Release number IFAD/40/07

Rome, 21 September 2007 – A new IFAD-funded programme in Uganda will help increase incomes, boost economic growth and reduce poverty by improving farmers’ access to markets with better infrastructure.  

The programme will be funded partially by a US$15 million IFAD loan to the Government of Uganda.The Community Agricultural Infrastructure Improvement Programme, cofinanced by the African Development Bank, will cover 26 districts in central and eastern Uganda, representing about 27 per cent of the country’s land area.

The loan agreement was signed at IFAD headquarters in Rome by Deo K. Rwabita, Ambassador of the Republic of Uganda to Italy, and Kanayo F. Nwanze, Vice-President of IFAD. Margaret Kyogire, Uganda’s Minister Counsellor, accompanied the ambassador to the signing. 

Uganda lacks road access to many rural communities and has few processing facilities, which makes it extremely difficult for farmers to market their produce.

“This programme will improve roads so that transit time and unpredictability is reduced,” said Marian Bradley, IFAD’s country programme manager for Uganda. “It will also invest in agroprocessing to reduce post-harvest losses and improve produce quality. With better roads and markets, transaction costs will be lower and productivity and competitiveness will increase. Prices for farm produce will also rise, and that will mean higher household incomes and improved standards of living.”

To promote a sense of ownership, the programme will ensure that small farmers and their communities participate in the selection of infrastructure projects and in rehabilitation and construction work. Community mobilization projects will be sensitive to gender issues.

The population in the programme area is about 8.8 million people, representing some 1.8 million households, or about 35 per cent of the national population. These districts are poorer than the national average as measured by the United Nations Human Poverty Index.

“IFAD has responded to the government’s Plan for Modernization of Agriculture by recently revising our strategy for working with Uganda,” said Bradley. “Our approach now includes promoting strong civil society organizations and community-based development, and improving the capacity of households and communities to increase their integration into markets.”

Throughout more than 22 years of partnership, IFAD and Uganda have been strongly committed to reducing rural poverty. Loans from IFAD, totalling about US$178 million, have helped finance 11 projects, five of them ongoing. More than 2.2 million people have directly benefited.

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IFAD is an international financial institution and a specialized United Nations agency dedicated to eradicating poverty and hunger in rural areas of developing countries. Through low-interest loans and grants, IFAD develops and finances programmes and projects that enable poor rural people to overcome poverty themselves. There are 191 ongoing IFAD-supported rural poverty eradication programmes and projects, worth a total of US$6.6 billion. IFAD has invested US$3.1 billion, with cofinancing provided by partners including governments, project participants, multilateral and bilateral donors. These initiatives will help about 82 million poor rural women and men to achieve better lives for themselves and their families. Since starting operations in 1978, IFAD has invested US$9.8 billion in 751 programmes and projects that have reached more than 310 million poor rural women and men. Governments and other financing sources in recipient countries, including project participants, contributed US$9.2 billion, and multilateral, bilateral and other donors provided another US$7.2 billion in cofinancing.