Sharing knowledge for improved nutrition and involvement of the school-going children in nutrition-sensitive agriculture.

28/06/2019

Kampala, 28th June 2019. As follow up to regional activities, a national level knowledge sharing session for LC5 chairpersons of 19 beneficiary districts of the Uganda Multi-sectoral Food Security and Nutrition Project has been held in Kampala today. The meeting which was officially opened by Hon. Christopher Kibanzanga the State Minister for Agriculture and closed by Hon. Tom Butime the Minister for Local Government was designed to:
1. share project progress in each one of the districts
2. facilitate discussions on how to scale up the project across the country

Above: District Coordination teams, LC5 Chairpersons and Project Staff in a Group photograph with Hon. Christopher Kibanzanga the State Minister for Agriculture on the sidelines of the Knowledge sharing event of the Uganda Multi-Sectoral Security and Nutrition Project in Kampala.

The Uganda Multi-sectoral Food Security and Nutrition Project (UMFSNP) is implemented, over a period of five years, by the Government of Uganda (GoU) through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF) working in a multi-sectoral collaboration with the Ministry of Health (MoH) and the Ministry of Education, Science Technology and Sports (MoESTS). MAAIF is the lead implementer of the Project and working in close collaboration with MoESTS, MoH, and selected District Local Governments (DLGs).

Above: The project Coordination team handing over branded materials to Hon. Tom Butime the Minister for Local Government who officially closed the LC5 Chairpersons’ Knowledge Sharing event.

The project supports activities in rural districts of Uganda and the primary beneficiaries are:

(a) Pregnant and lactating women and children under two (2) years in all participating districts delivering enhanced community-based nutrition services.

(b) All household members of Lead Farmers (LFs) and Parents Groups (PGs) participating in nutrition promoting activities with catchment areas of selected primary schools.

In total, the project directly benefits about 1.14 million primary beneficiaries, expected to be mainly from smallholder farming families. Secondary beneficiaries which include primary school teachers and school children; VHTs; agriculture, education, and health line ministry extension workers (at central, district, and sub county levels); and District Nutrition Coordinating Committees.

Notes for editors

About the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF)

The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries is a Ministry in the Government of Uganda charged with creating an enabling environment in the Agricultural Sector.

The Ministry formulates, reviews and implement national policies, plans, strategies, regulations and standards and enforce laws, regulations and standards along the value chain of crops, livestock and fisheries.

Vision: A competitive, profitable and sustainable agricultural sector.

Mission: To transform subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.

Strategic Objectives

  • To initiate the formulation and review of the policy and legal framework for the sector
  • To establish and implement systems for service provision in the sector
  • To strengthen and implement strategies, regulatory framework, standards, institutional structures and infrastructure for quality assurance and increased quantities of agricultural products to access and sustain local, regional and export markets
  • To design and implement sustainable capacity building programmes for stakeholders in the agricultural sector through training, re-tooling, infrastructure, provision of logistics and ICT
  • To develop strategies for sustainable food security
  • To develop appropriate agricultural technologies for improved agricultural production, productivity and value addition through research
  • To develop effective collaborative mechanisms with affiliated institutions and
  • To take lead and establish a system and institutional framework for agricultural data collection, analyses, storage and dissemination to stakeholders including Uganda Bureau of Statistics.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) is made up of four Directorates including the Directorate of Crop Resources, Directorate of Animal Resources, Directorate of Agricultural Extension Services and the Directorate of Fisheries Resources each with Departments, Divisions and Partnership Projects.

The Departments of the Ministry which do not fall directly in the above include the Department of Agricultural Planning and Development, the Human Resource Department, the Department of Finance and Administration and the Department of Agricultural Infrastructure, Mechanisation and Water for Agricultural Production.

The Ministry is also made up of seven Agencies including the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), Cotton Development Organisation (CDO), Dairy Development Authority (DDA), Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) and Coordinating Office for the Control of Trypanosomiasis in Uganda (COCTU) and the National Animal Genetic Resources Centre and Databank (NAGRC&DB).