FLASH DRYING TECHNOLOGY- An Investors Extraordinary Journey With The New Technology In Uganda
For a long time, farmers engaged in cassava processing in the Lango region had faced burdens of processing cassava during the rainy seasons. The bad weather during this season always affected the quality of the cassava flour.
Chipped or grated cassava would take longer to dry and would be highly contaminated by extraneous materials. Introduced from Nigeria in 2016, the flash dryer, a high precision indoor modern cassava drying technology, came at an opportune time.
The technology, makes processing independent of weather, so processors can dry their cassava throughout the year irrespective of weather. This sent many processors smiling after an upgrade from open air processing to the new technology that offers the best answer to weather challenges especially during the wet seasons.
The flash dryer is a state of the art machine designed to dry wet cassava mash, extracted from the cassava graters, into High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) within 3 seconds, making it ready for human and commercial use. The flash dryer can process 3 to 7 tons of HQCF per day.
This technology was introduced by the CAVA project in 2016. Two potential investors from Northern Uganda; Wind Wood Millers Limited in Lira municipality and Adyaka Wholesalers Limited in Apac district picked interest in the multi-million-dollar investment after partaking in a study trip to Malawi to witness the machine at work.
They were amazed at the entire process and decided to come back home and adopt the technology after realizing the benefits including the potential to create employment for more than 2,000 smallholder farmers working as out growers supplying fresh cassava roots to the factories.
Mr. Ivan Okori, Managing Director, WindWood Millers Ltd
Ivan Okori, the Director, Windwood Millers Limited Cassava factory speaks to local Tv and radio press on the profitability of the flash drying technology and the benefits of the technology to the communities in Lira district and beyond.
Ivan Okori, 32 years, is a young shrewd down to earth business man from Kole district, Northern Uganda. He is the Managing Director of Windwood Millers Limited (WML) cassava factory. Ivan has been in the cassava business for close to 10 years. However, his journey with cassava begun way back because for as long as he can remember, cassava has been a very big part of his life.
“I grew up seeing cassava, surviving off it and understanding the potential of what it offered meant for my community and region”
“If every member of the community owns at least an acre of cassava and earns about 1000 USD per season, it would mean a lot for the development of the community. Children would be able to attain a good education, there would be food security and improved nutrition due to the proceeds and also the fact that cassava has the necessary shock-proofing compared to other crops that are susceptible to drought.” says Ivan.
The story of Wind Wood Millers Ltd cassava factory
Wind Wood Millers Limited was incorporated on August 2011 in Lira district, Northern Uganda. Initially, the company dealt with rice production until 2013 when it embraced cassava. During this time, CAVA had already engaged with the company and extended the project outreach programmes to develop the factory to venture into High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) processing.
“By this time, I had seen the potential of cassava growing so fast, and I was among the first people that worked with Uganda breweries limited (UBL), a beer company that needed cassava to brew their popular Ngule and Senator beer brands. So, I started aggregating and sourcing for them this raw material. CAVA had been aware of our push towards cassava and were interested in finding flexible businesses that had high potential for growth as SMEs in areas the project targeted. And from that we had initial contact and engaged in discussions to jointly tread the journey.
And so, we walked with them through the journey of working with farmer groups, having these tested, analyzing them and meeting the potential markets. We have been with them through the whole journey to this day of us having the flash dryer. We worked with mainly 17 farmer groups from Eastern and Northern Uganda through the CAVA Project that reached out to farmers and extended skills in good agricultural practices, trained them in using new processing technologies and also availed these technologies to the farmers, especially the use of raised metallic drying technologies to obtain a quality product ready for the market.
These farmers were trained to hygienically handle and dry the cassava at the right time so that its potential qualities like the starch remain intact. CAVA set a precedent away from the traditional ways/ methods of placing it directly on the floor which highly compromised quality and these interventions greatly revamped the cassava value chain.
My work as an aggregator was made easy. I sourced for quality chips from the farmers who were by this time organized into farmer groups. After I got the chips from the farmers, I milled this into flour and supplied to the brewery but also the local markets especially the composite flour millers and bakeries. The product was to the standards expected by the markets- very good quality.” Ivan adds that since the interventions, the crops potential has widened. “Today, cassava price has doubled more to what it was that time.
In some uses, it has twice doubled and I think the potential is even greater if we follow through what other countries are doing with it, for example, Thailand and other western countries that have maximally used cassava way down to glue making, glucose /fructose production, and other industrial applications. Every month am surprised by what comes up. I have seen that cassava can do paperboard and so far, the trials to apply it have been quite successful and that is a market we are working to tap into.
I have also recently got to learn that cassava can be used to make a certain type of cement. This is amazing. And, with all these developments, I see cassava as a crop of the future and am also glad that Wind Wood Millers is at the fore front of pushing to ensure that the cassava future is bright not just for us or the communities we work for but also beyond.” remarks a smiling Ivan.
Ivan says that the factory is located in the area because it is known to be a cassava basin and this favors its presence there.
Mr. Okori, the Director, Windwood Millers Limited Cassava factory (left) and employees, process fresh cassava root into High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) using the flash drying technology.
His journey to acquiring the technology
In 2015, Ivan was selected and facilitated by the CAVA project to visit Malawi to experience and witness first-hand the flash drying technology. And just like Mr. Sam Opio of Adyaka Whole Salers cassava factory, he too acquired the investment that CAVA supported him to obtain. Today, he and Opio are the only two investors of the now fully operational cassava factories in Lira and Apac districts, in Northern Uganda.
He passionately speaks of how he was inspired to take on the investment. “When in Malawi, I had quite some interesting experiences from which I learnt a lot. I interacted with a young gentleman not more than 4 years older than me who had a 400acre cassava farm.
I had never in my life seen so much cassava, funny, because you would think growing up seeing cassava gardens all around me, I had seen all the cassava there needs to be seen, but NO! apparently, I had not. This, to me was an interesting challenge and was the initial spark / drive to scale up my gardens.
Then I saw the cassava factory in operation and was quite amazed at how the HQCF was produced in just seconds, and the same product was being used to make biscuits. This also blew me away.
I really liked the consistency with which they were able to buy/use fresh cassava root, process it, dry it, pack it and take it to the production site of the biscuit company and produce an end product ready for the market.
This all got me seriously thinking, ‘if they could do it, so can I’. And when I returned, my mind was already sold into it all. And the reason I was quick to take up this technology was due to the consistency in production quantity and quality of the end product.” says a cheery Ivan.
Challenges with acquisition of the Flash dryer
Ivan narrates the struggles he endured with acquiring the multi-million-dollar investment.
“This was quite a tough journey. First of all, the model was from Nigeria and so had to be shipped here. Also, all through the process, we were very much convinced that the agro processing machinery was tax exempt and so, our financial base at the time the dryer was coming in was mainly focused on just setting up the factory housing structure based on the designs availed by the NOBEX Technologies engineering team from Nigeria.
But, when the machinery came, we were shocked to discover it was not tax exempt. This was a blow that cost us about 17,000USD. It was a tough battle that took about 6 months and we lost quite some money in it. Tuning the machines took a very long time of close to about 2 years and the greatest challenge post installation has been the cost of fuel to run the machinery.”
He also mentions that to address this, there are approaches being applied by the company to tackle the fuel challenges. “We first of all are working to retune the machines to use less fuel. We conducted a market study for the different clients, understood what they require and are giving them exactly that. We segmented our product lines and are creating different variety products of very high grade, middle and more affordable grades.
All these efforts are so that we cut fuel consumption by over 50%.” The factory is currently producing different grades of quality flour to satisfy the different target markets.
Ivan feels there is a huge lesson to learn from the entire experience. “The lesson around this is that if we were to do it again, we would be best prepared on how to handle this especially seeking prior exemption before the machines are on their destination from the original countries.”
Challenges in the flash drying business thus far
He narrates the challenges in the business. “Sometimes there is scarcity of cassava root and this causes a hike in buying price. We are also not yet certified which is keeping us out of penetrating the international markets, and these are many because they have a high utilization capacity for the cassava flour since it is gluten free.” Ivan also mentions that they are still faced with challenges in marketing the HQCF product because there is still little knowledge on its potential use and application in different industries.
He also points out that there is still need to replicate the model to a more affordable and less man power intensive enterprise. “Given that there are different stages in the flash drying process, this somewhat slows down the drying process and we feel that we are not utilizing it to its fullest capacity. Along the way, there is peeling and we currently use peelers but the job is still not a hundred percent. This can greatly affect the end product. Aside from that, the cassava needed is a lot and the processes are tedious, because there is peeling, washing, pressing, and to be honest, if these were automated, it would save us a lot more money.”
Benefits of the technology
Ivan, despite the struggles, confesses that the investment is one of the best decisions he has made in life for he sees a bright future ahead. “The market for HQCF is quite big and we are tirelessly working hard to hit this market. The companies I supply to are very impressed with my HQCF and I look forward to a long working relationship with these because they have appreciated how using local raw material like cassava flour has greatly contributed to cutting down on their costs of production. For example, they attest that the product has impacted on their industry targets because they save about 400 UGX per kilogram purchased. These save between 5000 to 8000 USD monthly by buying our flour.”
He further notes that the investment has enabled them create high level products that are able to meet the different industry demands with quality and consistency. This has informed the company to come up with the right price for the different target industries. “By using the technology, we are able to measure improvements in productivity, thus enabling us save time and costs. There is a huge efficiency saving in using the dryer and it’s a whole different production process which is less tedious than having to depend on weather. With this, we are assured of a consistent quality product that leaves a client happy and satisfied.”
He also attests that the investment has landed him more partnerships and elevated his stature as an SME in the Lango sub region. “We have secured more markets stretching to as far as South Sudan due to a strong network created over the years. WML has a pool of farmers that have reached out to us for planting material and this offers a basic drive to develop our communities. We also have a pool of companies, NGOs, Government initiatives that want to promote cassava and look at us as the best example to promote cassava because of what and how we’re doing it.”
“We are tapping into all these markets that are readily available to consume all this cassava flour. CAVA has helped us establish the profitability of the machine and linked us to all these markets that we have to keep happy by ensuring timely provision of the product.” We have to maximize our opportunities using the Flash dryer. It is seasonal. Come rain or shine, it runs. Out-growers are awed by the technology and amazed by the fact that it dries cassava within seconds rather than what they are used to of hours and hours, days, and sometimes weeks of drying.
Innovations fostering the business / operations
Ivan states that the company is benefitting from other partner programmes secured by new partnerships formed. He attributes this exposure to linkages created by CAVA. “We have a partnership with GOAL Uganda and this has broadened our reach to other districts like Agago.
We also have a partnership with the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation that has given us a grant. This has enabled us acquire a new technology like the automated press and is supporting us to secure certification from UNBS. We also have a partnership in progress with GIZ. All these, we believe are avenues that are pushing us further and further to achieve our goal.”
Ivan also mentions that the factory has embraced use of ICTs to digitize the relevant information needed to boost business. “We are in the era of technology and we realize that to be successful, we have to move in that line. And so, we formed a partnership with ThinVoid, an IT company that is helping us design a farmer identification App to enable us track the duration of farmer gardens, and monitor them up to harvest.
Through new innovations, we are pushing to have as many farmers as we can. The target is 10,000 but we are currently working with 1000 that have been contracted to supply FCR to sustain factory operations on a daily basis”
Ivan is one of the youth highly recognized in cassava production and processing in Northern Uganda and has ventured into programs to support fellow youth to access clean planting material at a subsidized fee in order to sustain production for not only the factory but also ensure these have an assured income and food at home. He is a champion of the youth in agribusiness initiative that has seen 4,710 youth in the region, benefit in the cassava business.
“All these efforts are geared towards ensuring consistency in root supply. The Flash Dryer is sky rocketing processing of fresh cassava tubers into HQCF. It guarantees constant processing of fresh tubers into quality flour, irrespective of the weather burdens. We no longer rely on sunshine to guarantee output,” says Ivan.
Mr. Okori in his quality cassava garden from which farmers in the region have readily accessed the material for multiplication so as to sustain fresh root supply to the factory.
Okori endorses investment in the technology
As a pioneer in the flash drying technology, Ivan encourages more investors to acquire the technology.
“It’s been a long journey. We have travelled it with tears, smiles and uncertainty along the way but here we were, standing strong amidst it all. If we did it, you too can do it, so yes, get the machine. We have set the pace and there are many lessons you can learn from our experiences, and we are readily available for any inquiries. Do a lot of market research, be creative and also be very patient with this investment. It is a long-term plan that comes with a lot of patience.
I highly recommend the technology to other processors. However, I advise that due to raw material concerns, they should be at arrange of about 150km from one another.
I also encourage fellow SMEs and farmers to plant more cassava because we are ready to consume it, work with them, ready to train them on the production and processing innovations and share our thoughts about cassava and create a market for it. Work with them and the future of cassava to our community.”
AfrII and Partners push for an integrated data system to achieve sustainable development in Uganda
AfrII in partnership with Conservation International (CI) successfully convened the “Essential Ecosystems for Climate and Sustainable Development” meeting that was held on Tuesday 6th November 2018 at Golden Tulip Hotel in Kampala, for stakeholders to identify and recommend opportunities for incorporating ecosystems into national and sub national planning for climate change and sustainable development in Uganda.
The purpose of the meeting was to present highlights of the findings on a study jointly conducted by AfrII and CI on Uganda’s NDCs and get stakeholder feedback after they review the findings.
“We carried out this work through close engagement with you as key stakeholders and partners. We therefore need you all to engage in assessing the results so as to get your views and thoughts on whether it is relevant and also look into how it can be applied and what more is needed because this is important work for the country since Uganda depends a lot on agriculture” said Dr. Peter Alele, the Africa Field Director at Conservation International, while addressing the participants.
The meeting objectives were to; discuss the importance of natural capital in development and climate change, share research on natural capital mapping and policy gaps, identify strengths and weaknesses of natural capital approach and Articulate next steps for addressing information and policy gaps.
CI’s Dr. Pamela M. Collins (standing) presents to stakeholders’ findings on the role of forests in climate and sustainable development
Meanwhile, The AfrII Chairman Prof. William Otim-Nape mentioned the need for a data integration process to improve data sharing among government departments and the private sector. “Data is essential as a basis for policy decisions but it remains scattered across government institutions and private companies and users cannot readily access it. It is important therefore that we have an integrated data system to have the available data sourced for by the different institutions placed into this common pool to be readily and easily accessible by anyone in order to achieve sustainable development.”
The meeting was attended by various stakeholders including officials from the Ministries of Agriculture, Water and Environment, The National Environment Management Authority (NEMA), National Forestry Authority (NFA), National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO), Uganda National Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), Makerere University, selected NGOs, private sector and international development partners.
Evaluating the Benefits of Micro-nutrients on Rice Farming in Uganda
Through active involvement and participation in the Enhancing Rice Markets in Uganda through Smart Micronutrient Fertilization (ENRICH) Project, selected rice farmers in Bugiri and Butaleja districts participated in the evaluation of different fertilizer combinations applied to the trial fields established at Kibimba and Doho irrigation schemes respectively.
The Africa Innovations Institute (AfrII) led project-ENRICH, aims to unravel the contributions of micronutrients in addition to macro nutrient fertilizer application on lowland rice in Uganda.
AfrII Agronomist, Mr. Thomas Awio says that direct involvement of farmers in the evaluation gives them an informed conclusion on the crops performance when micronutrients are applied. “They will then consider whether to take this research forward based on their own judgement / conclusion.” The project has given famers a better understanding on importance of micronutrients to the rice crop for improved productivity. Under their Farmer Research Groups (FRGs), these have been efficiently trained to evaluate the experiments so as to select the best combinations and management practices that will give the best rice yields and then integrate these into their current management practices.
The different fertilizers being evaluated are nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P), Potassium (K), Zinc (Zn), Manganese (Mn), Boron (B), Sulphur (S) and a commercial micronutrient fertilizer Elfert-F.
AfrII Agronomist, Thomas Awio (inset gesturing with arm) speaks to farmers during their evaluation of the rice trial plots
Thomas also stresses the nutrient quality being assessed in this research “we are also looking at how micro- nutrients actually influence the accumulation of nutrients on the grain so that at the end of it all one is eating rice that has the nutrients required by the body.”
Micro-nutrients have been reported to enhance uptake efficiency of NPK, improving rice grain yields, profit margins, grain nutritional quality and disease tolerance.
A Youth’s Dreams Come To Life Thanks To The Opportunities Created By The Flash Dryers
Sarah Adong is 24 years old and a single mother with three children. Currently, she works as a peeler at Adyaka Wholesalers Limited, a cassava flash dryer factory in Apac district. In a day, she earns between 4000 to 5000 Uganda shillings. The factory employs various laborers including 10 women peelers for its day to day operations. “The life changing moment of my life was when I was taken on for this job at the cassava factory. I know my future is brighter now, for I am able to make money.” With this employment, Adong is assured of a daily meal for her and the children. But being young, thrilled at her first job and seeming inexperienced with handling money, Adong has a plan. “I intend to join a community generating income program to guide how I will spend my earnings. I now have responsibilities around food supplies and school fees for my children. And for safety purposes, I also have to save up some of my earnings for emergencies that could arise.”
Adong, after peeling, carries the roots to the washing area
She feels rather relieved that she is not yet tied down by demands for school dues. Her eldest child is in primary one, the second is in baby class and the youngest is still at the breast. “Fees is not yet as demanding because my children are still quite young. This gives me the opportunity to plan accordingly and save up as much as I can for their tuition and scholastic materials.” Says a smiling Adong. Aside from her responsibilities, Adong has even much bigger plans. “My dream is to one day own a business of my own and become an influential woman in society. This clever idea (being in a group) provides me with hope.” She says.
Born in Lira district, Adong is the second last of 6 siblings. Due to poverty and its related challenges, she was forced to leave their birth home 3 years ago in search of a job to live better. That is how she ended up in Apac district. Her life in Apac was also however challenging, and being a single mother with no assured income to survive on, her dreams seemed hopeless for sometime. But now, employed and earning, many of her dreams are coming to life including that of looking after her younger sister. “Growing up as orphans was very challenging especially for me and my two sisters. We were under our elder step brothers and life was not smooth. When I got to 21, I moved out of home to try and make a living. It was however hard leaving my little sister (our last born) behind. Now that I have a job, I plan to bring her here and help her get a job as well.” She adds “I know that by the end of the year, I will have saved up enough money to and go get my little sister and give her hope in the future she seems to have given up on.”
Adong infront of the flash dyer facility at Adyaka
Adong’s story is one relatable to many youths in Uganda out there that are faced with life’s challenges and are looking for a better life through employment. For Adong, her dreams are coming to life, thanks to the Cassava Adding Value for Africa Phase Two (CAVA II) Project that has extended such opportunities to the youth and other people through beneficial community projects. The CAVA II Project facilitated the successful installation of the two cassava factories of Windwood Millers Limited and Adyaka Wholesalers Limited in Lira and Apac districts respectively. Each factory needs about 16 tons of Fresh Cassava Root (FCR) per shift which is dried into 4 tons of High Quality Cassava Flour (HQCF) per shift.
Packaged bags of the HQCF ready for sale
CAVA II is implemented in five African Countries of Nigeria, Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania and Uganda with support from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) through the Natural Resources Institute, University of Greenwich, (NRI). Specifically, in Uganda, CAVA II aims to create by 2019 an annual demand for 69,030 tons of FCR from smallholder farmers and incomes from sale of fresh roots and processing by smallholders who will generate at least USD 4.5 Million/ annum for rural communities.
Are benefits from agricultural intensification related to household income, level of education, and gender? – results from 758 households in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ghana
By Robert Shaffer, Vital Signs Fellows &Scientists_DSSG 2017 ,Africa Innovations Institute,Tanzania Forest Conservation Group,Wildlife Conservation Society Rwanda,The Council for Scientific and Industrial Research Ghana
This analysis is a result of the collaboration between the eScience Insitute Data Science for Social Good Program and Vital Signs. Learn more about this program here.
In developing countries, agricultural intensification (defined as increased input per unit of land) is a key phenomenon of interest. These inputs may include land, fertilizers, pesticides and labor including use of agricultural machinery. Increasing agricultural intensification can contribute to aggregate-level increases in food availability and economic performance. However, these benefits may not be evenly distributed, largely based on unequal access to key inputs, either across landscapes or countries or according to some demographic feature of interest.
For the purposes of this study, we focus on investigating gender- and income-based equity outcomes as they relate to availability and usage of agricultural inputs. Previous studies examining the relationship between gender and input usage have returned mixed results; [1], for example, found organic fertilizer usage is substantially higher in male-headed households than female-headed households. By contrast, usage of improved fallows is largely unrelated to gender of household head. Here, we extend this investigation across an array of agricultural intensification indicators, and examine how usage of these inputs varies by gender and country in the Vital Signs dataset. We conclude by examining the relationship between input usage and landscape-level income and education equity outcomes.
CSS Project supported farmer gets accolade for best Cassava Seed Entrepreneur
Successful cassava farmer and beneficiary of the Cassava Seed Systems Project (CSS), Mr. Akuttu Augustine recently won an award for “Best Cassava Seed Entrepreneur 2013-2017” under the Cassava Seed Systems Project. Mr. Akutu, a resident of Amuria district in Eastern Uganda was also awarded a certificate of inspection on fulfilling the quality and plant health standards for cassava planting materials. The certificate qualifies him to supply certified cassava stems for planting during the year 2017. He got the two credits in June 2017 this year.
Mr. Akuttu owns over 300 acres of cassava spread out in parts of Amuria, Soroti and Serere districts. Last year, in 2016, he made sales of 170 Million Uganda Shillings from 3500 bags of cuttings sold. This year, he supplied 1275 bags of stems and earned 60 Million Uganda Shillings. He has also been contracted by the Government’s National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) to supply cassava cuttings to neighboring districts including Abim.
His proceeds have been used to among other things, buy more land to expand acreage to grow more cassava, set up new constructions at home and a commercial building in Soroti town.
Mr. Akuttu shows off his accolade and certificate earned from his efforts as a dedicated CSE
Also recognized with a similar certificate is Mr. Sam Opio, another successful Cassava Seed Entrepreneur and owner of Adyaka Farm in Apac district -Northern Uganda. Mr. Opio owns over 150 acres of cassava and is still expanding his acreage with aim to further boost his cassava business but also to ensure sustainable root supply for his cassava Flash drying factory of Adyaka Wholesalers Limited, also located in Apac district.
As a certified seed entrepreneur, Mr. Opio has been contracted to supply cuttings to the Government’s Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) this year, 2017. Also, in 2016, last year he supplied cuttings to OWC and earned 200 Million Uganda Shillings.
Mr. Opio with his certificate of recognition as a certified Cassava Seed Entrepreneur (CSE)
The Cassava Seed Systems Project (CSS) aims to catalyze the establishment of a functional cassava seed system to effectively regulate the production and dissemination of quality cassava planting materials in Uganda so as to improve food security and livelihoods of the small holder farmer through timely and cost effective access to disease free cassava planting materials.
The key implementers of the project are the Africa Innovations Institute (AfrII), National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI), CHAIN Uganda, BioCrops and the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).
Cassava farmer expands farming business with CAVA II trainings and Farmer-to-Farmer technical assistance
Christine Nalubinga is a farmer and member of NADIFA in Nakasongola. She is a housewife, but for the last 10 years has engaged in farming with her husband. She began cassava farming, despite having no prior training in cassava production.
Christine and her husband have 13 Children. She is 45 and he is 48 years old. The couple had for a long time been planting cassava the old fashioned way until in 2013 when CAVA intervened. Their efforts then were not of much benefit given the poor harvests obtained from their small gardens. Years later, their farming business has expanded and the couple has bought some cows, which they use during planting. Her cassava business continues to grow at the new cassava opportunities opening up greatly.
“We harvest about 150 bags of stems and sell each bag at 35,000 Uganda shillings giving us an earning of about 4 million Uganda shillings in just a month. We also earn a lot from processing.This is cassava money that has greatly improved our household status”-Christine Nalubinga. The couple today owns 3 and a half acres of cassava of the NASE 14 and NAROCASS 1 varieties, and plans to expand their acreage with an additional 1 acre on which to plant more cassava.
Christine narrates how it all came about. ‘It so happened that one day we were among the many farmers mobilized for a training on cassava production and it is from then that our lives changed. We have since had access to quality seed of the NASE 14 and NAROCASS 1 varieties.’ Christine says.
The couple was however by then not part of the Nakasongola District Farmers Association (NADIFA) group until after seeing the benefits of belonging to a group after a training they attended. ‘We were trained on good agronomic practices and management of the cassava crop and after the training my husband and I registered to be part of NADIFA’ Christine adds.
Since joining the NADIFA group, the couple has seen tremendous changes in their livelihoods. They are food secure, able to provide an education for their children, engage in farming of other crops and also rearing livestock. The couple has also constructed a house and purchased more land to expand their farming business.
CAVA II Uganda has been greatly influential in offering trainings and imparting knowledge and skills to the farmers in not only good agronomic practices but also processing of HQCF.
In a month, the group processes about 70 tons of FCR with the breweries being their largest end user market. Other markets include the local bakeries and home consumption.
Christine and other group members of NADIFA peeling fresh root to process HQCF at their processing site.
High Resolution Soil Nutrient Maps Using Machine Learning
As part of its mission, Vital Signs collects soil samples from points scattered across the countries that it works in – filling critical gaps on soil nutrients, agricultural suitability, and land degradation. These soil samples are then analyzed in the World Agroforestry Center laboratory in Nairobi to yield data on soil properties including particle size, pH, nutrient availability and nutrient content. To date, Vital Signs has collected 5,969 soil samples and has had 3,714 analyzed by the lab. Here is the breakdown by country:
These soil samples fill critical data gaps for soils scientists and researchers worldwide. Recently, the lab-analyzed samples were used by the International Soil Reference and Information Center (ISRIC) in combination with soil samples from other initiatives like AfSIS and EthioSIS, and One Acre Fund to generate maps of soil nutrient content across the continent. These maps were created using ensemble machine learning techniques like random forests and gradient boosting using the soil samples from Vital Signs and other projects as training data. Geographic data on known soil nutrient co-variates like land cover, precipitation, lithology, and vegetation was used to predict nutrient availability at fine spatial scales across sub-Saharan Africa for organic Carbon, total (organic) Nitrogen, total Phosphorus, and extractable Phosphorous, Potassium, Calcium, Magnesium, Sulfur, Sodium, Iron, Manganese, Zinc, Copper, Aluminum and Boron. Cross validation found that all of the nutrients were predicted significantly except for Sulfur, Phosphorus and Boron.
Read full post on Vital Signs website: http://vitalsigns.org/soil-nutrient-maps
Are the effects of extension services on crop productivity moderated by farmer’s education attainment? Results from 25 Landscapes in Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania and Ghana
This analysis is a result of the collaboration between the eScience Insitute Data Science for Social Good Program and Vital Signs. Learn more about this program here.
Existing studies of farmer field schools (FFS) have found that these programs exhibit a sizable positive effect on per-acre crop productivity value among households with lower educational attainment, with negligible effects on higher-education households[1] [2]. In these analyses, we examined whether a similar effect can be observed when examining a broader set of extension services.Agricultural households in Vital Signs landscapes were therefore asked whether they received extension services in the past 12 months. The categories of extension services used in this study were Agricultural Production, Agro-processing, Marketing, and Livestock Production.
In the analyses,we examined the effects of extension services on crop productivity and if these services were moderated by farmers’ educational attainment. To measure receipt of extension services, we counted the total number of instances in which a given household received advice on any of the topics measured in the Vital Signs dataset. For example, if a household received advice from two sources on Agricultural Production and one source on Agro-processing, we counted that household as having received three extension instances.
For education, previous studies [2] have measured education using educational attainment of the head of the household. However, based on our team’s experience providing and examining extension services in the region, we argue that the maximum individual-level educational attainment represents a better measure. Older household members often receive fewer opportunities to study than their younger counterparts, who may be able to “translate” advice.
Otherwise, to maintain consistency with existing work we attempted to maintain the same set of independent variables as those used in  [2]. In particular, we controlled for country, total area farmed, household size, age of household head, gender of household head, and median household-level field distance to road and market. We also included variables corresponding to field ownership and shared field usage, discretized into “All Owned”/“Some Owned”/“None Owned” and “All Shared”/“Some Shared”/“None Shared”, respectively.
Can forests buffer against malnutrition? evidence from vital signs data monitoring in Uganda
By Matthew Cooper, Tabby Njung’e, Alice Ruhweza, Peter Alele, Felly Tusiime and Julius Okwadi
Many studies have demonstrated how forests and natural areas can improve dietary diversity[1], food security and nutrition[2]. Forests provide a greater variety of foods than agriculture alone[3], and can remain productive even during times of drought and climate stress, when agriculture fails. People in rural parts of the developing world depend directly on forest food products like bushmeat, fruit, nuts, insects, leaves, and honey to provide nutrition[4]. Nonfood products like building materials and medicines can also bolster food security by providing additional sources of income.
The Vital Signs monitoring system, collects and integrates primary and secondary data using standardized protocols and methods including household surveys, vegetation plot measurements and remote sensed data allowing researchers and policymakers to dig further into these trends.
Preliminary Vital Signs results show the role that forest resources play in nutrition and the toll that missing forests take is exemplified in three landscapes in Uganda: Masindi in Western Uganda, Kisoro in the southwest, and Yumbe in the Northwest.
Masindi is one of the most agriculturally productive parts of Uganda – households grow maize and sunflower, as well as cash crops like tobacco and sugarcane. Farmers use ample agricultural inputs like fertilizers and pesticides, and most use ox ploughs, with others preferring tractors. The average household in Masindi produces $341 a year worth of crops with some households producing over $1,000 annually. This high agricultural output means that malnutrition is relatively low with only 22% of children surveyed being stunted.
