGA 02

which performed poorest. Results at Kwavula in Nabiswera sub-county, (Figure 69), were similar. However, growth of the male piglet N 10 was astronomical especially as it grew bigger. The piglet put on 3, 5 and 10 kg per week from 9 -10, 10-11 and 11-12 weeks respectively. This rate of weight gain continued throughout and was followed by piglets N 02, and N 03 which also continued to put on astronomical weight gains especially in their 11-12 weeks of feeding when they put on 7-9 kg of weight during that period. Piglets N08 and N 09 performed the least.

The huge rate of weight gain at Lwampanga was a result of good feeding management. This rate of weight gain also indicates the high potential which could be achieved with adequate feeding management practices. These results show the huge potential in piggery production using the fermented bed technology. It emphasized the need for good breed, appropriate feeding regime and management practices. Performance of piglets in Bugaala Women Group, Kapeeka sub-country in Nakasekke District, were monitored over a period of 5

Figure 66:


weeks in 2014 and results are shown in Fig 70. As for the other areas, the rate of weight gains varied among the piglets and differences were marked. The male piglet KPK10G continued to grow faster than its female counterparts and was consistently registered 3-5 kg weight increase per week 2-5 weeks from intervention. This was closely followed by piglet KPK 08G which managed to put on 2-7 kg per week after second week. Similar weight

gains were observed among the rest although little differences were detected among them. In all the piglets, initial weight gains were slight in the first two weeks and in some cases weight losses were registered especially for piglets KPK 06G and KPK 09G. This loss in weight were quickly recovered and by third week all piglets had regained their weights and continued to put on more.

Figure 68:

Figure 67:


The rapid increase in weight gains of pigs at all the pilot centers demonstrate the superiority of the breed, the technologies and management practices used compared to traditional breeds, and practices. It also showed that under good management practices, piglets reared using this technologies are capable of putting on 5-7kgs of pork per week, resulting in huge gains in profit and time. The data also show that male piglets put on more rapid weight gains than

their female counterparts; suggesting that for commercial pork production, farmers should specialize in rearing male piglets instead of females, which are more suitable for breeding. The huge differences in weight gains were due to competition for feed as the bigger and more energetic ones tended to eat more compared to small ones. This results show that to even out differences in weight gains, it might be better to separate the piglets according to

Figure 69:

Figure 70:


similar sizes before feeding them.Main Challenges faced by communities in piggery production. The main challenges faced by communities in piggery production are:1. Worm infestation was high in Kakooge

especially at the center hosted by Kimuli Dan where vegetable/grass forms the major diet.

2. In two of 6 centers, three piglets were lost due to unreliable or rather weak veterinary extension system and inability of the farmers to handle emergencies especially when it comes to animal health issues due to lack of capital

3. Feeding is a major challenge due to high costs of commercial feeds. During interaction with the different groups, members suggested that since corn is the major energy source, they could grind whole corn, supplemented with dry sliced potato chips (Kasedde) or dry cassava chips (Biwogo) and then add other ingredients to meet the pigs’ nutritional requirements for enhanced growth. This suggestion will be investigated as part of year three activities.

4. Scattered populations still hinders mobility and communication within the group members. This has been one of the issues raised in all the groups as a factor that sometimes renders the group members inefficient. This subsequently affected the management of and functioning of the

fermented bed system5. Considering the group composition,

majority of them are women, weight recording was close to impossible due to the heavy weights of the pigs.

Other technical and logistical challenges are summarized in Fig 71. These include high costs of feeds and other inputs, inadequate advisory services for farmers, and cultural and religious hindrances.

3.2.2.2. Climate smart poultry production innovations. Introduction.

Uganda produces 36.2 million chicken (UBOS, 2010). The local breeds make up 80% of this population. In the cattle corridor, every household has at least one cock and two hens. The chicken are reared in a free range system where the birds are released in the morning to scavenge for their feed. In the evening, they return to sleep either in their housing structure, on trees, or in the same house with the children or the owner. Birds raised in a free range system produce few small sized eggs, succumb to diseases such as Newcastle disease, Coccidiosis, Fowl typhoid. Sometimes a farmer or a village can lose all the birds at one go. In addition, the birds easily fall prey to predators that eat mature chickens, chicks or eggs.

To address the above challenges and enable communities engage in profitable chicken farming, the project introduced and piloted Kroiler chicken (superior breed from India) in two innovation centers in Nakasongola and Nakasekke districts; one each per district as indicated in table 39.

The Kroiler chicken breed was introduced in Uganda in 2009 to meet nutritional and economic needs of an average family. Kroiler is a hybrid chicken suitable for village environment. It is dual purpose providing both meat and eggs. It is phenotypically similar to local indigenous chickens - making them appropriate for both free range and indoor production system. A Kroiler hen lays 200 eggs compared to 40 eggs laid by a local hen in a year. Males weigh over 3kg compared to less

Figure 71. Main technical and logistical challenges faced by faced by farmers hosting the innovations centers, Nakasongola and Nakasekke districts, 2014.


than 2.0 kg per local cocks. Kroiler chicken can co-exist with the local chicken and are known to be tolerant to diseases.

Training of community members on Kroiler chicken production. Introduction of the Kroiler chickens were decided on during the identification of suitable enterprises by communities in the livelihood profiling exercise. The community was asked to identify a suitable host farmer whose dedication would lead to instant success. The members of this center were taught how to establish a housing unit operating under a fermented bed technology system and the appropriate sustainable methods of feeding chicken without wasting feed. Further, they were trained on how to manage the system so as to minimize disease outbreaks and manage

those that occurred (Fig 72).

The project linked the farmers to a veterinary officer from whom they would get technical help in times of emergency; and also facilitated the animal production specialist to routinely monitor the birds. During these monitoring

visit, the birds were vaccinated, given multi-vitamins and treated for any disease signs. The farmers were linked to a source of reliable commercial feed and sometimes helped with transport means to deliver the feed.

Introduction and management of Kroiler chicken using fermented bed technology. Each group was given 100 one-month old Kroiler chicken to rear using Fermented Bed Technology system, as described already for the piggery. There were some modifications in the technology to suit rearing of Kroiler chicken. Instead of using maize stalk/ or coffee husks, the entire bedding material is made from rice or sawdust. The bedding material is made of twelve bags of sawdust, 100 kilograms of compost soil mixed with 5 kilograms of lime, 7 kilograms of table salt, and 120 kilograms of charcoal dregs.

The farmers were trained how to prepare liquid IMO and how to apply it on the bedding for the FBT and to turn it frequently for seven days before the chicken is introduced. They were also taught how to vaccinate the birds against Newcastle, Fowl Typhoid and Bumboro disease (Fig 72); and on how to manage the deep

Figure 72. Putting knowledge to practice. These pastoral women farmers practice how to vaccine their chickens against new castle disease at Serunjogi innovation centre in Nabiswera Sub County, Nakasongola district.

Table 39: Kroiler chicken innovations centers in Nakasongola and Nakasekke districts, 2014District Sub-county Farming

systemInnovation Center Number of Birds

Given SurvivedNakasongola Nabiswera Pastoral Serunjogi S 100 65Nakaseke Kapeeka Mixed Nalukwago R 100 75

Figure 73. Three month old Kroiler chicken in a modified FBT system at Serunjogi innovation centre in Nabiswera Sub County, Nakasongola district.


litter system and how to ensure sanitation and hygiene at the center.

Performance of the Kroiler chicken in fermented bed technology system. Survival and growth of the chicken were outstanding. Out of the 100 chicks provided to each group only 25 and 15 in Serunjogi and Nalukwago innovation centers died of Newcastle disease and fowl typhoid diseases respectively. Growth and egg production were impressive. On average each hen laid 0.85 egg per day on maturity and cocks were 2.5 -3kg. The birds also matured 50% earlier than the local chicken (Fig 73).

3.2.2.3. Integrated climate smart banana management innovationsBanana is the main stable food for the communities particularly in the southern and northern parts of the project area. The crop has suffered serious decline due to pests and diseases, declining soil fertility, and poor crop husbandry practices. The most common planting material is suckers from older plantations and more often this is heavily infested with weevils, nematodes and bacterial wilt disease. Intercropping with coffee is common and very few homesteads practice improved bananas management practices including agroforestry, soil fertility improvement and conservation.

To improve the production and management of bananas, the project established two pilot banana innovations centers to demonstrate the superiority of climate smart banana innovations based on improved tissue culture plantlets, agroforestry and integrated soil fertility and moisture management practices and conservation farming. The centers were located at Nalumansi and Kayongo innovations centers in Kapeeka Sub County in Nakaseke district. The project purchased and delivered tissue culture banana plantlets to each of the centers (Fig 85). Each center was established with 400 tissue culture plantlets of banana varieties Mpologoma (160), Nakitembe (100), Musakala (58), and Kisansa (122).

Land preparation and planting. Land was prepared according to the recommended practices. The herbicide Roundup was applied

to kill off weeds before planting. Planting holes were dug to a depth of 3x3ft wide and the plantlets were spaced 12ft apart. Twenty (20) kgs of farm yard manure was applied to each planting hole. The plantlets were planted one week after farm yard manure was applied in the planting holes. One week after the banana plantlets were established, groundnuts and field beans (non-creeping varieties) were introduced as cover crop. A half the plot was planted with each cover crop. The beans were planted using a recommended spacing of 50cm x 15cm between and within row at a depth of 7cm. Each planting holes was given 2 bottle top covers of Di-Ammonium Phosphate (DAP) fertilizer at the time of planting. The groundnuts were established on the other half of the plot. They were planted at a spacing of 25cmx15cm between rows and 1 within rows

at the same depth as that for the beans. Coffee seedlings were also scattered within the plot.

Establishing agroforestry trees. Three multipurpose agroforestry tree species were introduced in each plot at both centers. The tree species were; Ficus natalensis locally called mutuba (bark cloth tree), Grevillea robusta and Albizia chinensis. The Ficus and Albizia were scattered in the plot while Grevillea was planted in lines along the boundary and within the plot. The distance from each tree is 5m.

Figure 74. AfrII project staff deliver good quality, disease free tissue culture banana plantlets to pilot Namirember Innovations center in Namirembe Village, Semuto Sub County, Nakaseke district.


These multipurpose trees will provide shade for the coffee and bananas; provide fuel wood and strengthen the soil around their roots and conserve moisture. Routine maintenance of the demonstrations are being carried out by the farmers.

3.2.2.4. Integrated climate smart tomato production innovationsTomato variety. Tomato production innovations was hosted by Mr Nalukwago in Kapeeka sub county, Nakasekke district. The funding for each stage of this enterprise was done on a 50% co-funding mechanism between farmers and the project. The project purchased 1 kg seed of improved hybrid variety Asira preferred by the community. The farmers chose this variety because of its high yields (approximately 60t/ha), long shelf life after harvesting (making it appropriate for transportation to the market over long distances); hard fruit skin which makes it resistant to borers, and tolerance to late blight.

Seedling nursery. A flat polythene tubing technology was used to pot the plants. Planting was done in March 2014. One seed was planted directly in each polythene pot containing soil mixed with farm yard manure. The seeded pots were placed under a grass thatched 1mX10m shades and watered lightly until germination, about 7 days later. Traditionally farmers broadcast the seeds in a nursery bed and transplant them directly to the garden, a practice that stresses the seedlings, results in high mortality and reduces yields.

Transplanting and management. This was done to the field at a recommended spacing of 100cm X 50cm, immediately after the onset of first rains. Transplanting was done in the evening and only vigorously growing seedlings were transplanted. One handful of chicken manure was put in each seedling hole at the time of planting. The plants were top dressed with inorganic fertilizer - Calcium Ammonium Nitrate (CAN) four weeks after planting. Every plant received one teaspoon of the fertilizer. Heavy mulching with grass was done to control weeds and conserve moisture. The farmers were advised and trained to prune regularly and stake the tomatoes beginning one and a half months after planting (Fig 75). The advantages of pruning and staking were

clearly explained to them. They were trained on regular irrigation using watering cans whenever there was signs of moisture stress.

Disease and pest control. The farmers were trained how to identify and control common tomato diseases such as early and late blight, Septoria leaf spot and bacterial spot. They were also trained on the different classes of fungicides and how to use them and safety measures to follow. To control blight, the project contributed 50% co-funding for the purchase of Di-thane M-45 (Mancozeb 80%WP) broad spectrum contact fungicide. The fungicide was sprayed twice a week and was alternated with Victory 72WP (Metalaxyl 8% + Mancozeb 72%WP) and NIMROD (250g/L Bupirimate) in order to prevent the development of fungicide resistance by the pathogens. They were advised to harvest the fruits seven days after the application of the fungicides. The farmers were also trained to identify, control and eradicate common pests such as; American ballworm, Tobacco whitefly and red spider mites using ROCKET (Profenos 40% + Cypermethrin 4%), Dimethoate 400g/L and Dursban insecticides to control grasshoppers, red spider mites and American bollworms respectively.

3.2.2.5. Integrated cassava value chain innovations Cassava is the most important crop in the two districts in the cattle corridor because of

Figure 75. Members of the tomato farmers of Kirema village, Semuto Sub County learn how to stake and prune tomatoes.


its drought tolerance abilities. The crop has however come under severe attacks from diseases, the most devastating being brown streak and mosaic virus diseases. All the varieties grown are susceptible to brown streak and communities have little solution. The project intervened by introducing integrated innovations for improving value chain performance. The innovations introduced are integrated control of cassava mosaic and brown streak diseases using resistant or tolerant varieties, phyto-sanitation (clean planting materials and roguing), integrated crop management, post-harvest processing to produce high quality cassava flour (HQCF) and chips (HQCC), strengthening community processing groups and linking HQCF producers to markets.

Two innovations centers, one in Kabasombwa village in Kwembi parish and the other in Kikaraganya village in Kisalizi parish in Lwampanga Sub County, Nakasongola

district. The project supplied each platform with healthy cuttings of mosaic resistant and brown streak tolerant new variety NASE 14 to establish one hectare of seed multiplication for the community. The multiplication was used to demonstrate good seedbed preparation, care and management of planting materials, recommended spacing, weed management, intercropping, crop and disease management, among others. The crops were planted in September 2014 and germination were excellent.

Demonstrations on post-harvest management and processing took advantage of cassava processing facility located in Kisaalizi parish, which was established by the District Local Government but has been abandoned. The project collaborated with CAVA, another AfrII project implemented in the area. Through this arrangement the processing center was

rehabilitated, and used to train members and other farmers on how to process cassava into HQCF. The members of the farmer group were mentored to process HQCF and were linked to WindWood Millers Ltd where they could sell their HQCF and HQCC.

3.2.2.6. Mobilizing local savings and borrowing for investments Introduction. Following urgent need for funds to sustain the enterprises, the groups were advised to mobilize savings from members and pool it into a local savings and credit scheme from which members can borrow in times of need. Twerinde Embeera Y’obudde Farmers’ Group in Kapeeka sub-county was the first to buy this idea and other groups followed subsequently. The project engaged an expert on microcredits to train the groups on setting up and managing a savings and credit scheme normally referred to as Savings and Credit Co-operative Organizations (SACCO). Several trainings and mentoring support were provided

to the groups at their innovation centres. Date and number of participants trained on savings and credit mobilization is summarized in Table 40.

This training was responding to the group’s perception that they did not have enough money to sustain their innovation/learning centres and to replicate the centre’s innovations in the individual members’ farm households.

In a participatory manner, the group was guided to recall the co-operative movement in Uganda in the 1960s and 1970s when most of Uganda export commodities were transacted through the cooperative chain. The group was also helped to understand the categories of cooperatives, and the history of the cooperative movement in Uganda. The rise and decline of the traditional cooperative

Table 40: Date and number of participants trained on savings and credit mobilization Date Sub County village No. trained Total

Male Female4th – 8th Aug Kapeeka Bugaala 5 25 3018th – 22nd Aug Kapeeka Bukeeka 4 26 30

Total 9 51 60


commodity marketing, which gave rise to the emergence of other co-operative enterprises, notably the Savings and Credit Co-operative Organizations (SACCOs) were also discussed.

The training comprised of the following topics: (1) historical perspectives of the cooperative movement in Uganda (2) the meaning and range of Cooperatives, (3) mandate and the legal framework: the Cooperative Societies ACT 1991 and Regulations 1992, (4) leadership, benefits and common challenges in SACCOs, and (5) mobilization of savings and (6) modalities for borrowing from the savings.

Other areas discussed included: capacity building in good governance, participation in furthering their common objectives and goal, developing and implementing a strategic plan and work plan, to take advantage of funding from government and other resource mobilization strategies. At the same time, the members were able to recall the past co-operative legacy which was characterized with corruption in the management of cooperatives. They therefore resolved to form a SACCO and actively mobilize resources from members. By the end of September 2014, three SACCOs had been formed and were operating, the most advanced being that by Twerinde Embeera Y’obudde Farmers’ Group. Further training and mentoring support will continue to be extended to existing ones and new SACCOs supported to operate. Training is particularly needed in the areas of cooperative law, leadership, transparency and accountability, marketing and information management.

3.2.3. Monitoring and Evaluation of the InterventionsIn January and February 2014, the project introduced interventions to secure the livelihoods of communities against the impact of climate change in Nakasongola and Nakasekke districts in the cattle corridor of Uganda. The interventions are climate smart (1) piggery production (2) poultry production, (both through fermented bed technology); (3) tomato production innovations (4) banana production innovations (5) credit and savings scheme (6) capacity development. The project periodically monitored and evaluated

the progress, impact and challenges of the interventions. The objective of the evaluation was to determine if project beneficiaries especially members of the innovation centers had started appreciating the interventions,

were learning and adopting the practices, and the challenges and opportunities they were facing.

3.2.3.1. Climate smart piggery intervention. 3.2.3.1.1. Appreciation of the FBT technology.

The first monitoring was from the 9th to 11th July 2014, and covered all the innovation centers implemented the project (Fig 76). According to Florence Nanyonga, a member of “Basooka Kwavula” Farmer Group in Nabiswera Sub County, they have focused their energy to ensuring adequate feeding of the pigs as instructed by the project. They have noticed the fast growth exhibited by the pigs and believe they will fetch faster and higher returns of investment than some of their colleagues who are still using the traditional methods of pig husbandry.

Some members even promised to abandon the practice of burning charcoal because the modern piggery technology is low cost, require low technical input and does not require traveling long distances to sustain the animals. “All that the animals need is crop residue and

Figure 76. The Project team talks to members of Kiwendi Farmer’s Group, Lwampanga Sub County Nakasongola district. Mr Simon Byenek AfrII (standing) interviews members of the group on their experiences.


left-over food”, said one of the members of the group. On a social note, the members reported that because everyone is assigned roles in the management of the piggery, learning is faster among the communities. The assignment of roles ensures that members contribute to the project while at the same time have time to attend to their respective domestic chores.

Mr. Fredrick Ssemwanga, the Chairperson of “Kiwendi Farmer’s Group” in Lwampanga sub-county praised the technology for reducing the incidence of flies in the community. He said, “The technology has brought us a clean environment with fewer flies and a new breed of pigs.” The host farmer, Mr. Kwerigira Stephen says that he now has a better use for the cassava leaves after harvesting. The leaves were previously left to dry and rot in the garden. He sees a money making opportunity for cassava growers once the technology is adopted in the Sub County as the farmers will sell their cassava leaves to farmers rearing pigs (Fig78).

Ruth Nalukwago, a committee member of the Kapeeka Farmer’s Group noted that keeping the pigs in a closed environment is a long term strategy to ensure their safety. “We have learned that it is safer to rear pigs in a closed setting. All around us the community has been losing pigs to swine fever but ours are still alive because they were never exposed to the sickness at any point.” Further monitoring and evaluation were done in September and November, 2014.

3.3.3.1.2. Challenges faced by farmers.

In Nabiswera Sub County the challenges faced by the farmers piloting the technology were:

1. Pigs jumping out of the sty. In this center, it was reported that the pigs jumped out of the pit but remain within the housing unit.

A close scrutiny of the housing structure shows that the members made adjustments on the original plan recommended to them. They raised the walls of the house to the one meter as required but then they put a wooden perimeter 30cm away from the wall. The pigs consequently jumped out of the pit onto this soil area. Once in this area, the pigs started to

burrow in the ground in an attempt to leave the structure. The members were advised to reduce the amount of rice husks used to make the bed and reduce the distance between the pit and wooden perimeter.

2.A cold sty. A thorough turning of the bed revealed that the cold was a result of inadequate and inconsistent application of IMO to the bed. The quantities were not adequate enough to cause a raise in temperature up to 60oC. This showed a clear need for more training in the technology. The farmers were advised to increase the amounts of IMO being sprinkled to 80 liters per day for three

consistent days while turning the litter. This cause the microorganisms to rapidly multiply and raise the temperature in the litter. At the end of the evaluation exercise, sometime was set aside to emphasize the need to regulate the amount of water poured in the pig sty. They were told that the cold sty was not providing enough heat for the animals especially in the night. To build the temperature, the farmers were asked to increase the amount of rice husks in the bedding so that the surplus could absorb the excess water.

3. Late feeding of feeds. Although each household was assigned a day to feed the animals, it was found out that some members

Figure 78. The Chairman of AfrII, Prof. G.W Otim-Nape (left), chats with Mr. Kwerigira Stephen, the host farmer of the piggery innovation center in Lwampanga Sub County in July 2014.


report late in the morning for feeding the pigs. This was because of the long distance between homesteads in this Sub-County. It also depended on the season. The majority of households first engaged in working in their crop fields before reporting to feed the pigs. This is understandable given the unpredictable rainfall pattern experienced in the area. The project emphasized the importance of following the feeding schedule since it contributed to how much weight a pig was gaining. The group resolved that the host farmer is given the responsibility of feeding in the morning while the other members would feed in the afternoon.

4. Limited money for feeds. Many members of the group do not have ready money to replenish the feed. They said they have a savings scheme to where they contribute money and therefore it was difficult to commit to the scheme and also send money for feeds. The farmers resolved to collect their crop residues, such as cassava and potato peelings, and send to the host farmers to feed the pigs. They would eventually buy the commercial feed when money was available, say after the sale of farm produce.

The farmers were advised to increase the number of feeding troughs to balance the feeding and ensure that at least a ratio of 1

trough to 3 pigs was achieved. Members of the center were requested to change feeding time of pigs from 11am to 9am. This was meant to reduce stress on the pigs since they feed actively in cooler temperatures.

5. Weighing is a challenge. The members reported that weighing the pigs was difficult especially when they grew bigger and the weighing scale were inadequate (Fig79). Further big animals were difficult to weigh especially by women. The male is heavy and difficult to weigh. Since the pigs were getting heavier, the animal production specialist advised them to give daily feed of 4Kgs served in two

5. Split applications. This is the feed given to a pig which has reached market weight.The farmers were introduced and taught the girth method of weighing mature pigs. The project procured a record book to capture information such as weekly weight on individual pigs, amount of feed given, diseases and pest incidences, and a daily cash book. The record book also indicate how the feed was split between the morning and evening schedules. Better weighing scales were provided to the members.

Purpose of being in groups. In a general discussions with the groups, it was clear that the motivation for members to join the group were to learn a new way of rearing pigs so as to improve the wellbeing of women in society; and to forge stronger unity of group members. Individual members felt that they would become wealthier and provide for their family by joining the group. They felt that through being in groups they can complement one another and boost the members in society who can’t work alone and make wealth as a group. The group said they planned to attain their goals through commitment, hard work, unity and sharing common interests and faith. Some of the groups have been in existence since 2006 and were matured.

Care of the pigs and interaction with the Local Governments. They have a rotation of 4 members per day for all the activities including turning litter, weighing pigs, preparation and actual feeding pigs. There was some interest in the center’s activities by

Figure 89. Members of Basooka Kwavula Womens’ Group in Nakasongola District learning how to take measurements of the growth of the pigs. Being weighed is a piglet in the polythene bag. Looking on in white shirt is Professor G.W Otim-Nape, Chairman of AfrII.


officials from NAADS, and other members of the district and sub county local governments who had expressed interest in taking over and continuing with the project interventions once the project ended. The members main concerns were raising funds to match the 50%-50% contributions to the project as required by the project because their incomes were low. They were also concerned about market for the pigs. To address these concerns the project introduced a village savings and credit scheme through which members would make savings and contribute small amount of money monthly. This scheme has kicked off among many groups with much enthusiasms. They were assured that the project will link them to markets once their pigs and other produce were ready and so they should not worry about market. They were informed that Quality Cuts Ltd, a pork commercial company in Kampala was ready to buy any amount of pork they produce. Representative of the Company was introduced to them.

Learning from the project and areas of capacity needs. Since the introduction of the piggery project, members of the community have learnt a lot. They now know how to rear pigs in a closed setting using the fermented bed technology; they know the importance of feeding them on time and the right feed and amount; they appreciates the fact that the technology cleans the environment (no stench and flies) and their attitude to pig rearing has changed positively compared to before when they used to think that piggery was a dirty occupation.

Members of Kiwendi Farmer’s Society, Lwampanga Sub County, Nakasongola district emphasized that they have greatly appreciated the following aspects of the FBT: 1. Superiority of the technology. The group is

fascinated by the fast growth exhibited by the pigs when they are cared for properly.

2. Disease free environment created. They appreciated the fact that using IMO created a disease free environment. This was supported by revelation that pigs in the neighborhood died while the ones at the center were not attacked at all.

3. A low technology system. The farmers noticed the simple requirements needed

to maintain the system. It required regular sprinkling of IMO, turning the litter and weighing the pigs once a week to determine their growth and feed requirements.

4. Time saving way of rearing pigs. The recommended split serving of equal feed in the morning and evening created time for other activities between the feeding times. This attribute was particularly advantageous for the women. There was no need to fetch water from far to clean the house.

However, they still need further capacity building on management of the fermented bed technology; adapting feed to available local feed resources as opposed to relying on commercial feeds which are very expensive, and are far away.

Similarly, at the Kapeeka Innovation Centers, Nakasekke District, the members admitted that their perceptions on pig farming has completely changed compared to before the project started. The group previously thought that rearing pigs is dirty business characterized by a foul smell and high fly populations. They also thought that pigs eat all the time and that cassava was their only food. They did not know that the weight of a pig determined the amount of food it ate. The confessed the project has changed their opinion on these matters and that they now want to specialize on piggery production using the FBT technology introduced to them.

Further, the group agreed that the project was relevant to their needs although acquiring commercial feed is expensive. The project also presents them with the opportunity to pool resources as a group and members can use new knowledge to expand individual projects in order to make money. They plan to set up one piggery unit for each member of the innovation center. They propose a system where each member will have an opportunity to receive a pregnant sow from the center and return it to the center for serving after weaning, six to eight weeks after littering. This will be done until all members have got pigs.

Benefits of the project to the community. There has been increased unity among the women. They have learned that the profits will


come after a while of work, and the feeds are expensive so there is need to adapt to local feed resources to reduce costs and increase profits earnings. They look at the project as a way to: reduce the impact of charcoal burning on the environment; increase finances of women; bring about less dependence on climate and seasonal changes for their survival; will reduce tree felling and promote cleanliness in the community, among others.

The members of the groups consistently pointed out that the project has helped them adapt to climate change in key areas as follows:

1. More knowledge and skills. The farmers said they have gained more knowledge and skills to better adapt to the impacts of climate change. The now know the causes of climate change and how to avert its negative impact on their lives. For instance, they now know climate smart piggery production, using fermented bed technology, irrespective of climate risks; and are diversifying their livelihood enterprises as a cushion to climate risks.

2. Preserving the environment. The farmers said that the low tech nature of the technology requires a small area to practice it and is very much environment friendly. This therefore means that one does not have to clear more land to rear more pigs. Further, the pig droppings are automatically decomposed into manure and therefore does not emit bad gases to the environment. They also said that they will use the resulting compost manure from the deep litter to grow vegetables and other crops, thus killing two birds with one stone.

They therefore plan to continue with the business as a way of averting the impact of climate change on their livelihoods. They also plan on continued reliance on commercial feeds for their pigs since this enables pigs to gain tremendous weight when fed commercial feeds. However, they will supplement the commercial feed with local feed resources. They have identified local shrubs, vegetables and crops that can grow throughout the year and can be fed to the pigs. They also plan to include left overs of human food for the pigs. The members said they will take full advantage of the nearby borehole to meet the daily water needs of the pigs.

The group wants to learn how to prepare commercial feed. Most of the ingredients such as cotton seed cake, silver fish and sea shells are easily got where they are. This will reduce the cost of transporting the feed from Kampala. Further, the group expressed interest in accessing simple micro irrigation equipment and other mechanized agricultural practices. They members of Kiwendi Farmer’s Society plan to tap water from Lake Kyoga and use it for production. They also want to learn how to identify symptoms and manage diseases attacking their crops and animals such as cassava and sweet potatoes and cattle, goats and chicken. The project plans to address these in year three of the project.

3.2.3.2. Climate smart poultry innovations - Kroiler chickenAppreciation of the Kroiler chickens technology: The project introduced improved poultry breed – the Kroiler chicken, and a set of management technologies (fermented bed technology, improved feeding and disease control), to both men and women farmers’ groups in the two districts, as described in 3.1. Management and performance of the chicken at Nalukwago Innovation center in Kapeeka Sub County was excellent. The group sold their chicken after six months and replenish the second stock. They also bought a heifer with parts of the proceeds from the sale of chicken. Challenges at Ntalo Stephen innovation center, Nakasongola district.

The second poultry innovation center was hosted by Mr. Ntalo Stephen. According to the members of this group, they liked the technologies, the new management practices. All members attended three trainings in the technologies and management of fermented bed technology, and contributed local materials for the construction of the chicken house. However, because of conflicting labour demands, members hired labour to assist in excavation of the 1 meter pit, and construction of the piggery house. Further, in February 2014 - the peak of the dry season when water for their animals was scarce, project staff had to camp and intervene at the centers for up to three days to ensure completion of the work. The work to be done were:


excavation, construction and fermenting the bed. Even after direct project intervention, challenges continued to emerge two months after the introduction of the Kroiler chicken. Many members left and the host farmer was eventually left to manage the center with the help of his family and a few other members.

Why members lost interest.Discussions with the members revealed that culture, group dynamics and inadequate appreciation of the technology were the causes of loss of interest. The area is predominantly pastoralists who depend entirely on cattle. Introduction of modern chicken farming was a major departure from their norms and culture, despite their initial enthusiasm at the technology.

Modified chicken management practices. According to the testimony of host farmer’s spouse, her husband was feeding the chicken alone despite existence of the group. Without consistent and adequate money to buy commercial feeds from either Kampala or Luwero, the family adopted a hybrid system of rearing the chicken. The chicken were released to scavenge in the morning, and early part of the afternoon and herded to the house later in the afternoon when they would be given commercial feed. This cycle continued until the chickens were ready for sale at six months. The family planned to fence off an acre around the chicken house, expand the enterprise and recruit youth colleagues into Kroiler chicken farming.

The host farmer said that he managed to rear the chicken with the help of his children who had attended the training. The family believes that since the farmers’ group was newly created, the dynamics of group management were weak and couldn’t sustain the maintenance of the project. The group was a combination of men and women so when meetings were called the women didn’t attend, yet they are the ones who usually did the work.

The group’s understanding of why they came together in the first place. According to one of the female members, the group belittled the Kroiler business because they were more accustomed to herding cattle, so they weren’t keen to learn how to rear Kroiler chicken.

This was despite the fact that the group had chosen to rear Kroiler chicken as a livelihoods enterprise in the dry season when the weather was dry, and cattle had shortages of water and pasture.

The major challenges faced by the group and host family were:

Lack of readily available bedding material. The group said it was easy to get dry grass at the time of construction since most homesteads are surrounded by grass. The challenge however was in accessing twelve bags of saw dust. There is only one saw mill in the Sub County and the demand for the saw dust is high, stretching as far as Kampala. This exercise of acquiring the saw dust was expensive in terms of purchase and delivery to the center.

Preparing and sustaining the IMO. The group was trained how to prepare a solution of IMO and sustain it, but they kept ignoring the procedures. The IMO kept dying, requiring them to purchase more from Kampala. This turned out to be expensive in terms of purchasing and transporting it. There were times when the group/family could not afford to replace the IMO. The bed thus took some time without being fermented. This led to a drop in temperature and emergence of diseases and pests like fleas. Some of the chicken died during this time. Since the community is largely a pastoral one, it was not easy to get maize bran to mix in the preparation of liquid IMO. It had to be procured from Luwero town, 100kms away.

The host farmer’s way forward. The host farmer has embarked on rearing a hybrid of local chicken crossed with Kroiler chicken using fermented technology. He says local chicken is more popular than Kroiler chicken and that it will take time to popularize pure Kroiler chicken. The farmer intend to construct another structure in order to increase on the volume of the enterprise. The host farmer’s children intend to recruit youth for a cooperative training in order to nurture 16 individual youth entrepreneurs in the Sub County and to market their chicken as a youth cooperative. At the time of selling the first stock of Kroiler chicken, the farmer selected


Kroiler cocks which would be used to breed the next generation of high quality hybrid of Kroiler birds crossed with local chicken.

The project’s way forward. The project has continued to providing more technical backstopping and support to members of the family, and has encouraged the boys in the family to recruit other youth colleagues in the sub county to engage in the chicken enterprise. Further, the project will further provide more trainings and mentoring support, in fermented bed technology, preparation of feed, group dynamics and marketing, to the members.

3.2.3.3. Tomato Innovation center in Semuto Sub County, Nakasekke districtDuring the M&E exercise, it was realized that the tomato farmers had made some strides in the management of the tomatoes despite challenges. Germination was above 90% and the mortality in the transplant bed was minimal. The weeding was very good and the spacing was as recommended. The challenges the group met were:

Weak group cohesion. The group started with a membership of thirty individuals but had reduced to only fifteen members. Those that left said that the activities at the center coincided with their family schedule. For instance, the

time for weeding coincided with the time they had planned to weed their individual tomato gardens or even spray them with fungicide. In their own words, they preferred to put energy in their family gardens whose benefits they had reaped than in a group scenario which had never been tested. The remaining members chose to redistribute tasks among themselves

so that activities at the center could continue. Training in group dynamics and cohesion were conducted to address this challenge.

Expensive production inputs. In the process of interacting with the farmers, they said that the money required to purchase inputs such as compost manure, fungicide (both contact and systemic) and some foliar fertilizers is high and not readily available. To ease this challenge, the project purchased 25Kgs of Dithane M45 fungicide for them and taught them how to mobilize domestic savings from the sale of the tomatoes once matured.

Un-reliable rainfall. The farmers said that the tomatoes received adequate and timely rainfall up to the first set of fruits. After that, the rain became inconsistent and this greatly affected the second and third fruiting. The lack of adequate moisture slowed the development of the fruit resulting in medium sized tomatoes. The project is conducting a feasibility study for the installation of a micro drip irrigation unit at the innovation center using water from a nearby permanent swamp.

3.2.3.4. Climate smart banana production innovationsAssessment of the performance of the bananas

was conducted to determine the survival of the different banana cultivars one month after they had been planted. The results are in indicated in Table 41.Survival of the plantlets were excellent and the number that had died were negligible at all sites. Further, the farmers had no major challenges maintaining the bananas at the innovation centers. This is probably because

Table 41 Details of banana tissue culture materials supplied and their survival at Bukeeka and Bugaala innovations centers, Kapeeka sub county, Nakasekke district, 2014

Village Variety Quantity No. dead No. survivingBukeeka Mpologoma 160 0 160

Nakitembe 100 0 100Musakala 58 02 56Kisansa 122 02 120Total 400 04 396

Bugaala Mpologoma 160 0 160Nakitembe 100 0 100Musakala 58 03 55Kisansa 122 01 121Total 400 05 395


banana is a staple crop grown in the area and most farmers are conversant with its management.

3.2.4. Capacity Building and Farmer Visits3.2.4.1. Feedback and knowledge translation workshops. Several feed forward workshops were conducted to explain to the communities the processes or mechanisms of implementing selected pilot technologies, build their capacity in relevant areas and supply training materials.The project built the capacity of farmers to rear pigs and chicken using fermented bed technology. They are conversant with the steps involved in this technology as described in detail in the.

Training material for fermented bed technology.

The project hired the services of an animal production specialist to train the farmers. Two sources of information were used to train in fermented bed technology. One was a manual titled “Manual for organic pig production; the magic of the odorless pig production.” This manual was written by two veterinary doctors from Makerere University and it was customized to suit within the way Ugandan farmers’ rear pigs. The second material was down loaded from the internet and orally translated for the benefit of the trainees. Each center got copies of the training material for future reference.

Training in fermented bed technology. Before piloting fermented bed technology, the project conducted training in the technology (Fig. 80). The first two days were

spent explaining the theory of fermented bed technology, its economic and environmental benefits. The next three days were spent doing practical work involved in the construction of the structure, preparation of liquid Indigenous Micro-Organisms (IMO) and fermenting the

bedding material. This was done in all the centers where the technology was piloted. The summary of the training is indicated in the table below 42.

To build the capacity of the group members in the Sub Counties, the project involved the Sub County Community Development Officers and National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) co-ordinators in the training sessions. These Sub County extension officers were also tasked with the duty of providing snap technical

Figure 80. Members of St. Kizito Farmers Group receiving instructions from project team on how to maintain a healthy fermented bed. Left to right: Mr Samuel Lutwama (animal production specialist), Beatrice Mukasa (Gender specialist), Prof Otim-Nape (PI) and farmers Mr and Mrs Serunjogi practice management of the fermented bed.

Table 42: Details of community members trained in Fermented Bed Technology for piggery and poultry productionDate Sub County village No. trained Total

Male Female1st – 5th April Nabiswera Kyadobo 1 30 317th – 11th April Kapeeka Bugaala 5 25 3014th – 18th April Kapeeka Bukeeka 4 26 3022nd – 26th April Kakooge Kyabutaika 3 20 2328th – 2nd May St. Kizito 5 25 305th – 9th May Lwampanga Kabasombwa 9 12 2112th -16th May Semuto 10 15 25

Total 30 153 200


backstopping. They were also instrumental in translating what is written in the manuals to vernacular. The training manuals were translated in vernacular during the training sessions for the benefit of the community.

Training in climate smart tomato production management.

There were a series of trainings conducted in February and June 2014 to build the capacity of farmers to improve the production and management of tomatoes. The modules implemented included nursery bed location and orientation, size of the nursery bed, filling pots with soil, sowing seed, tending the germination bed, sorting the seedlings, digging holes in the transplant field, transplanting seedlings, tending the transplants in the field. Potting tomato seedlings, the advantages of potting compared to bare root transplanting, agronomic management of fruited tomatoes. They also received several trainings and mentoring on how to prune, stake the fruits and criteria for the application of fungicides, foliar fertilizers and insecticides. They were also taught how to harvest and postharvest management of fruits with minimum mechanical damage.

Training in improved climate smart cassava innovations.

The farmers received training in the agronomy of cassava and disease management especially cassava brown streak disease. They were taught how choose healthy cuttings for planting; make neat cuttings; and on spacing and weeding management in cassava. In year III their capacity to harvest, process cassava

into high quality cassava flour and shall be link to growth market.

Supply of training materials.

To build the capacity of the community to engage in commercial agriculture, the project distributed the following training materials at each innovation platform (Table 43).

3.2.5. Lessons learnt that inform future work 1. Promotion of Relevant Ordinances and Laws in the Protection of the Environment.

The project has learnt that both the communities, local leaders and local Government officials are as concerned and are willing to do something about protecting the environment and mitigating the effects of climate change on livelihoods. They strongly believe that tree cutting for charcoal burning and cultivation in wetlands are key factors accelerating climate change. These practices are rampant in the two districts. The project will continue to work with the local authorities at District and Sub County levels in the initiation, promotion, reviewing and implementation of ordinances and laws which are relevant in the protection of the environment. From the reviewed literature and consultations with key informants, the following ordinances and bye-laws shall be pursued:• In Kinyogoga one of the cattle corridor Sub-

counties in Nakaseke District, a bye-law making bush burning illegal was approved by the Sub-county Council and it has been implemented since 2012.

Table 43. Details of training materials supplied to innovations centers, 2014S/N Title Author Edition No. per

center1. Aquaculture technical manual Vol. II MAAIF-NAADS 2005 22. Chicken farming in practice B.M. Kisambira 2009 23. INSIGHTS-Africa’s future, biosciences Brian Heap 2013 14. Pig production manual MAAIF-NAADS 2005 15. Manual for organic pig production Kawule Leonard K 2009 26. Living bed technology Rutherford W. and L. Cardeli 17. Grower’s guide East African Seed Co. 2002 28. Market access for beekeepers Janet Lowore 2009 19. HIV/AIDS resource guide for extension

workersNAADS/FAO 2004 1

10. Goat production manual MAAIF-NAADS 2005 211. Collective marketing manual DFID/IITA/NRI/CEDO 2004 112. Communication and facilitation skills NAADS 1st edition 2


• Nakaseke District Sanitation Ordinance was in the process of being passed and approved. Once passed, this Ordinance has provisions which prohibit households without latrine.

2. Project Sustainability through Integration with existing government funded programs.

Discussions with the officials of the district local governments of the two districts revealed great interest in continuing with the activities of the project once the project comes to an end. In order to ensure sustainability of the project activities, especially the platforms, strong linkages will be made with the existing government programmes at the district and Sub county levels, particularly the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), the Local Government Management and Service Delivery Programme through its Community Driven Development (CDD) window, and the District Livelihood Support Programme (DLSP).

3. Baseline information to monitor progress and short term impacts of the project.

The project has specifically targeted women and different wealth groups. Despite the fact that platform interventions are wealth group specific, there is still need to generate gender responsive indicators and capture some socio-economic and demographic data on the different wealth groups have benefitted from the project and how their status have changed over the project period. This way changes in the livelihood levels of the wealth groups can be assessed meaningfully. Further, the project shall be able to assess whether women empowerment in the daily management and decision making the interventions results in faster uptake of technologies.

4. Categorization of farmers into wealth groups.

The project had categorized the farmers into poor, middle and rich wealth groups. However, the social system operating in the community does not consider members according to wealth groups. Therefore our approach of grouping these people into rich, poor and middle class was seen as stigmatizing the poor and glorifying the rich. In a community system all wealth groups work together as one unit and support each other. The lesson learnt is that the project should have used other criteria

such as geographical location or administrative units to group the communities. Realizing this, the project rearranged the groups based on parish and village administrative units.

5. Farmers’ high time preference.

Farmers have high time preference, they want short term than medium or long term benefits. However, the technologies that were introduced and piloted had a medium to long term gestation period. For instance, the poultry, piggery, bananas and cassava, take six, eight, and twelve months to mature respectively, which delays the benefits the farmers expect to reap from their efforts. Therefore it is important to introduce short term enterprises along with these technologies. In the next year, the project will introduce short term crops like improved beans, vegetables, sweet potatoes as a part of its strategy to address this concern and for diversification of enterprises to cushion them against climate change impacts.Farmers’ inability to meet their co funding obligations.

At the time of piloting the climate smart technologies, the project required that the groups meet 50% co-funding between the groups and the project. The project realized that the farmers could not meet this requirement easily and on time. Consequently this was impacting negatively on timely acquisition of inputs such as feeds for poultry and pigs, fungicides for tomatoes and herbicides for bananas. As a result the project adopted a strategy to facilitate the groups to form SACCOS to mobilize local resources from members and tap resources from Local government. At the moment three groups, Kapeeka, Buggala and Bukeeka Farmers Groups have formed SACCOS and are saving and borrowing money from it.

Supplemental manual irrigation is inadequate. For the tomato farmers, the arrangement was that they would supplement natural rain by manual irrigation when the moisture is inadequate. However, manual irrigation was tedious and proved inadequate to fully cover the one acre planted with tomatoes when the area experienced a sudden drought immediately after fruits were formed. Consequently, the tomatoes yields were low


compared to what was expected. In the next year, the project shall encourage the farmers to establish their fields near a water source and will introduce either a treadle pump or micro drip irrigation system to make them independent of natural rain.

3.2.6. Challenges met and how they were dddressed 3.2.6.1. Institutional development1. Formation of farmer groups. During first series of meetings to introduce and form the innovation platform, the number of farmers interested in being part of the platform was high. In these meetings, the farmers were informed about the project objectives and how the platforms were going to operate using a 50% co-funding mechanism between the farmers and the project. To differentiate this project from previous ones, the farmers were informed that the project was not going to sustain the practice of paying transport refund to farmers as had been the practice of other projects. When the second set of meetings were organized, few people attended. These were mostly women who had chosen to look beyond the immediate benefit of receiving monetary and other material support. They chose to acquire knowledge and training that was going to be offered at the innovation platform. It is these committed members that have been able to invest their time and meagre resources to sustain activities at the innovation platforms.

To have consistent activity at the platforms, the project provided refreshments in subsequent meetings. The project also engaged host farmers to provide basic meals for members during meetings. The meals consisted of porridge with boiled cassava or maize. With time, other members started making contributions towards meals prepared by the host farmer. These interventions improved members’ participation.

2. Group dynamics. The members of the innovation platforms consisted of households whose members had participated in an IDRC funded climate change project. They had participated in the socio-economics and household surveys; attended Focus Group

Discussions; key informant interviews and participated in collection of plant samples, mosquito surveys and were trained in climate adaptation.

At the time of implementing activities at the platform, the project noticed that the groups needed to be guided to have a shared vision; they were not cohesive since they had not worked as a group before. This was exemplified in the way they were carrying out tasks. The tasks were not being done by all members and they were not being completed on time. The main challenge was group dynamics and power struggles between factions in the group. The pastoralists were suspicious of the crop farmers and the reverse was true. The women did not trust the men when it came to financial matters while others did not trust the host farmers. In addition there were issues of lack of trust and accountability to members.

In addition, there were challenges in synchronizing farmers’ individual time for own farm activities with project activities. This was because most farmers wanted to begin by doing their own farm activities before coming for project activities at the platforms. For example, it was difficult to conduct monitoring and evaluation activities during the rainy season. The farmers preferred to attend to their gardens immediately after rain in the morning and attend to project activities in the afternoon. The project reached a consensus with the farmers to handle their own activities in the morning and project activities in the afternoon. And this worked very well

In order to build their capacity to hold as a platform, the project conducted a series of trainings in group dynamics, building trust and accountability. The project adopted a transparent approach of conducting its activities. For example, meetings were always called when any materials for the center were being delivered, such as was the case when banana, cassava, chicken and piglets were being delivered. All members were required to take inventory of what was delivered and make an inventory each time they visited the platform. In addition, regular mentoring has continued to build trust, transparency and accountability among the members. The project also facilitated meetings between their


executives and the farmers.

Limited participation of men. This time round, there was limited attendance by men, especially in the pastoral communities. They preferred to attend to other farm matters than come for training. Through dialogue and involvement of Community Development Officers, the men were asked to choose days favorable for them to participate in activities at the centers. With time, the men appeared when physical strength was needed such as in the weighing of pigs.

3.2.6.2. Piloting climate smart technologiesChanging mindsets of farmers from traditional to modern methods of farming. Changing mindsets of farmers from traditional to modern methods of farming e.g. rearing pigs and poultry, growing tomatoes and bananas was a challenge. It was difficult to change the mindset of traditional farming to new innovations. For example, it was common for host farmers not to follow guidelines given for managing the technologies that were being piloted. In piggery, the host farmer used mugs to measure feed instead of the weighing scales provided to them by the project. Traditionally, the contents of a mug are considered to weigh 500gms but when the feed from the same mug was weighed, the weight was found to be 340gms. Feeding the pigs on this amount reduced the rate of weight gain. In addition, they were not following recommendations for disease control in piggery and poultry. For tomatoes, farmers took long to appreciate the value of staking and disease management practices; and instead insisted on their traditional ways. Through regular training and mentoring, the farmers appreciated the value of the recommended practices, and gradually followed them.

Scarcity of materials to make deep litter for the fermented beds. There was scarcity for materials for making deep litter system for the fermented technology. The deep litter system requires adequate amounts of dry maize stalk, wood shavings and sawdust. Maize stalk was out of season and wood shavings and sawdust could only be found in urban centers quite a distance from the farmers. The project assisted to locate and transport these materials from

urban centers to the farmers, which was un-planned for.

Mobilizing resources to buy agricultural inputs was difficult. The arrangement was that farmers would contribute some money to purchase agricultural inputs for the technologies being piloted using a 50% co-funding approach between the farmers and the project. This arrangement was sometimes difficult to implement because it was difficult to mobilize funds from the farmers whenever there was need. For example, farmers needed money at short notice to buy fungicide to control early and late blight of tomato which happens rapidly and needed quick response. Similarly, farmers needed ready money to replenish piggery and poultry feeds which was difficult to come by.

The project advised the poultry and piggery farmers to use locally available feed resources until they were ready to purchase the commercial feeds. In addition, the project supplemented the local feed with commercial feed where it was necessary. Further, with help from the host farmers, the project was able to estimate how long the feed in each center was going to last. Using this information, the project scheduled visits to this centers to coincide with the days each center needed the feed. The host farmer would then send money to the feed supplier using mobile money. The project would then meet the cost of transporting the feed. The feed was being purchased from Kampala, about 200kms away. Finally, using its relationship with an agro-input dealer in Kampala, the project was able to purchase fungicide to control tomato blight with its 50% co funds and arranged for the other 50% funds from the farmers to be paid at a later date.

3.2.7. Research to policy workshop: Addressing climate change impacts on agriculture systems in Uganda

3.2.7.1. IntroductionThere is a growing body of evidence that global climate is changing (Parry et al) and is posing major challenges to Africa where the impacts on food security and human health are of increasing concern especially to fragile regions


such as arid and semi-arid eco systems where there are high risks of systemic shocks arising from climate variability and change, poverty and environmental degradation. Uganda is experiencing an increased frequency of extreme weather events; increased temperature leading to heat stress/stroke; unusually long dry spells, increased rainfall unreliability and unpredictable rain seasons. These events have exacerbated poverty and triggered migration of livestock keepers, as well as heightened competition and conflicts over strategic water and vegetation resources.

A team of researchers from the Africa Innovations Institute, Michigan State University and Makerere University conducted investigations over a period of ten years on changes in climate and their impacts on food security, health of communities and the effectiveness of adaptation practices and strategies in Uganda particularly in the arid and semi-arid regions. The work was conducted through projects funded by the International Development Research Centre of Canada and the Rockefeller Foundation to

the Africa Innovations Institute, Uganda (IDRC and RF) and Michigan State University, USA (RF). A workshop was therefore held on 7th October 2014 to share the research findings with broader stakeholders and to inform policy and practice(Fig.81)

3.2.7.2. Purpose and objectivesThe workshop aimed to achieve the following objectives:• Create awareness and a deeper

understanding by stakeholders of the magnitude and impact of climate change in Uganda, especially in the arid and semi-arid regions as well as the coping mechanisms.

• Identify gaps in knowledge, practice and policy interventions and the way forward to effectively address the impact of climate change on food and health security in Uganda and;

• Document and disseminate workshop outputs to a wider audience.

3.2.7.3. ParticipationThe workshop was attended by 36 selected representatives of practitioners, policy makers

Figure 81. Participants at the climate change research to policy workshop


and researchers from members of government ministries and institutions; development partners; the media and the NGO community (Fig 82).

3.2.7.4. Issues coveredThe major issues covered throughout the workshop included;

1.Climate Change and its impact on livelihoods. This was achieved through presentations on: climate change trends; the nature and dynamics of climate variability in the cattle corridor and; impacts of climate change on livelihood security

2.Responses to the impact of climate change. This was discussed through presentations on: community adaptation strategies and effectiveness for resilience; possible interventions to enhance resilience and adaptive capacity and; policies and institutional interventions to enhance resilience and adaptive capacity.

3.Gaps in knowledge and limitations of adaptation approaches. This was tackled through two presentations on from working group meetings: (1) Gaps in knowledge and research direction and; (2) gaps in development interventions, technologies and approaches.

3.2.7.5. RecommendationsThrough group discussions on possible policy and institutional interventions to enhance resilience and adaptive capacity; key knowledge and technology development needs for the enhancement of resilience and adaptive capacity and; development

interventions to reduce risk and enhance adaptive capacity, participants agreed on a number of key intervention areas for various key stakeholders, as follows;

3.2.7.6. Proposed actions for agriculture stakeholders• Stakeholders need to work towards the

creation and strengthening the climate change actor’s forum in order to meet and push forward a strong climate change policy agenda through advocacy.

• The EU, as a stakeholder should follow up on the performance of the climate change forum set up by Oxfam International in order to avoid duplication of the initiative in selected areas. This should be harmonized with the actors’ forum proposed above.

• Climate change focused NGOs need to arrange for practical visits by policy makers to sites of operation in order to increase their understanding of the issues concerning the impact of climate change in communities. This shall facilitate the development of a cadre of climate change champions at the policy making level.

• AfrII should seek for data on economic laws to facilitate the identification of gaps in policy and implementation in this regard. This shall enable the climate actor’s forum to develop and establish effective interventions to resolve the issues.

• Research and other information gathered by climate change actors needs to be published in various relevant formats and disseminated to key stakeholders, especially policy makers to feed into the

Figure 82. Participants at the climate change research to policy workshop


policy making process on climate change. For instance, policy briefs, journals, and research bulletins and policy makers should be helped to access and use research findings in policy making and practice.

• Feedback workshops should be held at the district level in order to generate lead points of intervention on the issues identified in the research results.

• Research results on malaria control and HIV/AIDS from AfrII research conducted through the IDRC support would give necessary input into the government policy, and therefore the Institute should work together with relevant government bodies to start the process.

• Stakeholders should focus research efforts to mitigating the impacts of flooding on cropping, using the case study of flood recession technologies in Okavago, Zambia as a prototype for domestication of technologies in this regard.

• Further research should be made into the possible out scaling of the existing early warning system for flooding in Mt. Elgon installed by the Ministry of Disaster Preparedness.

• Climate change actors should refer to the Technologies for livestock disease as ‘Climate Smart Systems for Animal Production’ in order to boost the element of environmental and natural resource preservation.

3.2.2.7. Proposed actions for AfrII• The Africa Innovations Institute should

conduct an analysis of the state of available knowledge and technologies related to climate change in order to produce a document or methodology usable by stakeholders in the agricultural sector. The gaps identified from this analysis shall aid in streamlining policy advocacy.

• Africa Innovations Institute should spearhead the formation of a consortium of key climate change actors in order to strengthen the implementation of the interventions which have been discussed above. This should be done in partnership with the Climate Change Department in the Ministry of Water and Environment.

• Africa Innovations Institute should also strengthen its networking base in order to

access available information.• Relevant personnel should create a central

database for all research and policy information in order to ease access to all advocacy actions conducted by climate change actors.

• Furthermore, the Institute should conduct more research on the relationship between livestock and climate change, as it has not been dwelt on in required detail.

• Priority research areas for knowledge and technology generation were identified for further refinement and development of research projects along with other stakeholders.

3.3. Support to School and Community Woodlot Programme, Kole District

3.3.1. Introduction.For the past two years, the JJ and Allan & Babbette Charitable Trusts, UK have supported the School and Community Woodlot Programme in Kole District, Northern Uganda. During these periods, the project made considerable progress and reached a very critical stage when a need to produce own seedlings of clonal Eucalyptus was strongly felt. This would also make the project self-sustaining. Accordingly an extension for a further 12 months was provided to enable completion of the nursery, production and distribution of seedlings, and supervision and monitoring care of the plants at their critical stage. The estimated budget of British Pounds Sterling £22,036 was provided. This was specifically to enable stakeholder meeting, completion of construction of rooting shade, grow house, production and distribution and monitoring survival of plantlets. The report provided covered this key activities.

3.3.2. Project Goal and objectives.Goal:

Increased availability of fuel wood, poles and other agro forestry products in schools and homesteads in five sub-counties in Kole district, northern Uganda. The project aimed at increasing the availability of fuel wood, poles and other forestry


products in schools and homesteads in five sub-counties in Kole district. This year, the project established three woodlots per school, two acres of Grevillea robusta, two acres of Maesopsis emnii and two acres of Eucalyptus hybrid clones. In total, forty five (45) woodlots were established this year.

Objectives1. Establish Eucalyptus hybrid woodlot and

agroforestry plantation establishment in primary schools, churches and communities in the five sub-counties of Kole district.

2. Establish and manage central nurseries for production of Candlenut trees (Aleurites moluccana) seedlings and Eucalyptus hybrid clones in Kole district.

3. Train community in vegetative propagation of Eucalyptus hybrid clones using macro cuttings.

3.3.3. Progress on Achievement of Project ObjectiveDuring this extension period, the project implemented activities aimed at achieving objective two and three.

3.3.3.1. Stakeholder meetingThe project held a stakeholders meeting at three levels. One was with the District Education Officer and head teachers of beneficiary schools. The other stake holders meeting were at the different beneficiary schools. The project sought the buy in of parents and members of school management committees. The third stakeholders meeting were with the different farmer groups and relevant Sub County officials. These stake holder meetings were meant to communicate project objectives and activities. They were also conducted to define roles and responsibilities as shown in the table 91 below.

3.3.3.2. Establish and manage central nurseries for production Eucalyptus hybrid clones in Kole district.Cutting back of clonal hedgerows.

The hedge rows planted in 2013 were cut back in January 2014 after they attained a minimum diameter of 4-5cm and a khaki colour at the stem. The hedgerows were cut back to a height of 30cm above the ground using a

lopping shear. The cut on the stamp (ramet) was made to face the East-West direction to maximize sun rays. This was also done to ensure proper healing of the cut. As the hedges were being cut by a pair of the nursery workers, their colleague applied white water paint on the ramets being created. The water paint was applied to prevent any bacteria and

Fig. 83: Clonal seedlings production house at the AfrII clonal Eucalyptus nursery at Amuca village, Lira Municipality.

Table 44: Roles of the Communities, AfrII and Local Government in managing the platforms

Roles of Communities/schools

Roles of AfrII/project

8. Provision of land where the woodlots are to be sited

6. Provide elite planting materials and other interventions

9. Make bylaws to protect woodlots (district)

7. Provision of forest extension advice

10. Management of the wood lots

8. Contribution to management of plantation

11. Provision of labor 9. Provision of knowledge and information to the community

12. Provision of security 10. Identification of new technologies (quality varieties of plants

13. Mobilization of group members

6 Train community in vegetative propagation.


fungi from entering the ramet and to stop the loss of water from the freshly created ramet. The ramets were left to produce coppices for a period of three months before harvesting of mature coppices could begin.

Construction of production house.

While the ramets were left to grow coppices, the project shifted focus to the production house (Fig. 83) that was constructed in year two of the project. The roof was modified to support a gutter system to harvest rain water. The use of harvested water is supposed to reduce costs on pumping water from the borehole. The project also purchased nursery inputs (hoes, scissors, pruning shears, basins, buckets and spray knapsacks) and agrochemicals (fertilizers, rooting hormones and fungicides) which were stored in the production house.

Construction of rooting shade (green house)

A 25m X 10m rooting shade (Fig. 84) was constructed using metallic poles and covered

using a 50% agricultural shade net purchased from BALTON (U) limited, a leading agricultural input dealer in the country. The structure is put in place to provide shade (50% sunlight) conducive for rooting of plantlets. After the rooting shade was erected, non-misting chambers (also referred to as tunnels) (Fig. 85) were constructed using 6” X 1” timber harvested from Ficus natalensis. A total of fifty two tunnels were placed in the green house (Fig.85). A non-misting chamber essentially consists of a wooden frame, thirteen feet long, three feet wide and four inches high.

The frame is placed on a flat surface within the rooting shade, filled with ¾ inch machine crashed aggregate stones up to two inches from the bottom. Soil pots are placed on these stones. After placing the cuttings into the pots,

the entire frame is covered with a transparent polythene sheet. This generates a warm and humid condition required for rooting of the cuttings.

Production and rooting of cuttings.

Production from ramets cut back in January 2014 started in April 2014. Production was led by four workers (two females, two males) who were trained for two months at Sunset Tree Biotech in Mukono district. They also built the capacity of seven locally recruited workers.

Figure 86: Nursery workers harvesting healthy coppices from ramets in the mother garden.

Fig. 84: Rooting shade at the AfrII Clonal Eucalyptus Nursery, Amuca, Lira Municipality.

Figure 85. Non-misting chambers containing cuttings at different stages of root and shoot development.


The production processHarvesting mature coppices. This process begins with a regular inspection of the mother garden by the manager and all the workers to assess the readiness of the coppices for harvest in terms of health, colour of leaves and diameter; and determine which blocks to start the harvest process. Mature coppices (2cm-3cm diameter) are cut using pruning shears and placed in buckets containing water mixed with a fungicide (Fig. 86). The bucket containing the coppices is ferried to the production house (Fig. 87). At the production house, the coppices are carefully removed from the bucket and placed in a basin containing water mixed with fungicide and sugar. Harvesting is done between 7:00am and 11:00am. By this time, the coppice will have produced enough food to last the forty days it

will spend in the tunnel. A thin mist of water is sprayed on the coppices using a knapsack in the production house.

Making cuttings. A team of workers make cuttings from coppices brought from the mother garden. To make a cutting, a worker picks a coppice from the basin, chooses a juvenile section of the coppice and takes the cutting. A cutting consists of a pair of halved leaves and a cut made at the internode. The cutting is placed in another basin containing a sugar solution and fungicide. Once the basin

is full, it is carried to the greenhouse where cuttings are placed in pots pre-arranged in the non-misting chambers (Fig. 88).

Placing cuttings in non-misting chamber. A cutting is picked from the basin, shaken to remove excess water, then 1cm of the slanting bottom is dipped in rooting hormone (6% IndoButyric Acid). It is lifted from the rooting hormone, shaken to remove excess hormone and then dipped 2cm into a rooting substrate of the soil pot. The substrate used by the nursery is sub soil mixed with lake sand in a ratio of 2:1. As the cuttings are placed in each pot, a thin mist of water is sprayed on the halved pair of leaves to reduce transpiration. Once all the pots have each got a cutting, a 500µ transparent polythene sheet is placed over the cuttings and around the tunnel (Fig. 89). The polythene is secured on the ground by aggregate stones. This is done to ensure

Figure 87. Mr Solomon Ocen carries shoot cuttings from mother gardens to the production house in readiness for rooting procedures. Men are most suited to carry coppices from the mother garden to production house.

Figure 88. Workers making cuttings from coppices in production house.

Figure 89. Workers prepare cuttings and place them in a non-misting chamber. The chamber is then covered with a thin layer of polythene sheeting.


that humidity and temperature in the tunnel is sustained to achieve good rooting and shoot development.

Monitoring moisture levels. The tunnels are opened two days for the first seven days to monitor the amount of water in the substrate. If the water has reduced, it is topped up by spraying mist over the cuttings, allowing some water to drip onto the rooting substrate. A knapsack is used for this exercise because dripping prevents the washing off of the rooting hormone. After the first seven days, the tunnel is opened once a week and water is topped up using a watering can.

First hardening off. After thirty days in the tunnel, one side of the translucent polythene is lifted off from the tunnel (Fig. 89) to gently

acclimatize the rooted cuttings. After three days, the polythene is completely removed.

On the fortieth day, the rooted cuttings (plantlets) are removed from the greenhouse and transferred to the first holding section.

Cleaning and fertigation. The plantlets are further hardened in the first holding section for five days. In those five days, the halved pair of leaves and excess shoots are removed using a pair of scissors. One gram (1gm) of NPK (19:19:19) is placed in each pot to hasten shoot and root growth. At this stage, the plantlet has only one upright shoot and is watered twice a day (Fig. 90).

Final hardening off. After cleaning and applying granular fertilizer, the plantlet are transferred

Figure 90. Hardening of rooted cuttings fron non misting chambers after 40 days

Figure 91. Workers selecting rooted cuttings from non-misting chambers after 40 days.

Table 45. Production of seedlings of clones of Eucalyptus hybrids, Lira, 2014-2015

Years Months Eucalyptus clone typeGC 578 GC 796 GC 796/2 Total

producedTotal

rooted% rooted

2014 April 8,547 4,455 5,000 18,002 3,604 20 May 7,242 5,849 3,787 16,878 4,556 27 June 7,914 4,500 4,547 16,961 5,088 30 July 6,034 4,285 3,124 13,443 6,722 50 August 5,814 5,582 4,863 16,259 4,927 30 September 4,814 5,582 4,863 15,259 8,240 54 October 6,351 5,054 6,213 17,618 7,928 45 November 4,985 3,364 3,874 12,223 6,234 51 December 3,537 3,584 3,212 10,333 5,063 49

2015 January 2,874 3,095 4,000 9,969 6,978 70 February 2,514 2,984 3,153 8,651 5,623 65 March 2,514 3,600 1,886 8,000 5,920 74 April 19,223 18,115 25,314 62,652 21,928 35 May 21,200 18,138 25,134 64,472 20,871 32 June 18,023 12,921 16,018 46,962 21,133 45 July 10,000 10,046 10,018 30,064 18,038 60 August 13,987 12,854 14,609 41,450 28,186 68 Total 145,573 124,008 139,615 409,196 181,040


to beds constructed one meter above the ground. Once up, the plantlets are arranged by height to minimize the presence of culls. The roots are air pruned and the amount of water is reduced and done once. The plantlet is ready for the field two weeks later. The total plantlets produced at the nursery and the number survived is shown in Table 45.

Train community in vegetative propagation of Eucalyptus hybrid clones using macro cuttings. The project trained a total of two hundred and fifty farmers in Kole district (Table 46). Five members from two farmer groups in five parishes per Sub County were selected for training in vegetative propagation. Each non-residential hands on training lasted one week.

Technical back-stopping was provided by experienced workers from Sunset Tree Biotec in Mukono. The project encouraged more female participation because women were more adapted to the nature of work at the nursery. Based on the experience of workers at Sunset Tree Biotec, women were more conversant and patient with mixing soil substrates, potting, harvesting, making cuttings and placing them in non-misting chambers. Basically, women are more suited in using scissors than the males. The role of men is mostly to do heavy work. The following aspects of vegetative nursery propagation were handled.

Soil substrate preparation. The trainees were taught how to mix appropriate sub soil-lake sand substrate to achieve proper root initiation and development. They were taught how to excavate the soil and what depth to start the excavation. They were also shown how to roast the lake sand and what proportions of sub soil should be mixed with lake sand. After preparing the sub soil sand substrate, the trainees were taught how to put the substrate in three inch lay flat polythene tubing cut to a length of three inches.

Harvesting mature coppices. This is the most crucial stage in rooting a cutting. The trainees were shown what a mature coppice is and how it is clipped off a ramet using s pruning shear. They were taught how to handle the shear and which side to use when making a cut. They were advised what time to harvest the coppices

Making cuttings in production house. The trainees were taught what criteria to follow when choosing the right section of the coppice to make a cut. They were taught how to feel for ridges along the coppice and only take cuttings from the section of the coppice where the ridges were beginning to disappear or disappeared completely. They were shown what quantities of fungicide to add to water in a basin and the advantages of including sugar in the basins. A simple explanation was offered for halving the pair of leaves left on a cutting. They were told that it was to strike a balance between photosynthesis and transpiration.

Placing cuttings in non-misting chambers. If handled poorly, this stage can ruin production of any nursery. The trainees were cautioned about the consequences of applying too much rooting hormone at the bottom of each cutting. They were advised to avoid spilling powder on the leaves since this would scotch the cutting resulting in no rooting at all. They were taught up to what depth to place the cutting in the pot. They participated in the covering of the cuttings in the tunnel using a white transparent polythene sheeting. Each farmer group was given an opportunity to harvest coppices enough for two non-misting chambers. Each non-misting chamber contains one thousand five hundred cuttings. The trainees were advised to go back to the

Table 46. Number of farmers trained in vegetative propagation of Eucalyptus hybrid clones using macro cuttings.

Sub County

No. of farmer groups

Male Female Total

Aboke 10 10 40 50

Alito 10 8 42 50

Akalo 10 12 38 50

Ayer 10 8 42 50

Bala 10 10 40 50

Total 50 48 202 250


nursery and get an update of how the cuttings in each tunnel rooted.

The cuttings harvested by the farmer groups at Aboke Sub County rooted least. Members of these farmer groups came for the training when the ramets were still producing coppices of a diameter between 5cm -8cm. It takes a very experienced person to make the right cutting from such a coppice. The group from Bala Sub County on the other hand attended the training when the ramets had been repeatedly harvested and the coppice diameters were reducing to the standard 3-4cm. Each farmer group was given their rooted cuttings to take home and establish a wood lot.

Other relevant training. Apart from being trained in production, the trainees were taught how to:Establish and maintain a mother garden. The trainees were taught what spacing to use while establishing hedgerows in mother gardens and how weed the hedges without causing physical damage. They were also show how to routinely apply granular fertilizer on a quarterly basis. They were told to apply NPK, DAP and UREA alternately in the mother garden. They were also taught how to cut back the hedges to produce ramets.

Maintain cuttings in non-misting chambers. Using tunnels produced by nursery workers, the trainees were taught how to determine moisture in the chambers and how to restore and maintain it. They were taught how to prepare and apply foliar fertilizer on the cuttings in the non-misting chambers. The trainees participated in transfer of rooted cuttings from the non-misting chambers to the first holding section.

Maintain tools. The nursery uses sharp tools such as scissors and pruning shears to make cuttings and coppices. If poorly maintained, they will damage the ramets and make poor cuttings resulting in poor production and rooting respectively. To avoid such consequences, the trainees were taught how to clean scissors and sharpen and store pruning shears after each days’ operation. They were also taught how to operate and maintain a spray knapsack. Apply granular fertilizer to plantlet. Again, using plantlets produced by the nursery, the trainees were taught how to carefully apply granular fertilizer to each potted plantlet.

3.3.3.3. Project sustainabilityIt is planned that once the nursery is fully functioning, it will operate both as an income generating and educational enterprise. It will employ a competent manager who will use a business plan to ensure that the enterprise brings returns on investment. The income so generated will be ploughed back to sustain its operations.

3.3.3.4. Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E)The project conducted joint monitoring exercises between project staff, head teachers and chairpersons of farmer groups to assess the survival and performance of wood lots established in secondary schools and homesteads.

3.3.3.5. ChallengesThe project met the following challenges during implementation of activities

Impassable roads. Kole district is comprised of many swamps used to demarcate boundaries of its

Table 47. Summary of rooting for each farmer group.

Sub County Month of training No. of cuttings No. rooted % rooting

Aboke June 2014 6,000 2,009 33.5

Alito September 2014 6,000 4,281 71.4

Akalo December 2014 6,000 3,119 52

Ayer March 2015 6,000 3,522 58.7

Bala July 2015 6,000 4,764 79.4

Total 30,000 17,695 59


Sub Counties. During the rainy season, the roads are impassable. This affected the distribution of plantlets to some schools such as those found in Alito and some parts of Aboke. As a result some schools planted in the middle of the rainy season.

Termites. Most schools reported that termites had attacked plants in the garden and the situation worsened in the dry season. The project advised them to dig a trench two feet wide and two feet deep around the entire plantation. This trench prevented the movement of termites into the woodlot

Tethering of goats and cows. In some communities, it was reported that some individuals tie their animals to the young trees thus damaging the bark. This stunted the growth of the trees. The project sought the help of Sub County officials to enact bylaws prohibiting the tethering of animals to the trees.

Poor initial rooting of cuttings. As seen in table 2 above, the rooting of cuttings got from the first coppices is poor. This is because they look mature and yet they are still young.

Inconsistent rooting hormone concentrations. The available rooting hormone on the market is 6%, 8% and 10% IBA. The challenge is that the 10% IBA was not readily got and yet it produced better rooting than the other two concentrations.


4 Administration

Figure 92. Oraganizational Chart for Africa Innovations Institute as at December 2014

4.1. Organogram of the Africa Innovations Institute

1. Mr David O. Oleke Obong, President Permanent Secretary, Minister of Water and Environment, Kampala, Uganda 2. Mr Laurence Cockcroft, Member The Gatsby Charitable Foundation, London, UK.

3. Dr Roger Kirkby, Member, Former Director, Regional Office for Africa, CIAT Kampala, Uganda

4. Mr Gerald Dominic Abila, Member Executive Director, BareFoot Law Inc. Kampala, Uganda

5. Dr Fina Opio, Member Executive Director, ASARECA, Entebbe, Uganda

6. Prof. G. William Otim-Nape, (Ex officio) Chairman Management Committee /CEO, Africa Innovations Institute, P. O. Box 34981, Kampala, Uganda

7. Professor Joseph Okello-Onen, (RIP) Africa Innovations Institute, Africa Innovations Institute, P. O. Box 34981, Kampala, Uganda

4.2. Current Members of AfrII Governing Council


4.3. Current Staff Name and Programme Title Location

Management

Prof. George W. Otim-Nape (BSc Agric., MSc Agric., PhD. FUNAS)

Chairman/CEO Secretariat

Ms. Prosscovia Amuge (BBA, MBA, ACCA II) Head of Finance and Administration

Secretariat

Ms. Acola Barbara (BBA, ACCA III) Senior Accountant Secretariat

Ms. Ngole Judith (BBA, DBA) Finance Officer Secretariat

Ms. Mugyenyi Barbara (BA - Dev. Studies) Executive Administrator Secretariat

Ms. Edela Miriam (Dip Secretarial Studies) Assistant Administrator Kumi Office

Ms. Nancy Nandudu (B. Mass Com.) Information and Public Relations Executive

Secretariat

Ms. Lekuru Christine Office Attendant Secretariat

Mr. John Oloya Office attendant Luwero

Mr. Omoding Jimmy Driver Secretariat

Mr David Male Driver Secretariat

Mr. John Wanyama Driver Secretariat

Mr. Saatya Henry Driver Kumi Office

Mr. Ocheger John Michael Security guard Kumi Office

Value Chains Development

Mr. Alacho Francis (BSc. Agric, MSc Agric.) Principal Agronomist/ Programme Manager,

Secretariat

Mr Geresom Okecho (BA, MSc. Agric. Ec.), Economist/ME &L Specialist

Mrs. Gloria Onika Okello (MSc. Agric. Dev.; BSc Agric, PGD (Cooperatives and Rural Dev);

Business Development Specialist

Secretariat

Mr Tony Ijala – (BSc. Agric., MSc Agric.) Zonal Manager, Eastern and Northern Uganda

Kumi Office

Ms Audrey Akullu (LLB, MBA, PG. DIP- Forex Trade & Investments)

Business Development Specialist

Secretariat

Mr Awio Thomas (BSc Agric., MSc Agric.) Agronomist

Mr. Samuel Baker Ogwang (BSc Agric. Eng) Agricultural Engineer Kumi Office

Ms Grace Asere (BA, PgD Gender in Dev.) Gender Officer Secretariat

Juliet Nanyonga (BSc Food Technology, PGD Food Sc.)

Food Scientist Kumi Office

Climate Change Programme

Prof. Joseph Okello-Onen (BSc, MSc, PhD) Director, Programme Manager, Secretariat

Prof Chris Rubaire-Akiiki (BVM, MVM, PhD) Veterinary Parasitologist/ Livelihoods Specialist

Secretariat

Ms Beatrice Mukasa (BA, MA - Gender studies) Gender Specialist Secretariat


Mr Alex Nimusiima (BA, MA) Climate Scientist (PhD Student) Secretariat

Ms Maurine Maynaja BVM, MVM) PhD Student Secretariat

Mr Gilbert Habaasa (B.Sc, MStat) Climate Scientist Secretariat

Mr. Ogwal Simon Byenek (BSc. Forestry) Field Manager Secretariat

Agricultural and Environmental Sustainability

Dr Julius Okwadi (BSc Agric, MSc Ag. Ec., PhD) Social Economist/ Country Director

Secretariat

Dr. Peter O. Alele (B.Sc. Forestry, M.Sc. Natural Resources, Ph.D., Ecology)

Senior Ecologist/Biophysical Technical Manager

Secretariat

Tusiime Felly Mugizi (BSc. Hons., MSc. Botany) Senior Botanist Secretariat

Atai Bennadette (BA Educ, MSc.Env&NRM, Cert Landscape Genomics)

Biophysical Scientist Secretariat

Kwesiga Stephen (BSc., MSc, PGD (M&E) Biophysical Scientist Secretariat

Kizza Joel (B.DVS) Socioeconomic Technician Secretariat

Akodoi Caroline (B.A Tourism), Certificate in GIS), Socio-economic Technician Secretariat

Mr Patrick Opio BBA Administrative Assistant Secretariat

Agriculture for Improved Nutrition1

Dr Joweria Namboze (B Sc. Nutrition, MSc Agric, PhD - Nutrition

Nutritionist Secretariat

Ms Catherine Ndagire (BSc. Food Science, MSc. Applied Nutrition)

PhD Student (Human Nutrition) Secretariat

1 Other staff drawn from other agricultural programmes


55.1. Income and expenditureThe financial report for the year under review is summarized in Tables 7.1-7.3. Total income for the institute during the year 2014 was US$ 1,104,406 compared to USD 770,000 in 2013. Expenditures for the same period was USD 819,839.

5.2. Growth in income and expenditure: 2008-2014

This is summarized in the Fig. 102 and Fig. 103 below. Since inception, AfrII has continued to see a rapid growth in funding by development partners. This is associated with the growth in expenditure and the volume of projects it implements. Income increased from USD 761,000 in 2013 to USD 1,104,000 in 2014. Similarly, expenditure increased from USD 700,00 in 2013 to USD 819,839 in 2014. The increases in income and expenditure were due

to expansion in the number of projects and their associated activities. The organizations who provided funds for the implementation of different project activities reported here are (in alphabetical order):

1. Ashden Trust-UK through the Kole tree project

2. Chinese Government through the AgriTT Project

3. Conservation International through the Vital Signs project

4. Department for International Development (DFID), UK through the AgriTT Project

5. European Union through the Cassava GMarkets project

6. Michigan State University USA (MSU)

7. Rockefeller Foundation, USA through

Financial Report 2014

Figure 93. Figure 94.


the Securing Livelihoods against climate change project

8. START Secretariat, The Global Change Systems for Analysis, Research and Training, USA

9. The Afric Center for Economic Transformation (ACET) for cassava, sorghum and millet study

10. The Alan & Babette Sainsbury Charitable Fund, UK through the Kole tree project

11. The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA)

12. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USA, through the CAVA, ATONU and the Vital Signs projects

13. The European Union/Africa Caribean and Pacific Programme (EU/ACP) through the ACP Root Crops project

14. The Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) through EACIDS project

15. The Food and Natural Resource Policy Analysis Network (FANRPAN) – The ATONU PROJECT

16. The Government of Uganda through various programmes.

17. The International Development Research Centre (IDRC), Canada through Climate Change Adaptation project

18. The JJ Charitable Trust, UK through the Kole tree project


6 Audit Report 2014

Africa Innovations Institute: Annual Audit Report and Financial Statements for the Year Ended 31 December 2014.

REPORT TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF AFRICA INNOVATIONS INSTITUTE FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31ST DECEMBER 2014We have audited the financial statements of Africa Innovations Institute set out on pages 6 to 14 which comprise the statement of financial position, the statement of operations, and the statement of Cash flows for the year then ended, and a summary of significant accounting policies and explanatory notes.

Respective responsibilities of Management and auditorsThe Management is responsible for the preparation and fair presentation of these financial statements in accordance with the International Financial Reporting Standards and the requirements of the Ugandan Companies Act. This responsibility includes designing, implementing and maintaining internal controls relevant to the preparation and fair presentation of financial statements that are free from material misstatement, whether due to fraud or error, selecting and applying appropriate accounting policies; and making accounting estimates that are reasonable in the circumstances.

Auditor’s responsibilityOur responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements based on our audit in accordance with the International Standards on Auditing. Those standards require that we comply with ethical requirements and plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance whether the financial statements are free from material misstatement.

An audit involves performing procedures to obtain audit evidence about the amounts

and disclosures in the financial statements. The procedures selected depend on the auditor’s judgment, including assessment of risks of material misstatement of the financial statements, whether due to fraud or error. In making those risk assessments, the auditor considers internal controls relevant to the company’s preparation and fair presentation of the financial statements in order to design audit procedures that are appropriate in the circumstances, but not for the purposes of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the company’s internal control. An audit also includes evaluating the appropriateness of accounting policies used and the reasonableness of accounting estimates made by the Management, as well as evaluating the overall presentation of financial statements. We believe that the evidence we have obtained is sufficient and appropriate to provide a basis of our opinion.

Opinion In our opinion, the accompanying financial statements, give a true and fair view of the state of financial affairs of Africa Innovations Institute as at 31st December 2014 and of its financial performance and cash flows for the year then ended and comply with the Company’s Act and the International Financial Reporting Standards.

Certified Public Accountants, Kampala Mr Joseph Richard Oita 21st October 2016


7.1. STATEMENT OF FINANCIAL POSITION AS AT 31 DECEM BER 20142014 2013

Note UGX UGX

AssetsCurrent AssetsTrade & other receivables 10.6 6,550,000 7,650,000

Work in Progress 16,444,000 -

Cash and bank balance 955,271,598 461,689,332

Total Current Assets 978,265,598 469,339,332

Fixed Assets

Property plant & equipment 10.9 222,671,858 71,466,316

Total Assets 1,200,937,455 540,805,648

Liabilities and Net Assets

Current Liabilities

Trade & other Payables 10.5 1,649,000 32,711,000

Accrued Expenses - -

Total Current Liabilities 1,649,000 32,711,000

Non-Current Liabilities

Long Term Debt - -

Accrued Gratuity Expense - -

Total Non-current liabilities - -

Total Liabilities 1,649,000 32,711,000

Net AssetsUnrestricted 8.0 1,199,288,455 508,094,648

Total Net Assets 1,199,288,455 508,094,648

Total Liabilities and Net Assets 1,200,937,455 540,805,648

The financial statements were approved by the Board of Directors and signed on its behalf by;

Chairman………………………….............…..... Board Secretary ………………………….........................…

7 Financial Statements


7.2. STATEMENT OF OPERATIONS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2014

2014 2013Income Notes UGX UGX

Donor Grant Funds -C:AVA 10.1 72,126,159 576,709,270 Donor Grant Funds -IDRC 43,393,896 134,555,024 Donor Grant Funds- TREE 99,157,500 100,922,892 Donor Grant Funds - G Markets 290,016,880 - Donor Grant- ACET 86,425,000 - Donor Grant - ASARECA NRI 209,138,679 134,975,175 Donor Grant-CAVA FUNNAB 713,646,620 - Donor Grant-CSS 174,213,490 - Donor Grant- MSU 5,052,050 - Donor Grant- ATONU PROJECT 235,884,087 - Donor Grant FUND- AGRTT 57,024,000 - AGRTT PPD PROJECT 55,216,280 - Donor Grant- VITAL SIGNS 443,619,800 - Donor Grant Fund - Rockefeller - 576,300,000 Donor Grant Fund - START - 45,050,000 Donor Grant Fund - ACET - 52,679,970 Donor Grant Funds - EC/ACP - 65,498,100 Total Income 2,484,914,441 1,686,690,431

Operating ExpensesStaff Costs 10.7 885,188,416 234,112,500 Programme & Admin expenses 10.8 959,450,244 1,409,338,052 Total Operating Expense 1,844,638,659 1,643,450,552 Operating (Income) Loss 640,275,781 43,239,879

Other Income Gain (Loss)Foreign Exchange gain (Loss) - (4,125,000)Interest Received 65,350 107,385 Bank interest earned 18,422,675 - Other non-operating income 32,430,000 23,641,500

Total other Income 50,918,025 19,623,885 Excess of revenue over expenses 691,193,807 62,863,764

The accounting policies and notes to the financial statements from pages 10 to 14 form an integral part to these financial statements.


7.3. STATEMENT OF CHANGES IN NET ASSETS AS AT 31 DECEMBER 2014Unrestricted Restricted Total

UGX UGX UGXNet assets, 1 January 2013 445,230,884 - 445,230,884 Surplus for the year 62,863,764 - 62,863,764 Released from restriction to purchase capital asset - - - Change in net assets 62,863,764 - 62,863,764 Net assets 31 December 2013 508,094,648 - 508,094,648 Excess of revenue over expenditure 691,193,807 - 691,193,807 Released from restriction to purchase capital asset - - - Changes in net assets 691,193,807 - 691,193,807 Net assets 30 December 2014 1,199,288,455 - 1,199,288,455

The accounting policies and notes to the financial statements from pages 10 to 14 form an integral part to these financial statements.


8 ReferencesAfrII 2009, A market value chain analysis for cassava in Uganda, Africa Innovations Institute, Kampala 2010

AfrII 2012, Cassava Market and Value Chain Analysis: Uganda Case Study, Kampala 2012

AfrII 2013. Annual Report 2013, Africa Innovations Institute, Kampala. Annual report 2013

AfrII 2013, CAVA 2 Investment study: Uganda case study, July 2013, Africa Innovations Institute, Kampala

AfrII, 2013. Securing livelihoods in the cattle corridor of Uganda: A narrative report on detailed progress made in achieving year 1 project milestones and deliverables for the period October 1, 2012 – September 30, 2013, Grant No 2012 CSD 210, Africa Innovation Institute, Kampala, Uganda, 9th November, 2013, 91pp

Alex Nimusiima, C.P.K.Basalirwa, M. Mwanjalolo, W.Otim-Nape and J.Okello-Onen, S.Ogwal-Byenek, C.Rubaire-Akiiki, and J.Konde-Lule 2013. Nature and Dynamics of Climate Variability in the Uganda Cattle Corridor. African Journal of Environment Science and Technology, 7(8):770-782

Amsalu Nebiyu* and Essubalew Getachew, Processing for cyanide detoxification, Soaking and drying of cassava roots reduced cyanogenic potential of three cassava varieties at Jimma, Southwest Ethiopia, Department of Horticulture and Plant sciences, Jimma University, Ethiopia. 15 September, 2011

Best R. (1979) Cassava Drying. Cali, Colombia: Centro International de Agricultura Tropical. p. 24

C:AVA Uganda Annual Progress report 2014

C:AVA Uganda market study report 2012

Caitlyn Chappell & Sarah Lebel, Solar Drying Shed for Cassava in Malawi Design 3 BREE 495, Department of Bioresource Engineering, 21111 Lakeshore Road, Ste-Anne - De-Bellevue, H9X3V9, Quebec, Canada, 2009

COMESA. (2009). Staple Food Trade in the COMESA Region: The Need for a Regional Approach to Stimulate Agricultural Growth and Enhance Food Security. Twenty Fourth Meeting of the Trade and Customs Committee, Nairobi, Kenya, 2-4 November, 2009.

Curran C. L. and Trim, D. S. (1982). Comparative study of solar and sun drying of fish. Paper presented at IPFC Workshop on Dried Production and Storage.

MAAIF 2010: Development Strategy and Investment plan

Eliçin, A. K.and Saçilik, K. (2005). An experimental study for solar tunnel drying of apple. Ankara University Faculty of Agriculture Journal of Agricultural Sciences 11, 207-211.

Farhat, A., Kooli, S., Kerkeni, C., Maalej, M., Fadhel, A. and Belghith, A. (2004). Validation of a pepper drying model in a polyethylene tunnel greenhouse. International Journal of Thermal Sciences 43, 53-58.

Hellena 2012. Costs and profitability of processing HQCF using sun drying technology in Uganda, C:AVA Annual review 2012.

FAO 2013, Code of practice for the reduction of hydrocyanic and (HCN) in cassava and cassava products (CACA/RCP-73-2013. FAO of the United Nations. Rome 14 pp.


Mastekbayeva, G. A., Chandika, P. B., Augustus, L. and Kumar, S. (1999). Experimental studies on a hybrid dryer. Paper presented at the ISES Solar World Congress. Israel, 4-9 July 1999.

Sanni, L. O., Onadipe-Phorbee, O. and Alenkhe, E. B. (2012). Low-Cost Sustainable Cassava Drying Technologies in West Africa.IITA/CFC-WA Project Report. pp 28.

Thanh N.C., Muttamara S. and Lohani B.N. (1978) Drying techniques for the improvement of tapioca chips in Thailand. Thai J. Agric Sci 11 (1), 45-55.

Tonui K.S., Mutai E.B.K, Mutuli D.A, Mbuge D.O. and Too K.V. (2014). Design and Evaluation of Solar Grain Dryer with a Back-up Heater. Department of Environmental and Biosystems Engineering, University of Nairobi.

Uganda National Bureau of Standards, Production and handling of fresh cassava – Code of practice, 2012

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