The IITA Uganda Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) Program supports the Ugandan Government in its commitment to increasing coffee quality, volumes, and smallholder farmer livelihoods. The Institute’s activities closely align with the country’s agricultural agenda, with the IITA team collaborating with the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) to implement the Uganda Coffee Roadmap.
By developing the Stepwise Climate Smart Investment Pathway (Stepwise) approach, IITA Uganda and partners under the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security (CCAFS) are promoting increased smallholder coffee farmer adoption of CSA practices in Uganda. Stepwise is helping farmers increase their yields and income through a practical stepped process towards applying good agricultural and CSA practices to manage their coffee farms.
Test data from private-sector impact partners, Olam and Hanns R. Neumann Stiftung Foundation, demonstrated the Stepwise approach’s success showing more than 70% increase in yields and a 58% increase in adoption of good agricultural practices (GAP) among participating farmers in Mount Elgon and Luwero in central Uganda.
With the challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, remote working made it possible to get more people involved in the conversation. Extension services have evolved, using ICT decision support tools and technologies to disseminate essential information to agents and farmers. This enabled the team to achieve an even greater level of efficiency.