Vital Signs Monitoring System for Agriculture and Environment sustainability – Uganda
Donor: Conservation International, USA.
Duration:2016-2019
Introduction. There is an urgent need for better data and risk management tools to guide agricultural development decisions, ensuring that they protect both people and nature. VITAL SIGNS in Uganda addresses this through a partnership project between Africa Innovations Institute, Conservation International, the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa.
Aims and objectives of the project. The project aims to provide near real-time data and diagnostic tools to leaders around the world to help inform agricultural decisions and monitor their outcomes.
The project is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, implemented by Conservation International (CI) in partnership with the Earth Institute at Columbia University and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa. It is being implemented in Tanzania, Ghana, Ethiopia and Uganda. The Africa Innovations Institute is the Vital Signs partner in Uganda and is responsible for coordinating and managing implementation of project activities in the country in partnership with other local institutions.
Key interventions. a) Collection of better data. Vital Signs gathers on-the-ground measurements of several different indicators of sustainability. These measurements help to create an accurate picture of the relationship among agriculture, nature and human well-being. The indicators measured include sustainable agricultural production, water availability and quality, soil health, biodiversity, carbon stocks, climate resilience, household income, nutrition and market access.
- b) Inform development decisions. Vital Signs provides the key data and the analytical tools that decision-makers need to evaluate trade‐offs, manage risk and inform decisions. By doing so, it influences policymakers to work toward resilient ecosystems and sustainable livelihoods for smallholder farmers. It creates a global public good: a freely accessible and transparent information resource.
- c) Build national capacity. A key goal of Vital Signs is to increase local and national capacity, for environmental monitoring, among scientists, civil society, government leaders and the private sector — throughout Africa and the entire world.
