Over the next five years in Uganda, Feed the Future aims to help an estimated 709,000 vulnerable Ugandan women, children and family members—mostly smallholder farmers—escape hunger and poverty. More than 450,000 children will be reached with services to improve their nutrition and prevent stunting and child mortality. Significant numbers of additional rural populations will achieve improved income and nutritional status from strategic policy engagement and institutional investments.
To meet its objectives, Feed the Future Uganda is making core investments in three key areas:
1. Nutrition
- Essential nutrition actions at health facility and community level
- Management of severe acute malnutrition at health facility level
- Production of ready-to-use therapeutic foods and complimentary foods
- Social Marketing of Complementary Foods
- Behavior Change Communication for Improved Nutrition
- Micronutrient interventions including food fortification
- Capacity building, policy, advocacy and research
2. Agriculture. The maize, coffee and bean belt are in Southwest and Central Uganda. The choice to focus on these value chains represents considerations regarding Ugandan government priorities, division of donor labor, and the highest impact interventions for the expected scale of Feed the Future resources.
- Maize for Regional Food Security
- Coffee for Growth
- Beans for Nutrition
- Value Chain Investments
- Agro Input Supplies
3. Connecting Nutrition to Agriculture
- Agriculture Research
- Supporting Policy & Enabling Environment
- Partnership Investment
- Capacity Building
- Community Connector
Target Regions
Feed the Future in Uganda has three geographic areas of focus: Northern Uganda, the central “Maize Belt,” and Southwest Uganda.
Highlights
Community and Facility-Based Prevention and Treatment. Feed the Future supports the scaling up of the Essential Nutrition Actions (ENA) through key district-based programs to improve nutrition in facility and community settings in the areas of highest chronic undernutrition (North and Southwest Uganda). The main focus of these interventions is children under five and pregnant and lactating women. At the facility level, specific activities include training on ENAs with priority health cadres, including training on nutritional assessments; key messages; and follow up. At the community level, the Village Health Team is the main facilitator of ENA and assessment of undernutrition needs and facility referrals; however, additional community-based mechanisms will be included where feasible and appropriate.
Agriculture Research. Feed the Future will support continued research in three areas:
- Biotechnology to protect food security crops from serious disease threat, specifically cassava and bananas
- Breeding to increase stress tolerance and disease resistance for Feed the Future focus crops (maize, coffee and beans)
- A partnership with Harvest Plus to scale up the production and mainstream marketing of biofortified/nutritionally-enhanced crop varieties, specifically orange-fleshed sweet potato and high zinc/iron beans.
