New 5-year phase of FAO’s MAFAP programme launched in Uganda
FAO's Monitoring and Analysing Food and Agricultural Policies (MAFAP) programme kicked off a new five-year phase (2022-2027) of its flagship policy support initiative in collaboration with the Government of Uganda and FAO Uganda on 4 August 2022 with an inception meeting in Kampala.
The MAFAP programme works with countries in Africa to strategically prioritize, reform and implement policies on food and agriculture. By monitoring and analysing public budgets and trade and market policies, MAFAP guides governments to repurpose their agricultural support to accelerate the transformation of agrifood systems. It also collaborates with policymakers to identify priorities for policy and investment reforms in key commodity value chains and supports the implementation of policy changes.
The high-level meeting was opened by the Director, Agriculture Extension Services at the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) - Deus Muhwezi, who represented Maj. Gen. David Kasura Kyomukama- the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary. It was attended by representatives from government ministries, departments and agencies, development partners, the private sector, civil society organizations, and research organizations.
In his remarks, Maj. Gen. Kasura Kyomukama commended FAO for collaborating with MAAIF to implement MAFAP since its inception in 2009, which was very instrumental in supporting government efforts in transforming the agriculture sector.
He noted that “Within the framework of the Agro-Industrialization Programme and its delivery mechanism the Parish Development Model, the Government aims to increase commercialisation and competitiveness of agricultural production and agro-processing, by designing and implementing policy interventions that address issues identified based on robust evidence. MAFAP’s support will be instrumental in this regard”.
“In the current situation that is characterized by rising prices of agricultural commodities and agricultural inputs, the technical support of MAFAP will be very useful for the government of Uganda to put in place coherent and effective policy interventions”, he added.
MAFAP has been active in Uganda for more than a decade, with the aim of reviewing the effects of policies on key agricultural value chains, analysing the public budget composition and fostering policy dialogue, among other objectives.
“The new third phase of the MAFAP programme will encompass new areas of work, including the identification of policy and investment priorities with the highest impacts on inclusive agricultural transformation and support the implementation of the adopted policy reforms”, said Marco Sanchez- FAO Deputy Director of Agrifood Economics Division. “Two new objectives will allow focusing on areas with the largest payoffs and will ensure that any policy change can reach the ground. The final goal is to promote reforms that allow food systems to deliver affordable healthy diets and inclusive markets for all”, he added.
Antonio Querido - FAO Representative in Uganda noted that the new phase, themed: Prioritizing and Reforming Agri-Food System Policies in Uganda is aligned with Uganda’s Agro-Industrialization programme and would contribute to more informed policy and investment decisions needed to accelerate food systems transformation. He also gave an assurance to stakeholders and the government of Uganda that “MAFAP III will support and complement government efforts in implementation of the Parish Development Model (PDM), through the contribution of evidence around data and value chain potential in nutrition, poverty reduction and export competitiveness.
During the inception meeting, presentations were delivered on MAFAP III project components and implementation modalities in Uganda by the FAO’s Nana Cabrel – Policy Officer, Edward Tanyima – Policy Support Officer, Thibault Meilland – Policy Advisor and Valentina Pernechele – Economist and Country Coordinator.
Stakeholders identified pressing policy issues that need to be addressed by MAFAP III including; price incentives analysis in key priority agricultural value chains, agricultural public expenditure review, and supporting monitoring and reporting of the Parish Development Model among others. Over the next weeks, the MAFAP team will hold follow-up meetings with stakeholders to concretize the identified policy issues and the potential mechanisms for implementation.
While closing the workshop, Emmanuel Kimbowa- the Acting Assistant Commissioner for Policy and Planning at MAAIF, representing the Commissioner for Planning, stressed the importance of data for planning and expressed confidence in the MAFAP programme.
“Data is key in all that we are planning to do. We need adequate and reliable data, without which we will not have informative deliverables that can be appreciated by stakeholders”, he said. He also advised the MAFAP implementing teams to build on existing studies and programmes that influence policy.
Read more about the MAFAP programme here.