US to train 100 agricultural officers

Aug 22, 2017

The workshops are taking place in Jinja, Masaka, Mbarara and Gulu

 

The US in conjunction with the Ugandan government are to train over 100 agricultural officers countrywide in value chain analysis as a valuable tool for increasing agricultural productivity. 

The training is to be conducted by United States Agency for International Development (USAID), in partnership with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF).

On August 14, USAID and MAAIF launched the first of four training workshops, which are delivered through USAID's Feed the Future Commodity Marketing and Production Activity.

The workshops are taking place in Jinja (August 14-15), Masaka (August 17-18), Mbarara (August 21-22), and Gulu (August 24-25), a statement from the US embassy in Kampala said.

"The training workshops represent part of an ongoing USAID-MAAIF partnership to integrate the tested and proven market-led "village agent model" into the Government of Uganda's agricultural extension system," said the statement. 

To do this, the workshops introduce agricultural officers to the village agent model, which aims to improve and complement Uganda's agricultural extension service delivery system.

USAID anticipates that the knowledge that MAAIF agricultural officers receive will empower them to promote the "village agent model" to additional farmers and traders. 

More importantly, the training should help to ensure that smallholder farmers increase production and income from the range of services offered through the model.

USAID Mission Director Mark Meassick said, "Transforming Uganda's agriculture requires that Ugandans be in the driving seat to scale up proven models such as the village agent model, which has proven to be cost effective and efficient in delivering production and marketing services to farmers."

Implemented through USAID, Feed the Future is the US Government's global hunger and food security initiative that aims to spur economic growth; increase incomes; and reduce hunger, poverty, and under nutrition. 

Feed the Future also features the cross-cutting priorities of gender equality, expanded opportunities for women and girls, and environmentally-sustainable and climate resilient agricultural development.

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