Project Title: Enhancing agricultural productivity and profitability of oilseed crop farming community Background:
The Vegetable oilseed sector is one of the seven strategic agricultural commodities selected by Uganda government for transforming agriculture from subsistence to commercial farming within the policy framework of Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) under the Plan for Modernization of Agriculture (PMA).  North-Eastern Uganda accounts for over 70% of the production and has been earmarked by government (through zoning programme) as the region with the highest geographical comparative advantage for oilseed crops (VODP, 2006). Emphasis on the sub sector as a trigger of development is focused on market and particular attention to rural farmers (PMA, 2000). Since inception, different strategies have developed and have attracted various stakeholders (public agency like VODP, NGOs like UOSPA, private sectors like Mukwano, Mt Meru and individuals like farmers in the sector. 

The strategies and development interest by many in the sector has resulted into annual sector growth at a rate of 3% annually and a reduction in the importation of edible vegetable oil from 95% in 1995 to 62% at present  (UOSPA,VODP 2009), Per capita consumption increasing from 3.2kg/person/year in 2000 to 4.6/person per/ year by 2010. On the farmer side a number of income generating activities have cropped up alongside oilseed crop production and processing, for example apiary, production of animal feeds from oilseed cakes, farmer groups soap making from sunflower and Shea-nuts oils, auxiliary support services and small kiosks that buy and resale oil. This has lead to diversification of agriculture hence spreading of risk in oilseed farming The number of traders engaged in buying and selling edible vegetable oils (especially sunflower oil) has increased.  The sector is contributing to the national treasury 2.1 billion shillings per year in terms of local taxes and trade licenses (UBOS, URA, 2008). Moreover there are still high chances to create community wealth due to many untapped opportunities like: high national and regional demand for raw material by established industries, high edible vegetable oils regional demand compared to low supply to market, structural upward increase in oilseed crop price both nationally and regionally and increasing usage of vegetable oils 
 
The Uganda Oilseed Producers and Processors Association (UOSPA) being funded by Agriterra is the main institutional player which was set up in 1995 to contribute to increased production. Its membership currently includes both oilseed producers and processors, consisting of 947 farmer groups with a total of 73,295 households and 62 processors.
 
However, despite all the above achievements there is still problems like; limited entrepreneurial capability/skills by benefiting farmers, poor farmer group capacity to adjust to market dynamics, beneficiary’s low adoptions and accessibility to improved technologies and other agricultural inputs, limited crop finance facilities for re-investment in the sector, farmers receive very low price for their produce and they lack collective voice to lobby for better working policies. Also there is inadequate record keeping skill in the farmer groups with insufficient system to document and keep proper records, leadership structure, poor linkage and knowledge sharing between the different stakeholders/actors and difficulties in managing of the clusters being formed and their resources. The oil millers are operating far below capacity 40% due to mismatch between capacity and the raw material supply. Mismatched between the raw material supply and oilseed industries’ demand have resulted to scrambling for the crushable raw material by the many established industries in the region hence compromising the quality of raw material supplied to mills by the farmers. This problem, if not addressed, may lead to collapse/closure of the already developed industries since they depend 90% on the traditional oilseed crops to produce oil. Collapse of the industries would lead to loss of major source of income for farmers in these two regions as sunflower has been their main cash crops (source of money with established market). It has been the experience that in the absence of viable cash crops to sell, households sell away food crops for cash hence leading to household food insecurity.
Therefore the proposed intervention is to continue with UOSPA’s activities that would contribute to improvement of food security recovery and increase income of returning oilseed farmer families in the East and Northern region. The program is targeting to start with 4,500 small holder farming families (beneficiaries) in the first year and reach 18,000 farming families by the end of the project

Overall objective
Increase household income, food and nutrition security of the resettling small holder oilseed crop farmers in the northern and eastern region of Uganda

Specific Objective
Build capacity of the present 947 farmer groups into 63 bankable business clusters by year 2015 
Increase farmers’ access to improved oilseed crop planting seeds by year 2013 
Increase household oilseed crop productivity from 700kg per acre to 1000kg per acre by the end of the program 
Improved farmers’ access to better market and market information by the end of the program
Build the capacity of 63 farming clusters to be able to lobby and advocate to government for favourable sector policies

Main activities:
Training cluster members in basic business knowledge  
Strengthening of the regional oilseed sub-sector platform 
Train cluster members on simplified business plan development
Coordinate and promote the cluster saving and credit scheme
Support bulk marketing through promotion of warehouse receipt system
Seasonal acquisition of breeder seeds from the breeder
Train and contract clusters to multiply planting seeds
Training and establish seed stockiest in every clusters
Seasonally multiplication of sunflower, soyabeans and sesame seeds
Collaborate with Uganda Seed Certification Services
Establishment of farmers, technology learning platform sites
Development of an Integrated Pest and Disease Management package
Develop and print simplified booklets on oilseed crop agronomy, post harvest handling, soil and water management
Train 150 key farmers as Extension Linked farmers
Establish 13 (thirteen) market information portal in thirteen different clusters
Link the producers and processors to local, regional and international markets
Collaborate with UEPB, UBOS, MTTI and EACM to share export market information
Train 13 professionals in the clusters to manage data entry and system
Identifications of relevant polices that affect the sectors
Policy Sensitization campaign for stakeholders     
Coordinating and calling policy dialogue meetings with relevant ministries/ departments
Lobby government for representation in Presidential round table platform 

Expected results 

Formation of business oriented clusters
Farmers position in the oilseed value chained strengthened
Improved financial management in the clusters
Increased and strong linkages between oilseed sub-sector actors
Increased farmers, accessibility to quality planting seeds
Planting seeds national demand met
Cluster members equipped with seed multiplication skills and knowledge
Sustainable soil productivity
Increased efficiency and productivity of operating oil mills
Increased household income from oilseed crop production
Organized marketing of farmers produce
Increased quality products delivered to the market
Plat form with strong voice to lobby government formed
Increased farmers awareness of existing oilseed sub-sector policies and their input incorporated
Increased farmers knowledge of the; national, regional and international market

Monitoring and evaluation
The measurable indicators would be; quantity of farmers produce sold in bulk, number of 
clusters who are practicing saving and credit scheme, number of clusters contracted to multiply seeds, number of clusters which are selling their product in international market, increasing quantity of breeder seeds bought for multiplication, number of clusters with business plan,  increasing quantity of quality improved seeds bought by farmers, number of policy dialogue meetings held with relevant ministries/ departments, an inventory of policies that are related to oilseed sub-sector, stakeholders awareness of such policies, 

Source of data collection
Monitoring report, attendance list from the beneficiaries, minutes of meetings,   clusters store records, receipts from the research stations, financial report of clusters, UOSPA audit report, 

Sustainability
The saving and credit scheme would instill culture of saving and will also provide soft loan for the farmers For example a cluster where 15 different groups come together, membership would be 750 people. If this members  agree to collect 1000 each every Sunday, in a month they would have save 1000 x 750 members x 4 Sundays = 3,000,000. This would imply that in a year they would have saved minimum of 36,000,000 (12,000 Euros). Such a cluster would be able to; buy inputs in bulk, easily pay for membership with UOSPA, lend money (soft loan) to needy members at critical production period and can carry out business by paying for bulking of members’ produce at time price is not good and sell at good margin.

Training the farmers in seed multiplication and practicing, would give the farmer insights of what are supposed to be done during seed multiplication which knowledge may be used by group in their informal seed multiplication. Also the same farmers may  use the same knowledge to work with other seed companies in future to multiply for them other seed crop varieties after UOSPA program has ended. Procedures used by the seed multipliers to produce quality seeds can be applied in producing quality raw material for oil mill industries The premium price offered for seeds will benefit farmers producing planting seeds more than those growing to feed the mills. Contract agreement for seed multiplication knowledge obtained by the farmers can principally be used by the farmers in future for contract farming to produce raw material for oil mill industries/produce dealers. 

The 150 seed stockiest from the clusters trained in seed handling and marketing would develop into agro-input dealers meaning that the clusters with such trained stockiest  would evolved as a source of most of the agro-input for farmers within the farming community even after the project has ended.

Seed multiplication would be source of matching funds for UOSPA which can take over donor dependence after sometimes

In bulking the farmers would have reduce the operations of the middlemen and they would realize volumes with better quality crops which gives them better bargaining powers hence better profit margins. The activities when well developed would make farmer take farming as a business, increase business trust/linkage between the clusters and the markets. This bulking can be replicated in marketing of other crops other than oilseed.   
Trained key farmers within the clusters in data collection entry and management will continue with UOSPA extension officers work after the end of the project
Oilseed platform would be developed into an institution that would continue dialogue with government even after the project has ended. The same can be replicated to lobby government for other issues

L’objet de la FUCOPRI est le développement de la filière riz au Niger par sa participation à la mise en cohérence des actions de tous les partenaires de cette filière. Les objectifs du projet actuel sont:

-	faciliter à ses membres un approvisionnement régulier en intrants agricoles et tout autre service demandé par ceux ci ;
-	assurer la protection de la production nationale et garantir l'écoulement du riz de ses membres ;
-	défendre sur le plan national et international les intérêts moraux, techniques, économiques et législatifs de ses membres ;
-	amener ses membres à disposer de réelles capacités d’analyse et de gestion en leur fournissant une assistance technique notamment en matière d'organisation, de fonctionnement, de comptabilité, d'études, de formation et d'éducation ;
-	entreprendre des démarches auprès des ministères et participer à des commissions ayant relation avec les activités de ses membres
-	faciliter à ses membres l'accès aux financements des partenaires au développement
-	représenter ses membres au niveau national et international