July 30, 2025
Dear Readers, Partners, Colleagues, and Friends,
It is with deep appreciation and renewed optimism that I welcome you to the July 2025 edition of the SAA Newsletter, featuring Uganda. As we have now passed the halfway mark of the year, this edition serves as an opportunity to reflect on our journey, celebrate our progress, and share a vision for the future, informed by valuable lessons we have learned.
Over the past year, SAA-Uganda has made significant strides in transforming rural agriculture. This transformation is achieved not only through better inputs and training but also through scalable innovations, partnerships with the private sector, and locally driven service models that empower farmers. At the heart of this transformation is the Community-Based Commercial Facilitator (CCBF) approach, which we continue to scale as a powerful lever for rural development.
This model is made possible through the catalytic support of The Nippon Foundation, which has allowed us to turn service delivery into a sustainable business. Through this approach, private extension agents are not only delivering agronomic advice but are also facilitating access to critical services such as quality input sales, ploughing, planting, weed control, harvesting, irrigation access, insurance coverage, and financial linkages. In doing so, CCBFs are making agriculture work for everyone, particularly smallholder farmers
Our goal is ambitious yet practical: to enable every CCBF to generate at least USD 80 (profit) per farmer per season from a bundled service portfolio, while ensuring that the farmer gains increased productivity, resilience, and market access.
In just one year of focused implementation, we have seen the seeds of impact take root. Farmers are shifting from subsistence farming to producing surplus, cooperatives are becoming vibrant centers of service delivery, and youth-led agribusinesses are driving change across the last mile. Our digital innovations, mechanization hubs, and regenerative agriculture practices are proving both effective and scalable.
This July edition serves as a strategic pause. A moment to reflect on what works, what must be improved, and what we must do differently as we design our next five-year strategy. The insights we have gathered from this short period are not only shaping Uganda’s agricultural future but also offering a replicable blueprint for other regions. Our experience reinforces a fundamental truth: transformation is possible when innovation meets ownership. Our models are not externally imposed, they are co-created with communities, embedded within local ecosystems, and driven by a shared vision for growth and resilience.
As we look ahead, the road remains challenging. Uganda’s smallholder farmers still face climate shocks, limited access to finance, infrastructure deficits, and market unpredictability. But we believe these challenges are surmountable, because we have the models, the partnerships, and the momentum.
To all our supporters, partners, and friends, especially The Nippon Foundation, whose continued trust and support fuels our vision thank you for continuing to walk this journey with us. Your commitment strengthens our resolve to continue innovating, scaling what works, and making course corrections where needed. Together, we are redefining what rural transformation looks like. One farmer, one season, one solution at a time.
With sincere appreciation and commitment,
Robert Anyang
Country Director – Uganda
Sasakawa Africa Association
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Last year, SAA conducted a demonstration in Mali to illustrate to farmers the effectiveness of hermetic storage. We established demonstration tests in farmers’ homes withing the village of Doumbadjila, where, for nine months, starting March 5, 2021 to December 8, 2021, equal quantities of maize and sorghum were stored in different containers including plastic silos, PICS bags, recycled plastic containers. Ordinary polypropylene (PPP) bags were used as controls for the test. The grains from the different containers were visually assessed for quality at the end of the test period by 179 participants, including 177 farmers (112 men; 65 women) and two extension agents (both male). The grains in the hermetic storage containers were found to be in perfect condition, free of insect-pest damage, and had no color or odor change. These qualities made them good for domestic consumption and seed production, as well as for sale in markets, where they fetched higher prices. Meanwhile, those in the PPP bags were full of insects and were generally in bad condition. The test confirmed that farmers using hermetic storage could make more savings by eliminating the costs incurred in the purchase of pesticides, which are mandatory when using non-hermetic storage techniques. Hermetic storage was also shown to be superior to other storage techniques as it left the products free of chemicals and thus safe for consumption.
SAA trained 125 frontline extension agents including eight community health extension workers on the usage of nutrient-dense crops in creating balanced diets and improving food diversity options. The trained agents cascaded the knowledge to 8,635 farmers (6,928 male; 1,707 female) in the Nasarawa, Jigawa, Gombe and Kano states of Nigeria. The programme was part of SAA’s strategy of using Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture to promote the consumption of adequate local balanced diets that improve the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HHDS) by reducing the stunting rate for children under five years of age. The nutrition awareness program encouraged farmers to consume the diverse local foods, in addition to embracing hygiene and physical exercise for good health. It also addressed the importance of breast and complementary feeding for babies as part of the approaches for malnutrition reduction in the targeted communities.
In a bid to combat Vitamin A and Iron deficiency in Uganda, SAA introduced farmers in Lutete, a village in the country’s Mubende District, to nutrient-dense, iron-reach beans, and orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. Together with HarvestPlus, SAA trained the leaders of the Nkobazambogo farmers group on how to grow, process and preserve the super beans and sweet potatoes. The training also covered meal planning and preparation, with a focus on child-feeding and caregiving. The bio-fortified foods were especially recommended for children and women of reproductive age, like Nkobazambogo chairperson, Aisha Nakibule, who attested to their effectiveness. “It is rare to find malnourished children in our village; four years ago, it was a different story,” she explained.
Ms. Nakibule noted that the bio-fortified beans are tasty, take a short time to cook and can be profitably cultivated.
“Last season, we harvested slightly over 11 bags of beans out of which we sold nine at UGX1.5m (USD416), shared two amongst members, and retained 50kg for planting,” she said. The project was part of SAA’s strategy to support smallholder farmers in fighting malnutrition through nutrition-sensitive agriculture. This is against data from the Global Nutrition Report 2021 showing that 28.9% of children under five years of age in Uganda are stunted, 3.5% are wasting away, and 32.8% of women of reproductive age are anemic. The report also showed that 28% of Uganda’s preschool children suffer from vitamin A deficiency.
Since 2020, SAA has been promoting permagardening techniques in Ethiopia reaching a significant number of households, including 84 in Seboba Wesherbi, a village in the Raya Boda kebele of the Ana Sora woreda in the Oromia region. In 2021, SAA trained 28 farmers in Seboba Wesherbi, demonstrating how perma-gardening conserves water and improves soil fertility, allowing for easy root growth and, ultimately, higher crop yields. Furthermore, the training introduced participants to new vegetables like Swiss chard, which has a high biomass and can be harvested continuously. Following the training, 51 households established permagardens in their backyards; the additional 23 being those that did not attend the workshop but learned from their trained neighbours. Out of 51 perma-gardens, 35 were excellently established, allowing their owners to save USD 4 -6 USD per week that would have, otherwise, been spent on vegetable purchases. The new permagardens converted idle backyard plots into functional units that produce fresh and healthy vegetables, improving the household nutritional status in the region, and enabling farmers to generate additional income, with some households generating new revenue streams of up to USD100 over five months from vegetable sales.
Last year, SAA conducted a demonstration in Mali to illustrate to farmers the effectiveness of hermetic storage. We established demonstration tests in farmers’ homes withing the village of Doumbadjila, where, for nine months, starting March 5, 2021 to December 8, 2021, equal quantities of maize and sorghum were stored in different containers including plastic silos, PICS bags, recycled plastic containers. Ordinary polypropylene (PPP) bags were used as controls for the test. The grains from the different containers were visually assessed for quality at the end of the test period by 179 participants, including 177 farmers (112 men; 65 women) and two extension agents (both male). The grains in the hermetic storage containers were found to be in perfect condition, free of insect-pest damage, and had no color or odor change. These qualities made them good for domestic consumption and seed production, as well as for sale in markets, where they fetched higher prices. Meanwhile, those in the PPP bags were full of insects and were generally in bad condition. The test confirmed that farmers using hermetic storage could make more savings by eliminating the costs incurred in the purchase of pesticides, which are mandatory when using non-hermetic storage techniques. Hermetic storage was also shown to be superior to other storage techniques as it left the products free of chemicals and thus safe for consumption.
SAA trained 125 frontline extension agents including eight community health extension workers on the usage of nutrient-dense crops in creating balanced diets and improving food diversity options. The trained agents cascaded the knowledge to 8,635 farmers (6,928 male; 1,707 female) in the Nasarawa, Jigawa, Gombe and Kano states of Nigeria. The programme was part of SAA’s strategy of using Nutrition Sensitive Agriculture to promote the consumption of adequate local balanced diets that improve the Household Dietary Diversity Score (HHDS) by reducing the stunting rate for children under five years of age. The nutrition awareness program encouraged farmers to consume the diverse local foods, in addition to embracing hygiene and physical exercise for good health. It also addressed the importance of breast and complementary feeding for babies as part of the approaches for malnutrition reduction in the targeted communities.
In a bid to combat Vitamin A and Iron deficiency in Uganda, SAA introduced farmers in Lutete, a village in the country’s Mubende District, to nutrient-dense, iron-reach beans, and orange-fleshed sweet potatoes. Together with HarvestPlus, SAA trained the leaders of the Nkobazambogo farmers group on how to grow, process and preserve the super beans and sweet potatoes. The training also covered meal planning and preparation, with a focus on child-feeding and caregiving. The bio-fortified foods were especially recommended for children and women of reproductive age, like Nkobazambogo chairperson, Aisha Nakibule, who attested to their effectiveness. “It is rare to find malnourished children in our village; four years ago, it was a different story,” she explained.
Ms. Nakibule noted that the bio-fortified beans are tasty, take a short time to cook and can be profitably cultivated.
“Last season, we harvested slightly over 11 bags of beans out of which we sold nine at UGX1.5m (USD416), shared two amongst members, and retained 50kg for planting,” she said. The project was part of SAA’s strategy to support smallholder farmers in fighting malnutrition through nutrition-sensitive agriculture. This is against data from the Global Nutrition Report 2021 showing that 28.9% of children under five years of age in Uganda are stunted, 3.5% are wasting away, and 32.8% of women of reproductive age are anemic. The report also showed that 28% of Uganda’s preschool children suffer from vitamin A deficiency.
Since 2020, SAA has been promoting permagardening techniques in Ethiopia reaching a significant number of households, including 84 in Seboba Wesherbi, a village in the Raya Boda kebele of the Ana Sora woreda in the Oromia region. In 2021, SAA trained 28 farmers in Seboba Wesherbi, demonstrating how perma-gardening conserves water and improves soil fertility, allowing for easy root growth and, ultimately, higher crop yields. Furthermore, the training introduced participants to new vegetables like Swiss chard, which has a high biomass and can be harvested continuously. Following the training, 51 households established permagardens in their backyards; the additional 23 being those that did not attend the workshop but learned from their trained neighbours. Out of 51 perma-gardens, 35 were excellently established, allowing their owners to save USD 4 -6 USD per week that would have, otherwise, been spent on vegetable purchases. The new permagardens converted idle backyard plots into functional units that produce fresh and healthy vegetables, improving the household nutritional status in the region, and enabling farmers to generate additional income, with some households generating new revenue streams of up to USD100 over five months from vegetable sales.
