In 2017, Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) handed over the fully constructed National Farmers’ Leadership Center (NFLC) located in Mpigi to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF). Shortly after the handover, the demand for the NFLC services exceeded the carrying capacity of the center’s facilities, a situation that persists to date.
To address this demand, since 2021 the government of the Republic of Korea through KOICA has been supporting MAAIF to expand and improve the NFLC with a second phase project. For this project, KOICA has since appointed a Project Management Consultancy (PMC) which is a consortium of three organizations to implement the project on its behalf – Good Neighbors International, Korea Environmental Agriculture Development Institute (KEADI) and Saemaul Globalization Foundation.
A team of nine Korean experts from the PMC in the fields of animal husbandry, gardening facilities, mushroom production, horticulture, mindset change, education curriculum, soil management and project management were dispatched to Uganda in February 2022 to prepare for the takeoff of project implementation.
The team has held detailed discussions about the project components with MAAIF and NFLC who are the main stakeholders, with the outcome of each party understanding its respective roles in project implementation. The team also conducted a benchmarking visit to the National Leadership Institute – Kyankwanzi to explore different ways of effectively implementing the project.
The “Institutional capacity support to the National Farmers’ Leadership Center” project (NFLC phase II) period is eight years from 2021 to 2028 with the government of the Republic of Korea providing a grant worth Twelve (12) Million US Dollars (About UGX43 billion) towards its implementation while the Government of Uganda shall provide in-kind support worth Two (2) Million US Dollars.
The objectives of the project are to develop high quality agricultural human resources through the expansion of NFLC facilities and to establish the foundation for self-reliance by supporting the facilities of demonstration farms and strengthening the human capabilities.
These goals will be achieved through extension of training and dormitory facilities and demonstration farms; equipment support; invitational training of Ugandan public officials to Korea; reinforcement of training program operation capacity and refinement of curriculum; dispatch of Korean experts to Uganda for knowledge and technical expertise exchange; and project management.
It is envisioned that this project will enable the NFLC to become a leading center of excellence in East and Central Africa.
Following the detailed dialogue with the key stakeholders, the PMC will work with MAAIF and NFLC to prepare the project work environment, organize the Project Steering Committee and hold a project launch ceremony.
Mr. Kim Taeyoung, the KOICA Country Director shares his confidence that the operation of NFLC is vital to the training of leaders in agriculture and rural development as the center teaches agricultural skills as well as the value of diligence, self-help and cooperation.
He expresses an optimistic outlook that the capacity growth of leaders through trainings at NFLC will positively impact the rural development in Uganda where over 70% of the population resides in rural area and generates income through agriculture. It is hoped that the mutual sharing of knowledge and experience in this project will continue to nurture the good partnership and cooperation between Uganda and the Republic of Korea.
