Publications

The document presents the summaries of the 12 case studies used to illustrate SNV practices which contributed to the writing of the practice brief N° 4 focusing on Gender and Agriculture (see: www.snvworld.org/en/sectors/agriculture/publications/gender-and-agriculture-practice-brief). The summaries provide an insight of the gender issue and what practices SNV implemented to address to this specific constraint. The document also offers you hyperlinks at the end of each summary to enable you read the full intervention.

Despite markets available and a range of actors involved, not enough oilseeds is being produced to meet consumer demands. The main constraints are a limited supply of seeds for planting, and secondly financing for smallholders, to get access to planting seeds. The case describes how SNV partnered with Centenary Bank, a financial institution that provides business development services and financial services to smaller farmers. In addition, they partnered with VECO East Africa, a development organisation promoting the growing and marketing of sunflowers. SNV and its partners were able to broker contractual linkages between farmers and private businesses, as well as linkages with the Centenary Bank to extend financing tailored to farmers’ needs.

Towards the end of 2008, SNV Uganda signed a partnership agreement with Mukwano group of companies to implement an inclusive business model for enhanced growth, equity and competitiveness within the oilseed value chain. Initially, the company used to import seed for only farmers it had contracted to work with, but currently imports sunflower planting seeds for all the farmers interested in growing sunflower country wide. In the period up to last year, Mukwano supported an oilseed out grower’s scheme of approximately 45,000 individual smallholder farmers in the mid-north region, and has a processing plant located in Lira with capacity to crush 200 metric tones of raw material per day.

Milk production is increasingly commercializing with market development in rural areas. Farmers however lack access to secure and formal milk markets, and access to buyers that would offer attractive terms of payment and associated services. The case focuses on Mama Omulungi Dairies, which is a private processing company, offering an alternative market outlet for dairy farmers in Kiruhura district. SNV identified the need to support their in-house capacity to predict, identify market opportunities and design strategies and tactics to counteract the competition from already established dairy firms. They were trained in processing techniques, business management and institutional development, which enabled them to operationalize equitable contracts for dairy farmers and opportunities for space to dialogue on fair prices.

Nearly 60% of the people in Uganda’s West Nile region live below the poverty line compared to the national average of 31%. Agriculture is the backbone of the regional economy, but farmers lack access to sustainable and profitable markets. To address value chain inefficiencies, SNV sought to rebuild trust between different actors by finding areas where they could complement each other and create synergies. SNV provided market linkage services, whereas a Local Capacity Builder, Nile Pro Trust, was tasked with coordinating client activities and mobilising farmers to engage in collective marketing activities. This resulted in engagement of two key corporate actors in the sesame value chain to buy sesame from farmers in bulk.

Women in the Kapchorwa district in Uganda play a crucial role in sustaining their families through dairy and agricultural production. They provide most of the farm labour in combination with caring for their families. However, women continue to face major barriers with regard to access and control of production resources and dairy markets. The Kapchorwa Community Development Association (KACODA) therefore entered a partnership agreement with SNV, to facilitate effective marketing of dairy products and provide farm supplies and services needed by dairy farmers, and especially women.

The LeaPPs story is a case study about how SNV Uganda , in partnership with the International Resource Centre (IRC) Netherlands (and later with the Centre for Governance and Development, or CEGED) introduced an approach called Learning for Policy and Practice in Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (LeaPPS) to encourage local governments, civil society and the private sector to collectively craft and implement WASH policies.  LeaPPS encourages cooperation between participants because it centres around the concept of a “learning alliance” involving WASH users, service providers and promoters.

Nearly 60% of people in Uganda's West Nile region live below the poverty line compared to the national average of 31%, according to an estimate from the 2008 West Nile Profiling Report. The population is predominantly rural, so agriculture is the backbone of the regional economy; cassava, sesame, beans, cotton, tobacco and groundnuts are the major commercial crops. Unfortunately, rural farmers lack access to sustainable and profitable markets for their products. Eradicating poverty in the region therefore requires improving smallholders' access to markets and increasing their productivity. This case study highlights SNV Uganda's efforts to rebuild trust between the different actors by finding areas where they could complement each other and create synergies.

How do you address low oilseed production? Do you 'pump' in more funds to the farmers so that they have more resources to invest and increase their production? That has been the traditional approach to the challenges of low production. However this raises the question of sustainability. What happens when donations dry up? This case study highlights SNV Uganda's efforts to promote sustainable, market-driven solutions for smallholder oilseed farmers in Eastern Uganda, a measure aimed at encouraging competition in the oilseed sector.