The Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory services (UFAAS) together with the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory services (AFAAS) hosted a national stakeholders’ dialogue on agricultural extension and advisory services (AEAS) in Uganda. The blended event (physical and virtual) took place on 14th December 2022 at the Eureka palace hotel in Ntinda, Kampala and through Zoom. The dialogue attracted 59 AEAS stakeholders (36 physical and 23 online; 20 women, 39 men), from different sectors namely; the private sector, academia, NGOs/civil society, farmer organizations, development partners, and media.
The purpose of the dialogue was to identify strategies to support the key AEAS stakeholders in their efforts to address the existential gaps in the delivery of extension and advisory Services in Uganda. Specifically, the dialogue was to: highlight the importance of a national AEAS system and its central role in developing the agricultural sector in a country, point out contribution so far made by the key AEAS Stakeholders nationwide, highlight current capacity, gaps and needs within the AEAS system, and generate recommendations to address the gap.
The dialogue included a brief about UFAAS and AFAAS, a presentation about the agricultural extension and advisory services landscape in Uganda, an update on effort by the Ministry of Agriculture, a panel discussion on perspectives from UNFAO, Farmer Organization, Civil Society and Local Government and Private sector.
All stakeholders unanimously agreed that much as there are efforts towards improving the delivery of agricultural Extension, there is a general outcry by the agricultural value chain beneficiaries about the lack of efficient, effective and coordinated extension services at the grassroots level.
The participants made several recommendations to support effective and efficient agricultural extension and advisory services. It was agreed that UFAAS coordinates the stakeholders to assemble the facts to support a position paper to inform policy.
About UFAAS:
Uganda Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (UFAAS) is the country chapter of the African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services (AFAAS) in Uganda. It is a forum that brings together a wide range of actors involved in Agricultural Extension and Advisory Services (AEAS) in Uganda. UFAAS was launched in May 2011 and is registered in Uganda. AFAAS is the umbrella network organisation for AEAS in Africa. It operates within the framework of the Comprehensive Africa Agriculture Development Programme (CAADP), with a focus to Pillar IV.
For more details, contact:
Ms Beatrice Luzobe, CEO
Email: ufaas13@gmail.com