Abstract:

NARO is mandated by the National Agricultural Research (NAR) Act 2005 to undertake research
in all aspects of agricultural activities in Uganda including crops, livestock, fisheries, forestry,
agro-machinery, natural resources management and socio-economics. The mandate is guided
by SDGs 1, 2, 3 and 12; CAADP pillars 3 and 4; the Science Agenda for Agriculture in Africa,
aspiration one of Agenda 2063; EAC Vision 2050; NDP III; Uganda’s Vision 2040; the objectives of
the Agricultural Sector Strategic Plan plus NARO’s 10-year strategic plan 2018/19-2027/28. These
policies underpin the work plan and runs under the theme Agricultural Research for Products to
Spur Agro-industrialisation and Shared Prosperity. It serves as a one-point reference document for
guiding research and development activities to be conducted during the fiscal year 2020/21, and as
a framework for effective and efficient implementation of research activities based on the budget. It
is also a means of ensuring delivery of planned deliverables, accountability and, efficient monitoring
and evaluation.
The interventions presented in this workplan and budget were arrived at through a participatory
exercise which followed review and planning processes from different Public Agricultural Research
Institutes (PARIs) before it was considered and recommended by NARO Top management to the
NARO Council for approval. The workplan and budget highlights key deliverables from the financial
year 2019/20, which include 20 new varieties 41 production technologies, 40 CGS mode run studies,
32 technological innovation platforms established/supported and 40 technological innovations
delivered to uptake pathways from the different research components in NARO’s sixteen (16)
PARIs. In addition, it is cognizant of the advances made under differentresearch extension interfaces
promoted and strengthened in the financial year 2019/20 which includepartnerships, technology
promotion and dissemination, and strategic positioning of NARO for improved visibility. The
workplan highlights progress made in improving internal controls, strengthening agricultural
research capacity, collaborations, promoting good governance and management plus planning,
monitoring and evaluation.
This year’s work plan and budget benchmarks the 2019/20 budget which was funded bygovernment
of Uganda under GoU development, GoU recurrent and Non-Tax Revenue (NTR).NARO received
UGX 57.103 billion (72%) out of the annual budgeted UGX 79.662 billion, and spent 100% of the
released budget. This release was less than the UGX 63.971 billion received in 2018/19 and the UGX
88.648 billion for 2017/18, indicating a continued declining trend in budget allocations to NARO.
With this financial support, NARO implemented only 80% of the 2019/20 workplan and most of
the achieved success is attributed to implementation of research activities under the CGS mode
that targets specific products with inbuilt mechanisms for tracking progress to inform management
decisions plus support from off-budget funding. Implementation of the 2019/20 workplan was thus
faced with challenges including inadequacies in funding, human resource, research infrastructure,
and stakeholder engagement. This was compounded by limited information dissemination,
emerging issues that had to be accommodated, dynamic change in technology, locust infestation,
COVID-19 pandemic, and competing land use interests among others. This situation came with
implementation gaps such as the inadequate capacity to deal with biotic (emerging pests and
diseases) and abiotic (climate change and declining soil fertility) challenges. Furthermore, there
were limited efforts to support sustainable use and conservation of existing plant and animal genetic
resources, low connection with markets and industry due to limited funding, effective partnerships
and technology transfer linkages and others. Workplan implementation was also characterised by
limited support to effectively promote use of technological innovations and management practices
leading to persistent yield gap between on-station and farm-level productivity. This was coupled
with limited capacity for postharvest processing, storage and packaging of seed produced by PARIs
and inadequate ICT integration in agricultural research as a support tool for decision making and real time data management.Amidst the gaps, the previous work plan opened up several opportunities including: a chance to
build research capacity to develop new or improve existing technologies and management practices
with increased resilience to biotic and abiotic constraints to boost production and productivity
in different environments. The workplan also gives NARO a chance to increase its focus on bio
fortification through development of gender inclusive and nutrient fortified crop varieties for
healthier diets, improve pest and disease surveillance through development of integrated options
including but not limited to use of computerized early warning systems, development of NARO’s
laboratory capacity for improved pathogen diagnosis, and enhance its knowledge and information
sharing ability by operationalizing a knowledge management system. This will enable NARO to
develop capacity to produce demand-led products and services suited for niche markets, enhance
its capacity in production of early generation seed and conducting core field based research, develop
human resources and infrastructure research capacity, exploit the potential of youth and women,
and share and collect information that will accelerate high impact agricultural research for socio
economic transformation.
The NARO workplan2020/21 will be funded mainly by GoU, to the tune of UGX 110.017 billion
compared to UGX 79.662 billion for 2019/20 and UGX 69.5 billion for 2017/18. This funding will be
invested in key priority areas namely, generation of agricultural technologies (UGX 11.365 billion,
10.33%); promoting and strengthening research extension interface (UGX 1.99 billion, 1.81%); and
strengthening of agricultural research capacity (UGX 26.497 billion, 24.1%), contract staff salaries UGX
33.233, 30.21% and other critical areas. Additional financial support is expected from development
partners to fund projects which are currently under formulation. Additional funding valued at
UGX57,658 billion, 52.41% is expected from development partners through off-budget projects. With
the aforementioned planned funding, the required governance and human resource, it is hoped that
NARO’s advanced research agenda will cause rapid transformation of the agricultural sub-sector
and contribute to economic growth and attainment of middle-income status. The NARO Top Policy
Management (TPM) is committed to fulfillment of the aspirations ascribedherein and will use this
workplan for disbursement of resources and accountability during the FY 2020/21