Participants in the Outcome Mapping and Site Selection Workshop for the Smallholder Uganda Pig Value Chain Development Project

From 11-13 October 2012, the Smallholder Pig Value Chains Development (SPVCD) in Uganda project held a workshop that brought together 45 participants at Ridar Hotel in Seeta (Mukono). The objectives of the workshop were:

1. to develop an Outcome Mapping strategy for the project and
2. to initiate the site selection process.

Present at the workshop were various stakeholders from the Ugandan pig sector including representatives from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), the National Agricultural Research Institute (NARO), the National Agricultural Advisory Service (NAADS), the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), Makerere University (COVAB and CAES) and Gulu University (Faculty of Agriculture and Environment).

District Veterinary Officers from Masaka, Gulu, Wakiso and Mukono also attended the meeting, among several participants from the non-profit (VEDCO, VSF-Belgium, Kamuzinda Farm) and private sector, including representatives of farmer groups from a number of districts throughout Uganda.

Following the opening by Dr Loyce Okedi, Director General at the National Livestock Resources Research Institute (NaLIRRI), the participants were introduced by the facilitator to the use of Outcome Mapping as a tool for engaging with important potential partners in the pig value chain in Uganda and beyond. During the group sessions, the vision of the project was translated into outcomes. Also project outputs and stakeholders  were clearly identified. These activities concluded in the development of a monitoring and evaluation strategy to track the identified outcomes with indicators.

For the selection of the sites, Emily Ouma, the team’s Economist, explained the process employed for other Livestock and Fish value chain projects: At first, ‘hard (objective) criteria’ were considered such as the spatial distribution of pig densities, poverty levels, pig consumption quantities, distance to markets, etc. Secondly, ‘soft criteria’ were discussed, e.g. potential partnerships, disease burden in pigs, geographical access to the sites throughout the year and the presence of service and input providers. These factors were considered crucial for the success of piloting interventions and scaling out.

Uganda Pig Value Chain Development Project stakeholders select project sites through a voting process

Following a lively discussion on the hard and soft criteria, everyone (excluding the ILRI and CIAT participants) was given their ballots for voting and eventually the districts selected were: Masaka, Kamuli and Mukono. Gulu was also identified as a relevant district, and will be considered at least for the Value Chain assessment activities.

The next steps will be to complete the scoping of Mukono district, to identify the sites (sub-counties/parishes/villages) within the districts already selected and to conduct a rapid value chain assessment in November/ December 2012. Best-bet interventions will be piloted in February 2013.

Danilo Pezo, the Project Leader, complimented the participants on this very active and inclusive decision-making process, and invited them to maintain the same level of commitment throughout the project. He said that he has confidence that even if a group of stakeholders’ district was not chosen, that they will engage in the learning process and take the messages learned to their districts and the rest of the country.

The three-day workshop was facilitated by Washington Ochola, Program Manager for Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation of RUFORUM, and supported by the team from ILRI-Kampala, ILRI-Nairobi and CIAT-Nairobi.

Story by Kristina Rosel

More information on pig value chain projects in Uganda