Research Articles

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Browsing Research Articles by Author "Kajobe, Robert"

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    A healthy diet for a growing population: a case study of Arua, Uganda
    (Springer Nature, 2023-01-27) Hermelink, Marleen I.; Pittore, Katherine H.; Álvarez Aranguiz, Adolfo; Pereira da Silva, Fatima I.; Roefs, Marlene M. I.; Kajobe, Robert; Malingumu, Richard; Hengsdijk, Huib
    It is uncertain whether Sustainable Development Goal 2 (SDG2), a healthy diet for all, can be achieved in East Africa given its strong population growth, low agricultural yields, and the high perishability of nutrient-dense foods. We examine the consequences of a locally produced healthy diet on land use in a case study of the Arua district in Uganda. This type of analysis can alert policy makers to looming nutrition gaps and support the selection of alternative solution strategies. Using a linear programming (LP) model and three population growth projections, we estimate the minimum agricultural area needed in 2040 to produce a healthy diet that follows EAT-Lancet dietary diversity guidelines and supplies the average requirements of calories, proteins, Iron, and vitamin A. We also compare in scenarios to what extent i) production intensification, ii) food loss reduction, iii) by-product consumption, and iv) vitamin supplementation could reduce the required agricultural area. Results show that the necessary area to produce a healthy diet in 2040 is 160% larger than Arua’s current crop area and would greatly exceed the district’s total area. We also show that none of the changes proposed in our scenarios allows a sufficient increase in food production, suggesting that a mix of even more drastic changes across sectors will be necessary. The results underline the challenge for rural areas in East Africa like Arua to provide a healthy diet to its fast growing population, requiring integrated food system changes and policy coordination to orchestrate the increased availability of diverse and nutritious foods.
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    Pioneering the use of embedded research translation methodology for potential increased income and livelihoods of smallholder farmers
    (2025-02-26) Kajobe, Robert; Kabuga, Experito Muyanja; Dricile, Ratib; Wadri, Victor; Malingumu, Richard; Yumbya, Peninah
    Whereas participatory research and development is widely acclaimed, an effective explicit procedure for ensuring end-user participation remains a holy grail. Our study proposes a simple participatory approach by operationalizing the Embedded Research Translation (ERT), developed by LASER PULSE, and demonstrates its application among smallholder vegetable farming communities in the West Nile sub-region of Uganda. The ERT involves integrating research findings directly into practical applications or solutions within specific contexts. It emphasizes collaboration between researchers and stakeholders, ensuring that findings are relevant, actionable, and effectively applied in real-world scenarios. It is built on four pillars: (i) partnerships between researchers and stakeholders (ii) engaging in a process of generating a relevant research (iii) product and (iv) dissemination of findings. Based on these pillars and their underlying principles, an implementation process is recommended, beginning with a start-up stage where researchers actively involve a diverse range of partners and stakeholders. This is followed by a design stage, characterized by participatory discussions, collaborative decision-making, and planning. These steps guide the implementation phase, during which partners remain actively engaged in research. Finally, the partnership collectively disseminates the findings to maximize impact and uptake. In our study, we adapted the method to Ugandan context using a five-stage procedure: In the first stage (understanding the context), researchers rapidly obtain as much information as possible about the relevant aspects of the target cropping system and the broad areas of intervention through literature review, and quantitative baseline surveys. This is followed by the second stage (co validation) in which the information is validated by stakeholders through FGDs and feedback meetings. At the third stage (co-selection of priority areas of interventions), researchers and stakeholders co-select target crops and specific constraints to be addressed. The fourth stage is co-development which involves co-ideation and co-testing of potential technologies. The final stage (dissemination) consists of scaling the co-developed technologies through the partnership and other dissemination channels.