Northern Uganda Horticulture Market Acceleration Program (NU-HortiMAP): 2023-2024
This project was an expansion of TechnoServe’s Horticulture Market Acceleration Program (HortiMAP) to Northern Uganda: targeting Oyam, Nwoya, Gulu, Pader, Amuru, Kitgum, and Lira Districts. The project was aimed at ensuring sustainable supply of fruits & vegetables by producers, and creating jobs for youth & women along the value chain, thus improving the competitive performance of Uganda’s vegetables in regional and international markets. The project was funded by aBi development through Technoserve.
UAA’s involvement had the particular goal of increasing volume, quality and safety of fresh fruits and vegetables (FFV) produced by smallholder farmers in Northern Uganda. UAA worked to increase this success by working on several parts of the value chain simultaneously through conducting trainings for Lead Farmers in the targeted districts on Good Agricultural practices and Safe Pesticide use, through sensitizing brokers on the importance of sourcing safer horticulture, and through facilitating dialogues between farmers and brokers to build trust and improve the ongoing relationships between them.
86 Lead farmers were trained in methods of increasing the quality and safety of horticulture produced for domestic markets, and expressed willingness to sell a higher volume of healthier food to brokers
40 brokers were sensitized on the importance of sourcing and selling higher quality and safer horticulture products in domestic markets and expressed willingness to purchase a higher volume of healthier food from farmers
Consumers were sensitized through 6 radio shows and 2 TV shows on the importance of demanding for higher quality safer horticulture products. A horticulture platform was created to bridge the communication gap between the farmers and the brokers.