Project description / objective
IAM seeks to increase incomes and improve the livelihood of households through agriculture-led inclusive economic growth.
Inclusivity refers to the active participation and engagement of all actors looking to participate in the market system including the poor, women, youth, ethnic minorities or other marginalised groups who are often excluded, or even exploited by the traditional market systems.
Market systems focus
Input supply and agribusiness services
Agricultural input supply in the Ugandan market is inhibited by a high incidence of counterfeits, low awareness of - and access to - quality inputs at the last mile and weak distribution models. This, coupled with low investment by international suppliers in the input supply chain, and a mismatch between demand and supply of mechanisation services has led to low production and productivity resulting into low incomes for smallholder farmers.
Value addition and quality food trade
The potential for agro-processing to transform agricultural markets in Uganda has not been fully exploited. This is because firms do not meet quality and safety requirements for products to be more competitive. The country’s participation in the export market is dominated by primary products rather than processed goods. This results in processed agricultural products failing to feature in premium markets.
Business advisory and financial services
Most agri-SMEs cannot access financing due to lack of awareness and the high costs of finance as well as the absence of last mile access to financial services. This is because they do not know about, or know how to engage, these services. There is a need to design financial products that target agri-SMEs.
Market led agricultural growth in resilience zones
The private sector in the resilience zones in Uganda (Karamoja and refugee settlements) is not actively involved in the market. The functionality and resilience of the market is very weak. The capacity of the private sector and refugees - and the potential of smallholders - to engage in agricultural markets in a profitable way, and inclusively, has not been fully exploited.
Programme interventions
Input supply and agribusiness services
Facilitating access to quality affordable inputs by building Government of Uganda capacity around: enforcement; last mile distribution of inputs with international companies; scaling local seed multiplication; and promoting access to agricultural technologies through agri-SMEs.
Interventions include:
- Strengthening the capacity of Government of Uganda ministries and agencies to monitor and enforce rules and regulations against counterfeit activities by awareness-raising and combating counterfeit agricultural inputs
- Promoting private investment in last mile distribution of inputs through strategic partnerships with large international inputs suppliers and distributors, large national suppliers, local seed businesses and member-based associations (MBOs)
- Scaling multiplication and marketing of seed through local seed producers including farmer groups, companies, MBOs and individual farmers
- Promoting access to sustainable mechanisation services and irrigation technologies for smallholder farmers through networks and collaborations
Value addition and quality food trade
To improve relationships and firm level upgrading to support market actors to produce the quality of products needed to meet end market demand.
Interventions include:
- Building the business capacity of MBOs to become commercially viable and deliver effective services including: aggregation; value addition; creating value and trade for their members.
- Scaling awareness of, and demand from, grain millers to produce quality, certified products by strengthening the capacity of millers to supply certified products that meet domestic and export market requirements.
- Building capacity and co-investing with firms to reach premium markets by strengthening their capacity to adopt and invest in inclusive supply chains that offer incentives for the suppliers
Business advisory and financial services
Increase access to financial services for rural farmers and reduce their risk through access to agricultural insurance. Also to increase access to investment needed for agri-SME growth through tailored and sustainable business advisory services aimed at improving agri-SME’s operations and enabling them to raise capital.
Interventions include:
- Scaling inclusive financial services to untapped rural markets to enhance access to affordable digital and value chain financing solutions for agricultural market actors including agribusinesses, MBOs and smallholder farmers
- Facilitating business advisory service providers to enable Agri-SMEs to raise and manage investments
- Supporting the agriculture insurance consortium to build awareness and sell embedded insurance through agribusiness networks
Market led agricultural growth in resilience zones
Transforming resilience zones to development to build profitable, inclusive, entrepreneurial, and resilient market systems driven by the private sector.
Interventions include:
- Promoting scalable business models in last mile distribution of quality agricultural inputs and animal health products, and increasing uptake of mechanisation and small-scale irrigation technologies
- Encouraging the Government of Uganda, NGOs and other development actors to adopt market-based approaches
Notable results (systemic change, poverty impact)
Input supply and agribusiness services
- 15 new private sector partners have established hubs, branches, outlets and agents for delivering certified agricultural inputs to farmers in the zone of influence
- More than 150,000 farmers have accessed better quality agricultural inputs
- Mechanisation service providers have established operations in remote locations such as Karamoja
Value addition and quality food trade
- 33 agro-processors have invested approximately USD $102,524 to upgrade processing facilities and structural components
- Agro-processors who have upgraded facilities recorded total annual sales of approx. USD $2.5 million
- Over 1,000 food processors have applied, and are being supported; to date 400 maize millers have been certified, up from 23 maize millers
Business advisory and financial services
- So far USD $18 million in investments has been leveraged for agribusinesses
- Sales and revenue to agribusinesses amount to approx. USD$ 10.1 million
[updated January 2024]