The Ministry for Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries [MAAIF] has noted a general lack of adequate technical staff required at mainly sub-county level to guide on the successful implementation of the Uganda Climate Smart Agricultural Transformation Project [UCSATP].
UCSATP is a six-year initiative championed by this ministry with an aim of enhancing agricultural productivity, market access, and resilience to climate change impacts across 69 districts, including refugee-hosting communities.
In total, the project is being implemented in 69 districts under four value chain sub-sectors which include Crop, Livestock, Beneficial insects and Fisheries. The crop value chain is being implemented in 715 sub-counties wherein; coffee emerged as the leading commodity, followed by soybean and cocoa.
As for the Livestock Value Chain, 476 sub-counties, were selected prioritizing dairy (287) and beef (189) production while for Beneficial Insects, 717 sub-counties focused on apiculture and black soldier fly production were selected. The ministry also reports that on Fisheries, 162 sub-counties were designated for aquaculture and capture fisheries.
According to the UCSATP National Project Coordinator/Commissioner Eng. Boniface Okanya, the ministry held workshops in which a total of 8,147 stakeholders from the 69 targeted districts participated. Those who participated included politicians, technical staff and community members with the discussions centering on value chain selection, implementation strategies and stakeholder roles.
“From the discussions, inadequate staffing came out prominently. Significant gaps in key technical positions such as District Entomology Officers, Fisheries Officers, and Agricultural Engineers, particularly at the sub-county level were highlighted. This limits technical support for project implementation” he noted in a report indicating the progress on the comprehensive roll-out of this miraculous project.
According to Okanya, staffing levels for district Entomology officer[s] stands at 50%, District Fisheries officer[s] at 70%, District Agriculture Engineer at 71%, District Environmental Health officer at 77% while District Engineer stands at 85%. Others are District Veterinary Officer at 88%, District Agricultural Officer 86%, District Forestry Officer 89%, District Production Officer 91%, District Commercial Officer 92%, District Labor Officer 95%, District Community Development Officer 95% and District Environment Officer 97%.
“Four critical staff are required at sub-county level for effective implementation of the project. These include the sub-county veterinary officers, sub-county crop extension officers, sub-county fisheries extension officers and sub-county entomology extension officers. The average number of sub-counties in the 67 districts is 16 with some districts having as low as 7 sub-counties and another having as high as 42 sub-counties” Okanya explained.
Besides inadequate staffing, there is also insufficient latest information on production capacities, making it challenging to set realistic targets and monitor progress effectively.
Other areas of concern include weak environmental and social safeguards at the district level which he said poses risks to sustainable project implementation.
Another challenge was on selection of Value chains where he noted regional disparities in preferred value chains, with demands for additional crops such as cassava, poultry, vegetables, and coffee in specific districts particularly in Elgon, Teso, Bukedi, West Nile.
According to Okanya, who is the real brain behind UCSATP, in Teso for example, they asked for cassava and poultry to be added on their initial selected value chains of dairy, beef, mangoes, citrus and fisheries while in West Nile, they asked for coffee and cocoa to be added on their preferred value chains which included beef, soybean, mangoes and fisheries. The same goes to Elgon whose value chain was only coffee and dairy but they requested for fisheries, vegetables and beef to be added on their menu.
In Karamoja where beef, sorghum, cassava, soybean and fisheries had been selected, they asked for maize, sesame and groundnuts to be added on them while in Lango, they also asked for coffee and cocoa on top of the original menu comprising soybean, fisheries, mangoes, citrus and beef.
In Bukedi, besides Mangoes, citrus, fish and dairy, they also asked for coffee and cocoa value chains to be added while in Kigezi besides dairy, coffee and fisheries, they also asked for potatoes to be added.
“There are also infrastructure gaps. Districts reported inadequate facilities including laboratories, animal holding grounds and weather stations, with many existing structures in poor condition” he said.
He said the stakeholder engagement highlighted the need for flexibility in sub-county selection, enhanced local capacity building, and alignment of value chains with regional potential.
The engagement also noted that collaboration between districts, communities, and implementing agencies is a critical factor for the success of this project.
Eng. Okanya outlined the key challenges including insufficient recent data on production capacities, logistical issues due to high participant turnout, overlapping schedules, and limited appreciation for environmental and social safeguards. Additionally, some sub-regions advocated for diversifying value chains, such as incorporating cassava, poultry, and vegetables.
Okanya said that arising from the challenges highlighted, there is need for baseline surveys to be conducted to address data gaps on production capacities, Flexibility in Value Chain Selection, Capacity Building to strengthen training for district staff, extension workers, and communities on climate-smart practices and group dynamics.
Other area of emphasis is improved coordination.
