Majority of our communities rely on agriculture for livelihood, however, they are stuck in a cycle of low productivity and hence low incomes due to use of poor methods of agricultural production. We are searching for solutions that will change the status quo on agricultural practices related to production in a transformative way that multiplies yields, while making production more efficient and sustainable, promote diversification, improve farming practices, lowering input costs and approaches that will withstand the harsh vagaries of weather. These could include but are not limited to methods or technologies that significantly increase yield, prolong production capacity in drier seasons without disrupting bio-diversity. Approaches that expand available surfaces for crop and animal husbandry. Low cost farming implements that make production more efficient. New and efficient forms of green energy to power critical agricultural/livestock production processes, irrigation and farmer households. New approaches for increasing yield for indigenous drought resistant starches and vegetables. Innovative approaches for adverse climate early warning including platforms for last mile communication.

As Uganda marked World Food Day, facts and figures from a grassroots research paint a gloomy picture of the country’s food security situation. The biggest causative factor is poor post-harvest handling, where there are massive losses to farmers, cumulatively leading to billions of shillings in key food-producing regions. Communities face major challenges with post-harvest handling of produce which includes both rapidly perishable produce (e.g. vegetables and fruits) and less rapidly perishable produce (e.g. grain and legume seeds). Communities also have limited access to affordable technologies for produce processing to improve its quality before sale (lack of value addition to raw produce). Worse still some of the challenges are related to poor transport and infrastructure. We are looking for solutions that suggest innovative ways of post-harvest handling of produce, reliable means of transport that will also contribute to food safety and security.

1. Farmers often do not comply with grades and standards as required by the markets. The non-compliance to grades and standards, lack of value addition to produce results in low prices offered to farmers. Because of non-bulk sales and reliance on small holdings, rural farmers have little leverage on the price of their produce. Most importantly, rural farmers have low appreciation as well as capacity to add value and brand their produce in a way that positions their produce competitively in the market. This limits the kind of markets that local produce attracts. We are seeking for solutions that stimulate increased farmer leverage in the market through bulking, branding, produce standardization and traceability.

1. Current agricultural markets are riddled with mass asymmetries in the power of leverage by rural farmers. Most smallholder farmers produce low volumes of agricultural produce and face seasonality in production. The volumes produced by smallholder farmers are usually too small to attract meaningful demand. On the other hand, reliance on rain-fed agriculture confines farmers to seasonal production due to the unimodal rainfall pattern experienced in the country. Seasonality in production contributes to fluctuations in supply making it impossible for farmers to sustain supply as demanded by most buyers. Poor market information system, low literacy levels and poor business skills, scattered and disorganised production and marketing arrangements, poor access to extension services, unregulated contract farming, policy incoherence related to for example export licenses for agricultural exports.

Rural farmers find it difficult to access credit from commercial banks. Because of their low levels of financial literacy, they are often considered a high risk group by commercial banks, which are mainly driven by profit. Farmers also lack the collateral they need to secure the size of loans that are required for establishing viable businesses. Without access to finance, it is difficult for rural farmers to expand their businesses let alone venture into new profitable enterprises. However, the many uncertainties in their environment also contribute to poor credit performance when they get loans. We are seeking solutions that disrupt current models for rural venture financing to increase access to credit for rural farmers. We are seeking models or approaches for agricultural markets that promote new types of networks and distribution methods to catalyze enterprise and narrow the gap from farm to market and those that also reduce the contact of middlemen who exploit farmers and increase farmer leverage in the market.