Seizing the momentum to deepen Uganda’s Food Systems Transformation Agenda 

Mbarara – The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) together with the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) convened a three-day retreat of key national stakeholders to deliberate on how to refocus national commitments and efforts to food systems transformation. Given the momentum generated by the United National Food Systems Summit (UNFSS), the retreat, supported with funding from the Under the European Union-funded Food and Nutrition Security Impact, Resilience, Sustainability and Transformation (FIRST) project,    was a good opportunity to deepen discussions and understanding and obtain a national consensus and actions towards implementing transformative actions meant to lead to sustainable and resilient food systems.

Transformed agrifood systems will allow to fast-track Uganda’s progress towards the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).  Among others, the retreat recommended the institutionalization of coordination mechanisms by establishing the so-called National Food Systems Coordination Committee (NFSCC) to be hosted under the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM). The NFSCC role is to coordinate and strengthen the implementation of the national food systems transformation pathway and commitments made by Uganda at the National Food Systems Dialogues (NFSDs) and to the first-ever United Nations Food Systems Summit (UNFSS) held in September 2021 as part of the 76th session of the UN General Assembly.

Already, Uganda is considered a front-runner in the agri-food systems processes, having actively organised over 18 inclusive NFSDs that culminated in an Apex Dialogue presided over by His Excellency the President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni on 19^th August 2021. In that NFSD process, the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) was the main convenor while the National Planning Authority (NPA) and the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) were co-convenors.

The national retreat held at Igongo Hotel in the South-Western Uganda city of Mbarara was a follow up action to the Summit and brought together over 50 officials from government ministries and departments, civil society organisations, farmers, private sector actors, the United Nations family, academia and research institutions. Three main outputs emerged from the retreat:

• a committee to steer the country's food systems transformation agenda was constituted, the so-called National Food Systems Coordination Committee (NFSCC) under the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM) and its Terms of reference agreed upon;
• the meeting also approved ToRs for a National Strategic Analysis meant  to generate evidence that shall inform the development of a yet-to-be-formulated Uganda Food Systems Transformation Plan,
• a Road Map of actions for Food Systems Transformation in Uganda was charted to take into account and inform the legal, policy, institutional, resource mobilization and advocacy actions that will be needed to sustain momentum around Food Systems Transformation in the Country.

Opening the retreat on behalf of the Permanent Secretary of the OPM, Mr. Moses Mulengani, the Assistant Commissioner Policy Implementation and Coordination, said that the retreat was timely as it allows reflection on the country’s success attained in the national dialogues that climaxed with the UNFSS in September  2021.  

“A clear and deliberate action is required to support national efforts to support the country’s food systems agenda. The Office of the Prime Minister is ready to work with all stakeholders to link the national coordination mechanisms with the global food systems coordination hub, in advancing engagements between Government and the broader UN System, CSOs, Private Sector and other expert institutions to develop and implement national food systems pathways,” he said.

He also noted that a well-defined roadmap is a key to defining priorities beyond constraints and needs but also coming up with transformative actions.  The proposed actions will help the government to shape its ideas during the upcoming midterm review of the NDP III, he noted.

The keynote speaker, Engineer Dr Ivan Lule, an Executive Board Member of the National Planning Authority (NPA), represented the Chairperson of NPA. In his remarks, he opined that the retreat provided a solid platform for critical policy discussions to take forward actions on food systems transformation to the next level. He posed key questions for the audience to ponder about.

 “One year after, we have tough questions; are we moving? What have we gained? And Do you see any progress?”, he asked.

According to Lule, whereas slow progress is not unique to Uganda, we urgently need to harness the opportunities presented by the NDP III programmes, especially in Agro-Industrialization and Human Capital Development. He also urged members to take a keen interest in six areas including partnership, ownership, inclusivity, financing,  measurable indicators, and a mid-term review of the NDP III that was due in June-July 2022.

The FAO Country Representative, Dr Antonio Querido, while speaking at the retreat said that bringing stakeholders together was a critical step to refocusing and moving the food systems transformation agenda forward.

“We all need to appreciate that food system transformation was a clear path to sustainable development in all its forms. We should now aim beyond mere incremental change and focus on transformative change by aligning the food systems transformation approach to existing frameworks especially NDP III and the Parish Development Model (PDM).”

Accordingly, sustained advocacy and communication are of the essence to addressing the deep inequalities in Uganda’s highly promising food systems whose potential is unequalled on the continent.  Dr Querido also pledged FAO’s continuous support towards Uganda’s food systems transformation to ensure no one is left behind in the forward push toward inclusive and sustainable development.

“We commit to supporting the implementation of the national pathway and commitments for a transformative change by mobilizing resources, addressing inequalities and supporting policy frameworks that will aid the desired transformation,” he affirmed.

As the three-day retreat drew to a close, seven issues of interest were identified for action:

• unlocking Uganda’s under-utilised agriculture production potential;
• addressing the food safety quality assurance concerns  in the agri-food systems;
• addressing limited market access for Uganda’s food products;
• dealing with climate change and environmental degradation of food systems;
• tackling the triple burden of malnutrition;
• narrowing the increasing inequalities through inclusive social protection for vulnerable groups; and
• harnessing the potential of school feeding in the transformation of the food system and the overall economy of Uganda.

At the end of the three-day meeting, stakeholders committed to (i) escalating the food system transformation agenda to the highest authority through a cabinet Memorandumto obtain a binding executive decision that will elicit durable, systemic and sustainable actions across government; (ii) commencing the strategic analysis with immediate effect since it will provide the much-desired evidence to inform Cabinet and other statutory decisions of Government.

As a follow-up, the OPM and respective entities committed to working with FAO and other UN anchoring agencies to kick-start the meetings of the National Food Systems Coordination Committee and the Strategic Analysis in order to generate the desired evidence actions and decisions to inform the National Budget Framework Paper for the next financial year.

Contact

Agatha Ayebazibwe

Communications Officer

FAO Representation in Uganda

[email protected]| +256 779442502