Directorate of Graduate Training, Research, and Innovations

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Components of agroforestry systems
(Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR); World Agroforestry (ICRAF), 2022-09) Gassner, Anja; Cornelius, Jonathan P.; Dobie, Philip; Mercado, Agustin; Mukuralinda, Athanase; Okia, Clement Akias; Pinon, Caroline; Somarriba, Eduardo; Thorne, Peter
Agroforestry systems are composed of trees and crops, trees and livestock, or trees with both crops and livestock. In this section, we explore the attributes of these components in more detail. A given agroforestry system is often centred on one species, which we call the ‘flagship species’. This is the species that the farmer considers to be the most important one – often because it contributes most strongly to their livelihood. Other components, which we call ‘flotilla species’, are added to provide agroecological services, such as shade, that support the flagship species. The needs of the flagship species (for example, for light or water) determine the types of flotilla species needed, even when these also produce useful goods. For example, when growing shade-intolerant crops like cereals, farmers need to select and plant trees that do not compete with the cereals for light. In many agroforestry systems, the flagship species is an annual crop, a perennial (long-lived) crop (including tree crops), or a livestock species; it can also be a timber species. Some agroforestry systems may have more than one flagship species. Flotilla species can be trees or crops.
Food system innovation platforms as a pathway towards regenerative inclusive food systems
(Wageningen University & Research, 2023) Froebrich, Jochen; Groot, Annemarie; Adokorach, Molly; Aranguiz, Adolfo Alvarez; Andeweg, Karin; Omedo, Bockline Bebe; Beekman, Gonne; Bennink, Viola; Berecha, Gezahegn; Alho, Carlos Brazao Vieira; Brummelhuis, Amber; Kajobe, Robert; Langi, Sandra; Malingumu, Richard; Nabulime, Maureen Norah
Food systems in East Africa are under pressure. Climate change, biodiversity loss, natural resource depletion, and declining soil health are having an impact. Hunger continues to grow. Recent developments, such as the increasing price of inputs like mineral fertilisers, make the need for change even more urgent. Many agree that to reverse these trends requires a fundamental change. We need a transition towards Regenerative Inclusive Food Systems. In another booklet we describe what Regenerative Inclusive Food Systems may look like, why we need them and what lessons we have learned in the REFOOTURE project on the transition towards such food systems.
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.
How innovation platforms govern the experiential learning process of coffee farmers in Uganda
(African Journals Online, 2024-12-16) Ochago, Robert
While researchers, development actors, and policymakers recognize that Innovation Platforms govern farmers' development knowledge when attempting to address challenges, the question of how IPs’ governance mechanisms affect their learning process remains unaddressed. Using data from a cross-sectional survey of 214 coffee IP farmers, this study employs Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to analyze the relationships between IP governance and farmers’ experiential learning. The relationship between challenges, reflection, experiential knowledge, active experimentation, and IP governance mechanisms (that is, IP members' commitment and trust, IP members' involvement, and Member access to IP resources) was specifically examined. Results show that when farmers try to address their challenges, IP governance mechanisms positively and negatively affect their acquisition of experiential knowledge through reflection and active experimentation using existing knowledge. Specifically, Innovation Platform members' commitment, trust, and involvement significantly and positively moderate the link between farmers’ challenges and their reflection, while the influence of members' access to IP resources is insignificant. Similarly, while access to IP resources has an insignificant and negative moderation effect on the link between farmers’ reflection and experiential knowledge, IP members' commitment, trust, and involvement have positive but insignificant effects on them. Farmers' commitment, trust, involvement, and access to IP resources did not affect the relationship between their experimentation and experiential knowledge. Finally, the IP members' commitment, trust, involvement, and access to IP resources have insignificant effects on the relationship between farmers’ active experimentation and their challenges. Coffee farmers should use their networks to encourage commitment and involvement in intellectual property to reflect and gain knowledge. Similarly, IP facilitators should build trust among their members. Agriculture extension policymakers can use IPs as units to identify practical interventions to local challenges and improve targeted rural agriculture value chains by connecting different stakeholders to farmers at the community level because reflection as a learning activity must be consciously elicited through learning actions.
Kernel morphometric characteristics and oil content among Shea tree genotypes in Uganda
(African Journals Online, 2022-09-23) Odoi, J. B; Okia, Clement Akias; Gwali, S.; Odong, T. L.; Agaba, H.; Okullo, J. B. L.
Shea tree (Vitellaria paradoxa subsp. nilotica) is an important commercial tree for domestic oil and industrial products of cosmetics, chocolate and other confectionaries traded grown worldwide. We studied seed morphometric characteristics and crude oil content of Shea nuts in Uganda. Five populations, comprising of 16 ethnovarieties, were selected from Eastern, Northern and West Nile Sub-regions of Uganda, based on their attributes as judged by the farmers. Fresh kernel weight ranged from 2 to 18.85 mg per seed. Kernel weight increased with Shea fruit weight (y = 0.1499x + 6.1887, R² = 0.306). Moyo district had the highest oil content (54.37 ± 0.32%); while Amuru district had the lowest oil content (50.5 ± 1.32%). Oil content decreased with increasing kernel size (y = -0.4541x + 57.303, R² = 0.2116) and dry matter content (y = 0.635x - 9.863, R²= 0.011); and varied between ethnovarieties and Shea tree populations, p = 0.003 and P< 0.001, respectively. Tinny seeded (45.7 - 65.49%), Round fruited (45.41 - 65.91%), Dwarf tree (45.19 - 64.19%), Elliptical fruited (45.32 - 64.19%) and Soft pulped (42.16 - 69.77%) ethnovarieties had the highest oil content. Narrow sense heritability (h2) for oil yield was 1.72; while response to selection (R) was 16.48 with genetic gain (Gs) of 2.21%, given 10% top selection intensity.
Management of trees in agroforestry systems
(Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR); World Agroforestry (ICRAF), 2022-09) Gassner, Anja; Mercado, Agustin; Miccolis, Andrew; Mukuralinda, Athanase; Okia, Clement Akias; Somarriba, Eduardo
Many tree establishment efforts focus entirely on the planting process, and fail to consider the years of time and effort needed to care for the planted trees and to manage their growth. It is true that the cultivation of trees usually requires less work than crop cultivation. But trees planted on farms do require management, whatever the system, and this management can be very time consuming. The design process must ensure that farmers are aware of the demands of management and that they consider these before deciding to establish an agroforestry system. Growing trees requires a long-term commitment, sufficient resources and sound knowledge about how trees interact with their environments, including other components of agroforestry systems. In this section, we provide an overview of how to manage trees in agroforestry systems.
Moving towards regenerative inclusive food systems
(Wageningen University & Research, 2023) Froebrich, Jochen; Groot, Annemarie; Adokorach, Molly; Aranguiz, Adolfo Alvarez; Andeweg, Karin; Omedo, Bockline Bebe; Beekman, Gonne; Kajobe, Robert; Langi, Sandra; Malingumu, Richard; Nabulime, Maureen Norah
The food systems in which people in East Africa produce and consume their daily meals are in crisis. Hunger continues to grow. Climate change, biodiversity loss, depletion of natural resources and declining soil health are the factors making the lives of farmers and other actors in these food systems increasingly difficult. This booklet is about Regenerative Inclusive Food Systems. These are based on the idea that for the food system to change for the better, fundamental changes are needed in society – in the agricultural sector and among both consumers and policy makers. There are already many initiatives that aim to improve the current situation by focussing on sustainable outcomes, most of which are based on technology and economics. Regenerative Inclusive Food Systems approach go beyond this, by focussing on how to get to these outcomes, where the capacity to regenerate is key. Regenerative Inclusive Food Systems are about the motivation and capacities of people in the food system, starting from local communities: about their motivation and capacities to reflect on the situation, to create a common vision, and to inspire others to make a change. With this approach, interpersonal relationships will become stronger, as people take care of each other and pursue paths for equal opportunities in transforming their food systems, while leaving no one behind. Moreover, in Regenerative Inclusive Food Systems, people are seen as being embedded in nature and their relationship with nature is therefore fundamentally different. The ecosystem is regenerated, including the rich life in the soil beneath our feet.
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.
Principles of agroforestry design
(Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR); World Agroforestry (ICRAF), 2022-09) Gassner, Anja; Coe, Richard; Cornelius, Jonathan P.; Dobie, Philip; Miccolis, Andrew; Mukuralinda, Athanase; Okia, Clement Akias; Somarriba, Eduardo
Agroforestry design involves deciding what will be produced, selecting the components of the system, and determining how they will be arranged. These decisions also define how and when the components will be established, and how they will be managed. It also includes other considerations, such as how to support the enabling environment for agroforestry. Farmers have been designing agroforestry systems for millennia – sometimes consciously, sometimes instinctively. Professionals can support this process in several ways: by advising farmers who haven’t managed agroforestry systems before, or farmers who are recent migrants to a given agroecological zone; by helping to ensure that the systems meet wider goals (particularly environmental ones) in such a way that farmers’ interests are not negatively affected; by introducing farmers to new scientific knowledge; by organizing or supporting collaborative design processes that include all relevant stakeholders. In this section, we outline three principles of agroforestry design: farmer-centredness; aptness to people, place and purpose; and synergy. Successful agroforestry interventions follow these design principles. Interventions that ignore them have a high chance of failure.
Providing targeted incentives for trees on farms: A transdisciplinary research methodology applied in Uganda and Peru
(Elsevier, 2023-03-11) Rode, Julian; Escobar, Marcela Muñoz; Khan, Sabina J.; Borasino, Elena; Kihumuro, Phillip; Okia, Clement Akias; Robiglio, Valentina; Zinngrebe, Yves
Native trees are central elements of sustainable agriculture, providing economic futures to rural populations while safeguarding biodiversity and ecosystem services. We present a diagnostic methodology for (i) identifying ‘incentive opportunities’ for farmers to plant and manage trees on farms; (ii) proposing targeted packages of incentive and finance instruments; and (iii) describing levers for policy integration to support their implementation. In two case studies from Uganda and Peru, the ‘incentive opportunities’ consist of providing technical and financial support to farmers for planting and managing trees, generating income sources from native trees and support from the beneficiaries of tree-based ecosystem services, and eliminating incentives for tree removal. Many instruments to promote trees on farms already exist, but implementation is hampered by weak and fragmented institutions, limited funding and low political priority. The proposed methodology can guide the development of incentive instruments as part of implementing policy strategies for integrated biodiversity conservation and sustainable development.
REFOOTURE: A project to advance regenerative inclusive food systems
(Wageningen University & Research, 2023) Froebrich, Jochen; Groot, Annemarie; Adokorach, Molly; Aranguiz, Adolfo Alvarez; Andeweg, Karin; Omedo, Bockline Bebe; Beekman, Gonne; Bennink, Viola; Kajobe, Robert; Langi, Sandra; Malingumu, Richard; Nabulime, Maureen Norah
Despite all the efforts in recent decades, food insecurity, poverty and nature degradation are on the rise in East Africa. The REFOOTURE project believes fundamental change is needed to solve these issues. They can only be solved by transforming food systems into Regenerative Inclusive Food Systems. In Regenerative Inclusive Food Systems, people are seen as part of nature, nurturing nature rather than exploiting it. In these food systems, nature and social relationships are regenerated, supporting food security and resilient livelihoods. The REFOOTURE project, which was launched in 2020 with funding from the IKEA Foundation, aims to foster Regenerative Inclusive Food Systems in three East African countries: Ethiopia, Kenya, and Uganda. The key idea behind REFOOTURE is that innovation is crucial to fostering social, technological, and institutional transformation towards Regenerative Inclusive Food Systems. These innovations should be place-based, rooted in the specific characteristics of a place which is in some way meaningful to the people living there. Local communities, their territory and their surroundings determine the place-based potential for innovations.
Strengthening the resilience and sustainability of Uganda’s coffee sector: investigating governance mechanisms in coffee innovation platforms
(International Journal of Agricultural Extension, 2025-03-14) Ochago, Robert
Effective governance mechanisms for coffee innovation platforms are crucial to fostering resilience and sustainability in Uganda’s vital sector. Despite extensive research on the governance of innovation platforms, a clear and unified definition of innovation platform governance mechanisms remains elusive. This lack leads to inconsistencies in interpreting and implementing innovation platform governance mechanisms, obstructing efforts to tackle critical challenges in the coffee sector. This study examines the governance mechanisms of coffee innovation platforms in Uganda, which serve as collaborative networks for stakeholders throughout the coffee value chain. Coffee innovation platforms play a crucial role in addressing sector-specific challenges by facilitating knowledge exchange, encouraging stakeholder engagement, and promoting the co-creation of solutions. Data from 91 farmers (54 males, 37 females) on the coffee innovation platform were collected using qualitative methods, specifically focus group discussions and individual interviews. Thematic analysis generated overarching themes for governance structures, processes, and principles. The study reveals that innovation platform governance structures encompass a diverse range of stakeholders, facilitators, interaction spaces, and frameworks. The innovation platform processes include stakeholder engagement, knowledge sharing, and capacity building. The fundamental principles of these platforms are participation, partnerships, and collaborative knowledge sharing. This research yields actionable insights for agricultural extension policymakers, leaders of coffee innovation platforms, and extension workers to enhance the governance of coffee innovation platforms.
The effect of Ugandan coffee farmers’ role identity on their experiential learning
(Sage, 2024-04-07) Ochago, Robert; Dentoni, Domenico; Mahdad, Maral
Background: Although the literature on education and learning sciences determined how student identities influence their experiential learning process, this link is less clear in the agricultural context, where farmers have faced unique value chain challenges i.e., production to marketing. Purpose: This study contributes to examining how farmers’ role identities support or hamper farmers’ experiential learning processes. Methodology: First, a qualitative analysis of 91 interviews with coffee farmers in Uganda was carried out to understand the nature and relevance of farmers’ role identities. Second, using partial least squares regression-based path analysis, the moderating effect of 214 coffee farmers’ production role identity on their experiential learning was assessed. Findings: Findings reveal that farmers’ identification as coffee farmers shape what, how, and when they learn from their value chain challenges. Farmers’ role identity, in particular, supports their reflection on past challenges to increase their challenge-solving knowledge, as well as experimentation to solve their challenges. Implications: This study integrates role identity theories in the study of learning processes in rural coffee value chains. Moreover, the findings suggest that agricultural extension workers should understand farmers’ identities and their influence on their learning to select the targets and developments of their training programs.
What does the reflective learning of Ugandan coffee farmers mean for agricultural extension and advisory services?
(EScience Press, 2024-08-23) Ochago, Robert
Whereas reflection is essential for learners to make sense of their challenging experiences, little is known about how farmers reflect on their challenging experiences in agricultural practices. This study explores how farmers reflect on their challenges in coffee value chain practices. Using qualitative methods, including focus group discussions and individual interviews with 91 coffee IP farmers from diverse backgrounds, the study identified various challenges—pests and diseases, low and poor coffee quality, and untrustworthy and unreliable coffee buyers—that impact their livelihoods and production. Findings reveal that farmers' reflection varies in frequency and depth, with many engaging in informal discussions with fellow farmers in their communities and a smaller number using individual reflective methods. The research highlights that people who actively engage in reflective practices make more informed decisions, resulting in adaptive methods that improve resilience and sustainability in their farming operations. The study stresses the need to create an atmosphere that promotes structured reflection and peer-to-peer sharing, which will lead to better agricultural practices and outcomes in coffee sector.

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