Uganda’s Climate-Smart Agriculture Platform Charts Path to Resilience
BY MICHAEL WAKABI
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 of the platform, held from 16 to 19 September 2025 at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kampala. The meeting brought together government officials, researchers, development partners, private sector representatives, and civil society organizations to reflect on progress, identify challenges, and shape strategies for a more resilient agricultural future.
Collaboration as the Foundation
In his message, Maj. Gen. Kasura reaffirmed the government’s commitment to strengthening the platform into a national one-stop hub for Climate-Smart Agriculture (CSA) science and policy information. He underlined that the only way Uganda can achieve sustainable agricultural transformation is through harmonized coordination and stakeholder collaboration. “Our collective efforts are critical to transforming Uganda’s agriculture into a resilient sector capable of withstanding climate adversity while ensuring food security for our nation,” he said. “The various interventions by state, non-state, and private sector actors must be harmonized to avoid duplication, leverage resources, and deliver meaningful change. The need for coordination is therefore paramount.”
Kasura acknowledged the challenges facing the platform, including limited access to climate information, financing constraints, and the slow integration of CSA practices into national policy frameworks. But he also urged stakeholders to learn from these experiences, refine strategies, and double down on collective innovation. “Silence or fragmentation at this stage is not an option,” he added.
Regional Lessons from Kenya
The platform’s regional relevance was brought into sharp relief by Dr. John Recha, a Climate-Smart Agriculture Scientist at the International Livestock Research Institute involved in the World Bank–funded Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) project, who shared lessons from Kenya’s experience with CSA coordination.
He pointed out that Kenya’s climate realities — where 80 percent of the land is arid or semi-arid — have made coordination and policy alignment indispensable. Uganda, he argued, remains a vital breadbasket for the region, and strengthening its CSA platform will not only secure national resilience but also support regional food security. “Unless you are very strategic, you will not have enough food,” Dr. Recha observed. “Two-thirds of Kenya’s population are squeezed into just 20 percent of the country’s humid land. Uganda is therefore not only important for its own food security, but also for Kenya’s. It remains our breadbasket.”
Kenya’s CSA multi-stakeholder platform, he explained, was born out of inefficiencies — duplication, underreporting, and poor coordination among actors. Through better alignment, the platform has become the country’s reference point on climate-smart policy. Anchored in the Kenya Climate Smart Agriculture Implementation Framework and supported by the National Climate Change Action Plan, it has allowed state and non-state actors to integrate CSA priorities into both policy and practice. This, Recha suggested, is the ambition Uganda must replicate.
Managing Scale and Complexity
For Uganda, coordination remains both the greatest opportunity and the greatest challenge. Dr. Joshua Okonya, Program Officer for Agricultural Technology and Innovation at ASARECA, noted that with over 300 organizations formally linked to the platform, progress has often been slow. “Having so many institutions involved can stall decision-making,” he explained. “We now want each organization to nominate a focal person and an alternate — individuals empowered to drive the agenda and ensure accountability. CSA rests on three pillars: increasing productivity, supporting climate adaptation, and pursuing mitigation. Our platform must steer all three.” Okonya stressed that the goal is not just activity, but influence. “We want the platform to be the first place Parliamentarians and policymakers consult when debating agricultural resilience. That is the level of credibility and authority we must build.”
A Subregional Perspective
Ms. Julian Barungi, Project Manager at ASARECA, reminded participants that Uganda’s platform is part of a much broader subregional agenda. ASARECA, she noted, operates in 15 member countries and works closely with regional economic communities such as COMESA, IGAD, and the ECA. Its role is to ensure that climate-smart technologies developed by national agricultural institutes and research organizations are not confined to laboratories, but actually reach farmers. “Technologies only make a difference when absorbed and applied at farm level,” she said. “That requires enabling policies, functional markets, and supportive institutions. Through platforms such as this one, we can ensure that innovations are shared across borders and adapted to local realities.”
Building Functional Structures
The review meeting was not only reflective but also practical. Participants established four technical working groups — focused on coordination and resource mobilization, networking and partnerships, knowledge and information management, and policy engagement. These groups, drawing on multi-disciplinary expertise, will fast-track implementation of the platform’s objectives and create a stronger monitoring and reporting system for CSA interventions. The platform’s achievements since its establishment in 2023 were also acknowledged. These include the constitution of a secretariat and steering committee, development of terms of reference, quarterly committee meetings, convening of annual forums, drafting of a 2026 workplan, mobilization of 100 organizations to join the alliance, and active participation in shaping Uganda’s position at COP30.
Looking Ahead
While participants welcomed these milestones, they also stressed the urgency of consolidating them into a more effective system. The review underscored that the platform is not an end in itself but a means of achieving Uganda’s Agriculture National Adaptation Plan (Ag-NAP) targets and the country’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) under the Paris Agreement.
As Maj. Gen. Kasura reminded the gathering, the ultimate measure of success will be whether Uganda’s subsistence households are able to transition into the money economy while building resilience against climate shocks. That will require greater financing, better access to climate information, and stronger integration of CSA into national and local planning.
A Joint Effort
The four-day Annual Review Meeting was convened under the auspices of the Uganda Climate-Smart Agricultural Transformation Project of MAAIF, ASARECA’s CSA Alliance (ACSAA), SNV’s CRAFT Project, and the Accelerating Impacts of CGIAR Climate Research for Africa (AICCRA) initiative, with participation from development partners including CGIAR centers, FAO, UNEP, Makerere University, farmer organizations, and private sector actors. The AICCRA Project which is financed by the World Bank, funded the activities in line with its objective to strengthen the technical, institutional, and human capacity needed to enhance transfer of climate relevant information, decision-making tools, and technologies in select countries.
In closing, participants reaffirmed that building a climate-smart agricultural sector for Uganda cannot be the task of one ministry, one NGO, or one research center. It is the shared responsibility of all stakeholders. As the platform looks to 2026 and beyond, its credibility will rest on whether the energy, resources, and goodwill mobilized in Kampala this September translate into practical, coordinated action across Uganda’s fields, markets, and households.
ends