MASAKA/NTUNGAMO – Farmers in Masaka and Ntungamo districts who enrolled for the Agriculture Cluster Development Project (ACDP) which was designed to increase production, productivity and marketable volumes of Coffee, Beans, Cassava, Maize and Rice in 42 districts have received materials and equipment for post-harvest handling of Coffee and Maize.
These are inputs the farmers requested for using the e-voucher system.
On Wednesday 19, the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries engaged Ntungamo farmers in growing Coffee and Beans and Coordination Committees in Rweikiniro sub-county, supported by the ACDP.
The post-harvest handling include tarpaulins to be used to drying the produce to improve on quality and also avoid contamination with aflatoxins, among other unwanted substances that can spoil agricultural produce especially Maize.
The ACDP has been effective for 27 months, during which it underwent a second tier-two restructuring that is currently being implemented; the first restructuring was in amendment to the project effectiveness conditions in November 2016.
The performance rating over the effectiveness period has for the most part been ‘unsatisfactory’, fetching the project the undesirable status of a ‘problem project’. The fourth Implementation Support Mission of November 2018 upgraded the project performance rating to ‘Moderately Satisfactory’, marking the beginning of significantly positive change. This report covers the cumulative progress since the start of the current Financial Year (FY) 2018/2019.
In fiduciary terms, the performance has improved from an expenditure level of USD 7,604,931= as of December 2018, to USD 10,227,127.8= as at end of March 2019. This is a 34% change on the previous performance level, representing 6.8% of the USD 150,000,000= World Bank International Development Association (IDA) credit financing.
The key physical performance and progress in component one pertains to the Electronic Voucher Management System (EVMS). Following the EVMS launch in Kalungu district in November 2018, up to 12,950 farmers have been enrolled onto the system – these have paid their commitment fees, which also double as an initial deposit on the inputs. Information, Extension & Communications (IEC) materials on the EVMS, Financial Literacy and Agro-input use were developed, and subsequently, 3,988 farmers in the pilot districts have been trained.
The first set of 679 farmers that received inputs in Kalungu district in Season 2018B represented the first positive change in the Project Development Objective key performance indicator on number of direct project beneficiaries. This indicator now stands at 3,530.
