Sasakawa builds sustainable food systems

Commercial community based facilitators provide regenerative and nutrition sensitive agricultural practices to smallholder farmers

Kampala, Uganda | IAN KATUSIIME | Farmers in Kibuku, Kamuli, Moroto, Kamwenge, Luweero are registering improved livelihoods thanks to Sasakawa Africa Association (SAA), an NGO that works to develop sustainable and resilient food systems with agricultural extension services in the country. SAA was established in 1986 and supports smallholder farmers in Uganda, Ethiopia, Mali and Nigeria.

Sasakawa’s aim is to boost farmers’ livelihoods through three core areas; regenerative agriculture, nutrition sensitive agriculture and market-oriented agriculture.

At an annual stakeholder workshop on scaling the Commercial Community-Based Facilitators model for last mile agricultural delivery, the facilitators shared the innovations that farmers are using to improve crop productivity and farming practices. The workshop was held at Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala on May 15.

The aim of the workshop was to highlight the role of CCBFs as catalysts in providing employment opportunities to the youth, building agricultural enterprises and centering regenerative agriculture for the last mile farmer who subsists on one or two acres of land.

Regenerative agriculture is a sustainable farming approach that focuses on soil health, biodiversity and natural resource utilization to mitigate the effects of human activities on the environment. This approach has been used in northern Uganda where rice is grown under rain-fed conditions.

Kizito Otim, a facilitator based in Otuke, Lango sub-region says he helps farmers assess the quality of minerals in the soil as a way of boosting nutrition-focused agriculture. Otim said the health of the soil enables farmers to know what types of seed variety to use to get the best outcomes. This includes training on the best chemicals to improve farming and yields for farmers who operate in environments that face a string of hazards.

Purity Namuganza, a CCBF from Kamuli said her role is geared towards nutrition for pregnant mothers through diets rich in eggs, beans and other organic foods. Namuganza says the intervention has led to reduction in non-communicable diseases like diabetes, cancer and high blood pressure.

The approach in Kamuli is nutrition-sensitive agriculture where the goal is to improve health outcomes through cultivation of nutritious target crops and food fortification. The third approach of market oriented agriculture is about empowering farmers with agribusiness skills such as financial literacy and digitalisation.

Sasakawa Country Director for Uganda Robert Anyang said CCBFs are vital for last mile farmers because financial institutions do not trust the farmers. Anyang said this is because institutions like banks need agents to identify farmers who are based in largely remote areas. He stressed that the facilitators have been key players in the agricultural value chain by improving their income and that of the farmers.

Facilitators earn $40 for every farmer they work with either through market access, nutrition-focused farming or providing other agricultural extension services. With some facilitators working with 100 farmers, they are providing a window for scaling an activity that employs 80% of Ugandans.

Anyang says Sasakawa has trained 269 agricultural extension workers in soil fertility management, integrated pest management and climate smart farming. The training has extended to 354 farmers in digital tools to improve their standing in modern agriculture. The organisation has promoted apps like Agroponto, M-Omulimusa, EzyAgric and Akaboxi, which facilitate access to agronomic advice, market information, finance and inputs.

As a net outcome of these interventions, Ugandan farmers have sold over 23,000 metric tons of grain valued at Shs7bn.

Sasakawa has extended training programs to university level. By 2023, over 60 students with 40% female had qualified with degrees in either agricultural extension education or agriculture and rural innovation from Makerere University.

A learning platform for student interns has been made available by SAA in addition to supporting degree programs. SAA has also made contributions to the creation of the Makerere University innovations center Kabanyoro, the development of strategies and curriculum, and the digitization of training materials.

The vision of Sasakawa Africa is to support Africa to fulfill its aspirations in building sustainable and resilient food systems. The nearly forty year old non-profit faces a daunting task: Africa has a food import bill of $60bn. In 2021, Uganda imported wheat worth $100m and this was even before the Russia-Ukraine war that made importing wheat exponentially more expensive.

Extreme weather events like drought are compounding the challenge for Uganda and other countries. For Sasakwa to achieve its vision, it has struck partnerships with theAfrican Development Bank, Government of Japan, World Food Programme. In collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Sasakawa Uganda expanded Uganda’s One Stop Center Association model to further support smallholder farmers.