Uganda Country Platform
The work of identifying and documenting local innovation in the field has continued in 2005. Two new organizations, outside the core team partners, were contracted to carry out surveys of local innovation and submitted their reports in May 2005. Organisations involved in previous activities and training continue to identify and documenting local innovation. Four innovators with potentially interesting innovations have been found interested to work with researchers and extension staff in joint experimentation. This is presently ongoing and focusing on two areas: Validation and value addition. The core team has developed guidelines for Memoranda Of Understanding for the actors involved in this process.
As follow-up to the PID/PTD training workshop in 2004 in Uganda 4 key organizations (2 NGOs, 1 research, 1 university) involved have been visited to discuss successes and challenges in implementing the action plans that were generated by the end of the workshop in 2004. In one case this involved a joint field visit. The organizations stressed the need for more capacity building of field staff of NGOs, extension workers and trainers on PID/PTD, for exchange visits, and for more information on success stories of PID/PTD. This will be followed-up by the secretariat.
In the reporting period, policy work has been a major activity. Apart from continued bilateral visits to key institutions, Prolinnova Uganda participated in the Forum on Agricultural Research in Africa‘s General Assembly’’ that took place in Entebbe from the 6th – 12 June 2005. It also had a stand in the Agricultural Research in Africa exhibition that took place in Entebbe in the same period. Two local innovators currently involved in the joint experimentation process were able to participate in this and share their work. To support this, two posters and two leaflets on local innovation were developed and published.
The NSC held one meeting in May 2005 and elected a new chair, Mrs Joyce Muwanga, Uganda National Council for Science and Technology, after the sudden death of the than chair in May 2005. The core team held 4 meetings so far this year. Another area of attention of the secretariat in this period has been the raising of funds to supplement the DGIS funds. This includes the development of a proposal jointly with Makerere University, University of Florida, Nairobi University and CIAT to be funded by IFAD. The universities are to provide electronic lectures while Prolinnova Uganda is to provide experiences on local innovation in the field. The secretariat has also endeavoured to tap into some opportunities to raise funds locally.
