Promoting rural development in Northern Uganda II (PRUDEV II)

We are excited to share that we will be providing technical services for Improving resilience of smallholder farms and competitiveness of Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in Northern Uganda under GIZ Uganda’s Promoting rural development in Northern Uganda II (PRUDEV II) financed by GIZ. 

In Uganda’s Northern region, 90 per cent of the population engages in agriculture. However, the region's agricultural and food industry struggles to drive local economic development (LED) due to climate change, limited market access, and inadequate financial and non-financial services for smallholder farmers and agro-based micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). 

Moreover, smallholder farmers in the region lack knowledge of climate-smart agricultural practices and long-term natural resource use. At the same time, agro-based MSMEs operate below full potential due to limited technical knowledge and insufficient access to business development services within a non-streamlined supply chain. Consequently, both smallholder farmers and MSMEs underinvest in enhancing agriculture-based value creation for jobs and income generation. 

By improving long-term production, processing, and marketing of agricultural products, smallholder farmers and MSMEs can access local and East African markets, leading to job creation, increased incomes, and enhanced resilience. 

In this context, the GIZ Promoting Rural Development in Uganda Programme  (PRUDEV II) is working in selected districts of Northern Uganda to enhance agricultural-based rural economic development. The PRUDEV II programme targets smallholder farmers as well as agribusiness MSMEs, with special focus on women and young people. 

PRUDEV II is a follow-up programme of PRUDEV I which was active from 2016-2023 and the new phase builds on the impact and learnings of PRUDEV I. During the first phase of PRUDEV, GOPA AFC was engaged between 2020 and 2023 in the capacity development of some 1.000 small-scale farmers in the field of irrigated agriculture as well as 9 district local governments and a relevant number of local communities in improved water resource management. 

In this second phase of the programme, GOPA AFC has been contracted to offer technical support in the development of resilient smallholder farming systems and inclusive MSME business models. This new intervention has started in October of 2024 and will run until August of 2026. On this assignment our aim is to support the creation of good employment for some 3.000 people, to increase the resilience of some 5.000 farming households and to strengthen the competitiveness of some 250 agro-bases MSMEs. 

Additionally, we will facilitate the strengthening of the technical and local capacities of smallholder farms and their organizations to address yield gaps and adopt agroecological practices for climate smart farming and sustainable use of natural resources. The facilitated actions such as promotion of use of quality and climate adapted inputs, prevention of post-harvest losses, soil conservation and improvement practices as well as the capacity development of local seed businesses will improve farmers resilience and thus contribute to the transformation of the agriculture and food system. 

Furthermore, we will improve the competitiveness of agro-based MSMEs through increasing their access to financial and non-financial services and the promotion of inclusive market led models for green products. Green products help to protect ecosystems and biodiversity, reduce energy, materials and water consumption through high efficiency strategies, de-carbonize the economy and minimize or altogether avoid generation of all forms of waste and pollution. Examples for this are organic fertilizer/compost (biochar) and pesticides, smart energy solutions, especially solar driven technologies or locally improved seeds that are more resilient to the effects of climate change. 

Our implementing team on this assignment consist of a team leader, 5 national long-term advisors in the technical fields of climate smart agriculture, MSMEs competitiveness, promotion of green products and jobs, access to finance and, finally, climate smart agro-processing, a project administrator and two drivers. 

Leveraging on our strong technical team and proven approaches, models and experience in northern Uganda, we are providing the necessary technical support to achieving the objectives of the PRUDEV II programme.