Promoting diverse food crops to mitigate food insecurity among cocoa farmers

Sustainable agriculture
22.04.2022
Quick maturing and climate-resilient food crops could alleviate the risk of food insecurity among farming households dependent on cash crops such as cocoa.

Over the last 5 years, cocoa has been steadily cementing its place among Uganda’s cash crops. In 2021, cocoa was the third most exported commodity netting $ 106 million in export revenues. For Ugandan farmers venturing into cocoa growing, the cash crop is turning out to be a vital source of income and livelihood.

Source: Bank of Uganda (B.O.U)

Trading food security for income: An unfair exchange?

Cocoa was introduced in Mayuge in 1962. The last 15 years have seen an increase in efforts by the public and private sectors to promote the growing of cash crops more widely. As a result, many farmers are now opting to grow it to diversify their income or out of frustration because of persistently low prices of sugarcane, which is the dominant cash crop and a major source of livelihood in the district.

On average, a typical cocoa farm measures 0.5 – 1 acre and is capable of an annual yield worth $900 - $1,800. However, farmers with smaller cocoa gardens are more likely to devote entire plots of arable land to cocoa at the expense of growing food crops, hence heightening the risk of food insecurity among cocoa-growing households.

Leveling the plane in favour of food security and climate-smart resilience

Swisscontact encourages cocoa growing households in Mayuge to plant orange flesh sweet potatoes (left). The plant is resilient to adverse weather and disease, in addition to being more nutritious than the local sweet potato varieties (right).

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), food crop diversification as a strategy is a premise for building climate resilience among resource-stricken households.

Since 2019, Swisscontact in collaboration with Mayuge district local government and Ikulwe Satellite Research Station (part of Buganyana Zonal Agricultural Research & Development Institute) has supported interventions to mitigate food insecurity among cocoa farmers. This has enabled smallholder cocoa farmers at risk of food insecurity to access quality planting materials of improved sweet potato varieties that are nutritious and quick maturing. In addition, farmers were supported to access extension and advisory support including integrated soil management, and land use planning skills.

Enhanced resistance to plant diseases and pests mitigates food insecurity

Through this partnership, Swisscontact promoted the adoption and multiplication of the orange flesh sweet potatoes (NAROSPOT 1 and 8), which had previously been unknown among farmers due to a lack of information and strategy to multiply enough quality planting materials to ensure widespread adoption.

The NAROSPOT varieties which were supplied by Ikulwe Satellite Research Station boast enhanced resistance to sweet potatoes weevils and virus disease, in addition to being quick maturing and packed with essential nutrients. These traits make the variety less prone to crop failures induced by adverse weather variations, hence mitigating the risks of food insecurity.

By the end of 2021, over 480 targeted beneficiaries (74% women) had been supported to access planting materials resulting in the cultivation of over 120 acres of orange sweet potatoes. An additional 126 farmers who were not part of the target group accessed the high-quality planting materials.

The orange sweet potatoes can be harvested more quickly than local varieties

Mwabaza James and Naigaga Loy, a married couple living in Namadii south, Malongo in Mayuge district were among the very first beneficiaries of Swisscontact’s food security intervention. The duo said that before the intervention, only local varieties of staple foods (sweet potato and cassava) were grown. However, these varieties took more than 4 months before they could be harvested and were prone to failure during prolonged droughts. During the long wait, families like James and Joy spend their savings on food while others go without or are forced to reduce their daily food intake. Owing to the short maturation of the improved variety, in just 2 months the couple saw their first harvest.

"We started growing orange flesh and in just 2 months we started to harvest. In addition, when cooked the potatoes tasted better."
Naigaga Loy, on of the first farmers in Mayuge district who grew the newly introduced sweet potatoes 

According to Emmanuel Kawuzi, Agriculture officer in Mayuge district, the common local varieties are less resistant to adverse conditions or pests and are also less nutritious: “These local varieties of sweet potatoes are slow maturing and don't have sufficient nutrients compared with the improved varieties”. The intervention came at a time when the district authority was also keen on addressing the issue of food insecurity. “The intervention was an eye-opener for the district authorities who were grappling with the issue of food insecurity among farmers that had transitioned into growing cocoa”.

Loy pictured in her garden harvesting mature orange sweet potatoes. She redistributes the sweet potato vines to other farmers in her community as planting materials.
Loy shows some of the sweet potatoes harvested from her garden. Compared to the local varieties, the orange sweet potatoes mature more quickly and are ready for harvest in just 2 months.

Sharing the planting material among the farming community

James and Loy were among the farmers first selected in 2020 to share 28 bags of NAROSPOT planting materials and were encouraged to later redistribute planting materials in their communities. Owing to the short maturation of the improved variety, in just 2 months the couple saw their first harvest.

James says that by the second season they had multiplied enough planting materials, which they distributed to 15 farmers in that year and an additional 25 farmers in 2021. Thanks to their generosity and commitment, more households are now growing nutritious and fast-maturing orange sweet potatoes. “Right now almost all the households in my village are growing the orange flesh sweet potatoes,” said James. “We give planting materials to all farmers, not just cocoa farmers,” added Joy.

James and Loy in their cocoa garden. Both are glad that they are able to still grow cocoa and supplement their food from their own gardens.

Diversification of crops improves food security and farmers' resilience to the effects of climate change

The food security intervention among cocoa farmers is demonstrating that crop diversification can be an effective strategy to mitigate the risks of food insecurity while enhancing climate change resilience among smallholder farmers whose main livelihood is dependent on cash crops. Furthermore, there is potential to unlock other income diversification options for example by developing a planting material distribution model which enables farmers to sell planting materials multiplied.

 

This project is part of the Swisscontact Development Programme, which is co-financed by the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC), Federal Department of Foreign Affairs FDFA.

2021 - 2024
Uganda
Sustainable agriculture
Dynamic Markets for Farmers - Sustainable Cocoa and Honey
The project supports smallholder farmers in the cocoa and honey value chains by facilitating their access to extension services and markets, and by enabling them to improve their knowledge and skills.