Public–private partnership generates economic benefits to smallholder bean growers in Uganda

The quest to transform and hasten the role of smallholder farms in agricultural development and food security through farmer firm linkages has dominated development interventions in low-income countries for several decades. This has mostly been pursued through single- or multi-contract schemes implemented in isolation. Several studies have analyzed the efects of these schemes on smallholder farms with mixed results. A new paradigm is to use Agricultural Public Private Partnership (Ag-PPP) to achieve wider and sustainable impacts. However, limited empirical evidence exists on the efects of Ag-PPP interventions and targeting the same farmer. We address this research gap by assessing the impact of an Ag-PPP on small-scale common bean producers in Uganda. We use a doubly robust diference-in-diference approach in a multi-treatment setting to estimate these impacts. The results show that the PPP created positive outcomes for farmers and stimulated increased production from targeted interventions. Evidence shows that the PPP and its interventions were associated with signifcant increases in productivity, sales volumes, and shares of output marketed. Receiving bundled interventions had greater efects than a single intervention and efects varied between men and women bean crop owners. Results suggest that providing bundled interventions through a PPP can increase productivity and alleviate market access constraints. The outcomes of this Ag-PPP could be modifed for other contexts i.e., crops and localities, to inform food and development policy elsewhere

Scale-up supply and utilization of precooked beans for food and nutrition security, incomes and environmental conservation by leveraging on public-private partnerships in Kenya and Uganda

The project aimed at leveraging public-private partnerships to scale up utilization of precooked bean innovations for food and nutrition security, income generation and environmental conservation in a gender equitable manner. The project worked with 20,558 farmers (6,962 men; 9,893 women; and 3,703 youth) adding 1,659 farmers in this phase compared to Phase 1 (18,899). This report provides details of project results including: increasing productivity by 17% with a trading value of CAD$154,667 along with decreased energy demand (such as charcoal and wood burning); and as well, freeing up women’s time constraints. The project was successful even considering pandemic conditions

Increasing women’s access to reliable markets through collective marketing

French version available in IDRC Digital LibraryWhile some household challenges emerged from collective marketing, the project enabled women to participate in male-dominated marketing activities and to benefit from the income generated. The project identified 65 mixed farmer groups and linked them to the Community Enterprise Development Organization (CEDO) which supplies bean seed on credit to farmer groups to produce grain on a contractual basis. Group marketing has been identified as one of the most viable ways of increasing women’s participation in agricultural marketing and improving their access to market information, as well as strengthening their bargaining power.Cultivate Africa’s Future Fund (CULTIAF

Accroître l’accès des femmes à des marchés ables grâce à la commercialisation collective

English version available in IDRC Digital LibraryCultivate Africa’s Future Fund (CULTIAF

Accelerating Breeding for Drought Tolerance in Sorghum (<em>Sorghum bicolor</em>): An Integrated Approach

Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor) is the main food crop for people living in marginal areas. They are faced with a number of production challenges including; drought, insect pests, diseases, soil fertility and striga weeds. To adapt to current and future stresses, there is a dire need to develop tolerant cultivars using multistress lines and varieties from wide genetic backgrounds. Toward better integrated approaches; we conducted participatory field screening in hot spot locations for drought, striga weed and major leaf spot fungal diseases on the 20 lines making mini-core sorghum germplasm. Lines carrying key traits of resistance to stresses have been recycled into the breeding program. The study also identified biochemical traits that could potentially be used as surrogate traits for the selection of tolerant genetic resources with improved yields. Nuclear male fertile crosses have been derived for exploiting differences in the cytoplasm for enhancing resistance. It also integrated variability in phytochemicals and cytoplasmic resistance to develop multi-parent sorghum lines and populations possessing potentially favorable adaptive alleles. In conclusion; unique traits and breeding strategies for sorghum adapted to the dry lowlands have been identified to lay a foundation for a modernized and market-oriented sorghum breeding program to the advantage