News in Brief:
– Feed the Future initiative launched a new five-year strategy to reduce hunger, poverty, and malnutrition in Uganda.
– It plans to invest in agriculture and build resilience to climate change and focuses on expanding access to inputs, promoting inclusive agriculture, and improving nutrition.
The United States Government’s Feed the Future (FTF) initiative has launched a new five-year Global Food Security Strategy (GFSS) Uganda Country Plan, aimed at reducing hunger, poverty, and malnutrition in the country.
The strategy, which is led by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), will focus on interventions in northern and eastern Uganda to lift one million people out of poverty. It identifies six key areas for action:
- Expanding access to agricultural inputs: Providing high-quality seeds, agrochemicals, and equipment to farmers.
- Promoting inclusive agriculture: Supporting smallholder farmers and women in agriculture.
- Enhancing trade competitiveness: Helping Ugandan farmers access international markets.
- Investing in agricultural research: Developing new technologies and practices to improve agricultural productivity.
- Building climate resilience: Protecting natural resources and adapting to climate change.
- Improving nutrition: Addressing malnutrition and promoting healthy diets.Essentially, the GFSS Uganda Plan will target 42 districts where both chronic hunger and the potential for agricultural growth are high.
Meantime, speaking at the launch event, Mia Beers, the agency’s deputy assistant to the administrator for the Bureau of Resilience, Environment and Food Security (REFS), highlighted the global success of the initiative.
“Since 2011, the FTF initiative has lifted 23 million people out of poverty, generated $28 billion dollars worth of agriculture sales, and deployed more than one thousand agriculture innovations,” she said during her address.
Furthermore, the US Ambassador to Uganda, William Popp, noted the importance of the partnership between his country and Uganda.
“The six agencies that make up the United States Feed the Future Initiative underscore the whole of the US government’s approach,” he mentioned. “Their work here is emblematic of our unwavering partnership with the Ugandan people.”
Last year alone, the initiative supported roughly 1.6 million Ugandans to address food insecurity and reduce malnutrition. The new five-year GFSS Uganda Country Plan is a demonstration of the commitment of the US government to partnering with Uganda to improve food security and livelihoods.
