Shaping the Future of Farming: Eastern and Central Africa experts Endorse Regional Strategy for Scaling Climate Smart Agriculture Innovations
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT NAIROBI, KENYA: ASARECA in collaboration with the CGIAR are intensifying the drive to scale up Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies, innovations and management practices to shape the delivery of resilient food systems in Eastern and Central Africa (ECA). During a pivotal Stakeholder Consultation and Validation Workshop in Nairobi, Kenya on (September 29- October 1), ASARECA Executive Director Dr. Sylvester Dickson Baguma confirmed that the process of finalizing...
Building Resilience of Livelihoods in Refugee host communities through the promotion of Biofortified crops
BY GENEVIEVE APIO KIKUUBE, UGANDA, September 27, 2025 — The Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA), in collaboration with the International Potato Center (CIP), CARE International, the Pan-Africa Bean Research Alliance (PABRA), the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), and Makerere University College of Health Sciences, successfully conducted a week-long training on the importance of biofortified crops and the scaling of their production in refugee host settlements. The...
Breeding for Resilience: Thanks to AICCRA Project, Western Uganda’s Farmers Take Charge of Saving the Indigenous Goat
BY MICHAEL WAKABI & BEN MOSES ILAKUT BULIISA & KIBAALE, UGANDA: With support from ASARECA, NARO, and global agricultural research for development partners under the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) Project (https://aiccra.cgiar.org/), communities in Kibaale and Buliisa embark on a new chapter of sustainable livestock improvement through Community-Based Breeding Programmes. In the hills and lowlands of Kibaale and the oil-rich plains of Buliisa, a quiet revolution in livestock farming...
When an African farmer earns USD8,276 in a year, we call it success: How ASARECA, AICCRA partners and Virtual Irrigation Academy tool are turning-around smallholder irrigated farming in Uganda
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT KASESE, WESTERN UGANDA—United States Dollars (USD) 8,276 in three seasons in one year. When Johny Benet Murangi and his son, Dedan Murangi, both farmers at the Mobuku-1 Irrigation Scheme in Kasese district in Southwestern Uganda, received soil moisture, temperature, nutrients, and salts monitoring tools from ASARECA and partners in October 2024, they were determined to optimize their use to increase crop productivity and income. Bumper harvest The Murangis witnessed...
Game-changing tool to predict crop potential introduced to Uganda by ASARECA and CGIAR partners
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT KAMPALA, UGANDA: The introduction of a tool meant to enhance the capacity of researchers to predict crop performance viz-a-viz climatic conditions has placed Uganda in a favourable position to transform how farmers, policymakers, and agribusinesses respond to increasingly unpredictable weather patterns. Known as the Climate Smart Agriculture Crop Capability Prediction Tool, the noble tool collects long-term seasonal forecast data, to derive very close estimations on the performance of...
Uganda’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Platform Charts Path to Resilience
BY MICHAEL WAKABI & BEN MOSES ILAKUT KAMPALA, UGANDA: The success of Uganda’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Multi-Stakeholder Platform (UG-CSA-MSP) will depend entirely on how far stakeholders are willing to collaborate and coordinate their efforts, Maj. Gen. David Kasura-Kyomukama, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), has said. Speaking through Ms. Mary Aacha Orikiriza, Under Secretary at MAAIF, Maj. Gen. Kasura delivered opening remarks at the Annual Review Meeting...
ASARECA, ICARDA, ILRI, NARO move to boost goat productivity via community breeding of indigenous goats
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT KIBAALE & BULIISA—UGANDA: Goat farmers, agricultural extension officers, value chain actors and local leaders in the districts of Kibale District in Western Uganda and the oil rich Buliisa District also in Western Uganda have received a mindset changing training and sensitization on establishment of Community Based Breeding Programmes (CBBPs) for Small Ruminants. The training which aimed at increasing productivity and profitability for small scale farmers belonging to...
Regional Trainers Empowered to Champion Climate-Smart Agriculture through Agroecology ToT in Uganda
BY GENEVIEVE APIO Kampala, Uganda | July 14–18, 2025 – Over 30 Trainers of Trainers (ToTs) from six ASARECA partner states, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, and Cameroon, gathered in Kampala for an intensive 5-day Regional ToT on Integrated Pest and Disease Management and Agroecology. Among the participants were 9 youth, 10 women, and 11 men. The training aimed to strengthen the region’s capacity to implement climate-smart agricultural practices, in line with...
ASARECA Private Sector Dialogue generates critical inputs into the African Conference on Agricultural Technologies discourse
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT KIGALI, RWANDA—"Countries don’t fail because they lack policies to facilitate agricultural productivity and open up access to markets. They fail because they lack strong political will to ensure technologies from research are profitable.” This is one of powerful messages that was delivered during the Private sector Dialogue on Enhancing the Commercialization and Scaling of Climate Smart Agricultural (CSA) Technologies and Innovations to the Last Mile in Kigali,...
Dr. Sylvester Dickson Baguma Appointed Substantive ASARECA Executive Director
BY BEN MOSES ILAKUT ENTEBBE, UGANDA—The ASARECA Board of Directors have appointed Dr. Sylvester Dickson Baguma as the Substantive Executive Director of the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA). The full Board of Directors, comprising the Directors General of the National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) of the 15 ASARECA Member States made their declaration today June 24, 2025, in an Extra-Ordinary Board of Directors meeting whose...