0
An external evaluation team recently assessed the Smallholder Pig Value Chain Project activities in Uganda. The evaluation sought to review the effectiveness of the program in developing, supporting and implementing the value chain approach at its research for development (R4D) sites and to assess the relevance and efficiency of the program’s value chain approach with a focus on quality of science (more on the external evaluation).
During the week-long (23-30 August 2014) exercise, evaluators Doyle Baker and Andrew Speedy, who were commissioned by the CGIAR Research Program on Livestock and Fish, held meetings with the Smallholder Pig Value Chain Development (SPVCD) project team at the ILRI-Uganda office and with local partners and stakeholders.
The evaluators visited and interacted with staff from Makerere University, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), the National Livestock Resources Research Institute (NaLIRRI), Irish Embassy, the German Federal Enterprise for International Cooperation (GIZ) and the Association for strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA). They also visited the SNV Netherlands Development Organisation, Volunteer Efforts for Development Concerns (VEDCO), the Agency for Inter-Regional Development (AFID), BRAC, Kampala Capital City Authority (KCCA), Heifer International and the District Veterinary Officers in Kamuli, Masaka and Mukono. Also, some private sector companies and initiatives such as Fresh Cuts, Pig Production & Marketing in Uganda Ltd., Wambizzi Cooperative Ltd and FarmGain Africa were visited.
As part of their field work, the evaluation team, accompanied by the ILRI Uganda team travelled to Masaka, in central Uganda where they met with local government authorities, project partners and representatives of the newly-formed pig producer cooperatives. In one of the meetings, the Chief Administrative Officer, Hood Sseremba revealed that the district executive had leased two acres of land to start a centralized pig slaughterhouse as part of the local government’s commitment towards boosting the pig industry.
While in Masaka, the evaluators visited Kamuzinda Farm, a demonstration farm that is piloting, with ILRI, several feed technologies for pigs particularly on the use of sweet potato vines and roots silage as well as diets formulated using local feed resources that is expected to help solve the feed shortage problem during the dry seasons.
The group also met with leaders of the Kabonera-Kyanamukaaka Pig Farmers Cooperative Society and visited two smallholder pig farms owned by Bruno Settuba and Agnes Luswata, both members of the society, which are using improved technologies on pig production and feeding.
The leaders of this cooperative were grateful for the project’s interventions in improving pig production and feeding but highlighted challenges they are still facing in finding reliable markets and affordable quality feed.
On the last day of the mission, the evaluators met with ILRI partners, pig sector stakeholders and with the ILRI-Uganda team to deliver preliminary feedback about their findings. Group brainstorming sessions were used to discuss possible solutions to the challenges in the pig value chain in Uganda and to document the stakeholder recommendations for the ILRI program managers.
September 11, 2014 - CGIAR
