Uganda

Project overview

The project aims to catalyze the transformation of Uganda's beef and dairy systems towards sustainable and regenerative food systems that are nature-positive, climate-resilient, healthy, and inclusively beneficial. This project is a child project of the Food Systems Integrated Program targeting livestock systems. It aligns with and complements the IFAD-funded ReLIV project ("anchor project"), which focuses on sustainable livestock development, climate financing, and improving market access and financial services. 

The overall Project Development Objective (PDO) focuses on increasing the resilience and sustainability of livelihoods, enhancing the competitiveness of the dairy and beef value chains, protecting the natural resource base, fostering social inclusion, and reducing the sector's impact on climate, the environment, and human health. Project activities are strategically designed to overcome barriers, including the adoption of climate-smart livestock management practices, strengthening value chains, and promoting social and economic equity. This transformation is critical to ensuring that the livestock sector contributes to long-term food security, environmental sustainability, and inclusive economic growth in Uganda. 

Our approach

The project will align with FSIP and blend resources with IFAD’s ReLIV project to transform Uganda’s dairy and beef sectors. It will complement existing activities by improving productivity, market access, and the regulatory environment, while addressing poverty, food insecurity, and malnutrition. The project will mainstream youth, gender, and climate finance, ensuring women’s inclusion, improved access to assets and finance, and participation in profitable value chains.

Moreover, it will fully mainstream gender to ensure women’s inclusion and benefit in the dairy and beef value chains, with a particular focus on post-production and inclusion in profitable markets. The project will also address structural barriers limiting women’s access to income, productive assets, and financial services, ensuring they benefit equally from agree food system transformation. It also incorporates climate finance. The project outcomes will be: (i) increased productivity, resilience and reduced climate impact of smallholder beef and dairy production systems; (ii) enhanced access to markets for smallholder producers and access to finance; and (iii) strengthened policy and regulatory environment.

Project sites

The project area comprises 12 key biodiversity areas according to KBA 2024, covering a total area of 5025 km2. Many of these include grassland ecosystems and are used for livestock grazing. Livestock farming and ranching, including small-holder grazing, ranching or farming, are listed by KBA as key threats to these areas. The twelve sites are the Kidepo National Park, Mount Moroto Forest Reserve, Lake Bisina, Lake Opeta, Mount Kadam, Lake Nakuwa, Nakakabala, Lake Wamala Catchment, Lake Kijanabalola, Nabajjuzi Wetland, Sango Bay Area, and Timu Forest extension.