Korea Institute for Development Strategy (KDS) held the launching ceremonies of maize and rice pilot/demonstration center in Masindi and Jinja respectively(26th~27th October 2016), as part of the project of “Establishment of the agro-processing and marketing strategy” funded by a bilateral grant from the Republic of Korea through Korean International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) since 2013.
The project is implemented by the consortium of Korea Institute for Development Strategy (KDS) and Korea Food Research Institute (KFRI) and it includes three main components; establishment of agro-processing and marketing strategy for maize and rice in Uganda, capacity building of farmers and value chain actors, and establishment of pilot/demonstration center.
This project has supported agro-processing facilities for the pilot/demonstration centers which are operated by private processors who made a partnership with MAAIF, local government and farmers’ organizations in Masindi for maize and in Jinja for rice. As a part of this PPPP(Public-Processor-Producer Partnership), the participating farmers’ organizations have also received agro-equipment such as threshers, motor shellers, moisture meters, scales and standard backs and have been trained about post-harvest management and marketing by MAAIF.
**Based on the result of these P/D centers’ operation and end-line survey, the experts will finalize the APM strategy and the final report will be held in Kampala in June 2017.