Abstract:
Evaluation of existing farmer groups and establishment of new ones to multipliply seed and carry out dissemination of key crops in the region (beans, ground nuts, rice and cassava) is the main focus of this project. Through intensive training, demonstrations and sensitization, farmers will be empowered to produce quality seeds of improved crop varieties. In order to ease dissemination and accessibility of these seeds by majority of farmers, agro-dealers will be identified and trained by a specialized firm like Uganda National Agro-dealer Development Association (UNADA) to equip them with business and entrepreneurial skills. Some foundation seed will be obtained from national crop research institutes and some produced at Abi ZARDI. Abi will again work closely with district cooperative and extension staff to help the selected farmer groups with technical skills to produce seed as well as monitoring.