Agricultural extension in Uganda has undergone a number of transformations from regulatory 1920-
1956, advisory 1956-1963, advisory Education 1964-1971, dormancy 1972-1981, recovery 1982-
1999, Educational 1992-1996, participatory education 1997-1998, Decentralized Education 1997-
2001 and now Agricultural services under contract extension systems. Each of those up to 1997-
2001 had strengths to build on and weaknesses to change or improve, but had challenges of the
socio-economic and political environment. In addition there have been marked changes in the
concept of agriculture, which is increasingly seen in terms of commercial or farming for market with
emphasis on modernization of agriculture and use of participatory approaches in the process.
The dilemma is that the majority of the Ugandan farming community is predominately
peasantry/subsistence with a small fraction that can be regarded emergent farmers. Such
population may not respond sustainably to the now farmer owned contract extension system
including changing patterns of donors.
The paper examines a range of issues including training needs, identification of theses needs for
more relevant and responsive curricula, the key role of service provider’s development in creating
learning organizations, developing a strategy for linkages/ learning webs or net works and for more
sustainable donor interventions.
A Food and Agriculture Organization project is working to reduce food losses in the Republic of the Gambia, where two years of crop failures and soaring food prices have left more than half the country's population without enough food. In a world where in 1 in 7 people go hungry, roughly one third of global food production gets lost or wasted. But FAO and partners are working together on the Save Food Global Initiative on Food Loss and Waste Reduction. Because if we are to eradicate hunger, everybody involved in food supply chains -- from producers to consumers -- must change management practices, technologies and behavior.
Small scale farmers are among the poorest and the hungriest in the world and yet small scale farming is supposed to pave the way to ending poverty in sub-Saharan Africa. It even appears as if efforts by governments and the development community at large to support small scale farming in sub-Saharan Africa are not yielding significant results. Poverty is deepening and the number of the hungry is going up not down. In the light of the global recommitments to agriculture, calls are being made wherever possible to invest in small scale agriculture but different results cannot be expected if the same strategiesare used.
This article reiterates and proposes some ideas to make agriculture work for development in sub-Saharan Africa. New strategies and investments in small scale farming must take cognizance of some key facts, that market access is key to small scale food production systems as such efforts to increase agricultural productivity can only be effective if they are linked to an appreciation of market potential. As much as small farmers require assistance to be able to produce more food, they equally require assistance to be able to sell Africa’s food and this requires serious reconsideration of post-production systems in sub-Saharan Africa. Also, that there is a need for strategies that will seek to end the way interventions in the agricultural sector are de-linked from each other and promote an integrated approach of supporting the full continuum of production, processing and marketing of food.
With contributions from more than 100 specialists in gender, agriculture and rural development. Combines descriptive accounts of national and international experiences in agricultural investment with practical guidance on designing strategies that capitalize on gender equality and women's empowerment.