Uganda

Some 86% of the population in Uganda live in rural areas and earn their living from subsistence agriculture. Yet despite Uganda's fertile soil, favourable weather and growing economy, over half the population do not have sufficient access to food and live in abject poverty.

Farms average 1.3 hectares, which is not enough to support cattle, so many farmers keep goats instead. However, local breeds have only short periods for producing milk and have a low milk yield, so they don’t provide much sustenance for households.

Our projects

FARM-Africa is reducing poverty by helping rural Ugandans to develop livelihoods that are well suited to their local environment and don’t damage natural resource supplies. On a broader level we empower rural communities so that they are able to play an active role in shaping the policies that affect their lives.

The Katine Community Partnerships Project

The Katine Community Partnerships Project

Working together with the Guardian News and Media, and Barclays we are improving the lives of at least 25,000 people living in 66 villages in Katine sub-county, Soroti district.

Helping communities prosper from dairy goats

Training and Advisory Unit (TAU)

The TAU is providing support to the Mount Elgon Dairy Goat Breeders Association which was formed as part of a previous goat breeding project, and training Community Animal Health Workers in western Kenya as part of a project there.

FARM-Africa has been working in Uganda since 2003.  We currently carry out the majority of our work from our project office in Mbale.

The Uganda Training and Advisory Unit (TAU) focuses on sharing FARM-Africa’s knowledge, expertise and models of good-practice with communities across the region.  For example the TAU is currently playing a pivotal role in providing Community Animal Health Worker (CAHW) training in Vihiga district, western Kenya as part of our Community Livelihoods Empowerment Project .  They are also providing advice on the implementation of the Dairy Goat Model in the area.

FARM-Africa’s Maendeleo Agricultural Technology Fund (MATF) is very active in Uganda. MATF helps small-scale farmers improve their production by adopting new technologies such as new seeds or new techniques for farming. We also help farmers connect to markets so they can achieve good prices for their products. This helps transform farmers from subsistence level to farming as a business.

FARM-Africa is also the technical advisor to the livelihoods element of the Katine Community Partnerships Project.

Facts about Uganda

  • Size: 197,058,000 sq km (93,104 sq miles)
  • Population: 29 million
  • Percentage of people relying on small-scale agriculture: 80%
  • Percentage of people living below the international poverty line: 31%
  • Human Development Index ranking: 154 out of 177
  • Percentage of people aged 15-49 living with HIV/AIDS: 6.4%
  • Life expectancy: 50 years

Our three year plan

Over the next few years we will be scaling-up some of the most successful MATF projects to date.  This will involve taking the most successful innovations in areas such as cassava production, chicken rearing, rice cultivation and sorghum brewing and sharing them on a much wider scale. Please click here for more information.