How community innovations will shield Uganda from food insecurity

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As Uganda joins the rest of the World to celebrate the International World Food Day, experts in the food sector believe that eliminating traditional food production practices across the country will reduce incidents of food spoilage, contamination and pest damage. 

Traditional food production practices include: drying grains on bare ground, storing produce in non-airtight containers and transporting perishables without cold chains.

With less than 1% of Uganda's food production benefiting from public storage facilities, this means a lot of food is either being wasted or lost along the value chain.

The World Bank describes food loss as the reduction in quantity or quality of food from production to distribution in the supply chain. 

The World Bank adds that food loss occurs through insects and pest damage, spoilage, non-compliance with standards and inadequate infrastructure, for example, processing, storage facilities, limited transport options for perishables among others.

Food waste is food thrown away due to failure to finish what might have been served in large quantities on plates, or over-purchasing and failing to utilise what was purchased, among others. 

The above situations mean that more Ugandans could starve due to more food going to waste and loss along the value chains, but also due to the growing number of refugees, with the number now at 1.9 million, amidst World Food Program Food aid cuts.

According to Dr Dennis Male from Makerere University’s Food Technology and Nutrition, the institution has so far trained over 200 graduate students specialising in food systems, established field research stations in 10 districts and created community-university partnerships to ensure that their research benefits farmers.

He, however, called for simplified post-harvest technologies and food safety technologies that should be shared in formats that policymakers, practitioners and communities can easily implement.

Male added that Makerere University has so far developed mobile apps for farmers, established food processing pilot plants and created platforms that bring together researchers, policymakers and practitioners.

Reports from CARE International suggest that innovative approaches at the community level are proving that food loss and waste could be prevented.

Approaches such as teaching farmers at the community level on how to use appropriate post-harvest handling technologies, pest management and the use of solar dryers could make Ugandans more food secure.

According to Prof. George William Otim Nape, the Chief Executive Officer of the Africa Innovations Institute (AfrII) working with CARE international, they have developed appropriate technologies in post-harvest management to help farmers manage post-harvest losses at the community level.

They have also introduced community-based seed multiplication centres for farmers to access quality seed easily, and also trained over 5000 farmers on how to manage pests through the Integrated Pest Management approach.

The above initiatives have been supplemented with the introduction of solar dryers that are increasing the shelf life of fruits and vegetables, in addition to promoting the use of Hermetic storage bags that reduce losses by 98% of food crops such as grains while in storage, Nape explained.

To further address the system, the academic Universities and research institutions are also developing and scaling evidence-based solutions that can be adopted by the farming communities.

How is the government addressing the situation?

According to Alex Bambona, a commissioner heading the Nutrition and Home Economics Department, while Uganda's Constitution commits the state to ensuring adequate food production and storage, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries is scaling up interventions to address implementation gaps.

Bambona says that the ministry has developed a National Strategy for Post-Harvest Loss Reduction in Grains for the financial year 2025, with a budget of sh1.59 trillion to the agriculture sector. 

This will focus on infrastructure development, such as storage and agro-processing to transform the sector and promote economic growth and launch the Uganda Agricultural Storage and Processing Initiative.

“We're constructing 200 community-level storage facilities across all regions, establishing quality assurance laboratories in every district and training agricultural extension workers on modern post-harvest technologies,” he said.

He, however, added that without coordinated implementation across ministries and districts, farmers will continue losing their livelihoods while the nation imports food that could have been produced within Uganda safely and efficiently.

Bambona explained further that the ministry has also partnered with district local governments to establish mobile grain testing units, implemented the National Food Safety and Quality Control Program and launched the Digital Agriculture Information System to connect farmers with real-time market information and weather data.

In line with World Food Day celebrations.

The above innovations are in line with the World Food Day 2025 theme,  "Hand in Hand for Better Foods and a Better Future," Which, according to the Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Frank Tumwebaze, calls for collaborations in order to transform Uganda’s food systems.

In line with with the theme, he said that this year’s World Food Day Celebrations, set of the October 16, at Rwebitaba Zonal Agriculture Research and Development Institute in Fort Portal, will be characterised with several community activities which include tree planting, market clean-ups, establishment of school gardens, and public dialogues involving farmers, traders and other stakeholders to discuss challenges and solutions to food.

Tumwebaze added that while agriculture is Uganda's backbone, with over  70% of Ugandans relying on agriculture, challenges like low productivity, post-harvest losses, climate change, and limited market access persist.

He added that the theme is calling for collaboration to jointly improve food production, distribution, and nutrition outcomes.

“As a country, we still have pockets of malnutrition, with about 25% of children under five stunted. 'Better foods' means safe, nutritious, and affordable diets, vital for healthy growth, strong immunity, and productivity,” he said

About climate change, the theme calls for joint action to promote climate-smart agriculture, drought-tolerant crops, water harvesting, and better land management, safeguarding our environment while ensuring food security.

In relation to SDGs, he said the theme supports Uganda’s Parish Development Model and Agro-Industrialisation priorities under the NDPIV, of shifting farmers from subsistence to market-oriented commercial agriculture.

“Ultimately, for Ugandans, this theme is a call to work together – across communities, institutions, and sectors – to improve food quality, guarantee food security, protect natural resources, and create a brighter, healthier future for generations to come,” he said, while addressing the media head of World Food Day celebrations.