Status: Ongoing (2020 – 2022)
Funder: Stitching IKEA Foundation
Scope: Uganda, Kenya
The Stitching IKEA Foundation awarded Kilimo Trust the R4iCSA project on 1st July 2020. This 2-year €996,765 pilot project will concentrate on introducing regenerative agriculture in rice-based farming systems through sustainable rice cultivation, inter/rotational cropping with leguminous species and management of crop waste streams. As the lead partner, Kilimo Trust will be responsible for any subcontracted work that may be necessary for the delivery of the project.
Project Goal
Increased adoption of sustainable rice production practices for 5,000 smallholder rice farmers and other value chain actors in Kenya and Uganda
Target Beneficiaries
The project will work with 5,000 smallholder farmers comprising 3,000 in Eastern Uganda and 2,000 in Kenya (1,000 in Kisumu County and another 1,000 farmers in Busia County). In each country, the composition by gender will be 50% women, 50% males and 40% youth. The selected farmers will be characterized with the following: household land size not exceeding 5 acres, rice farm size ranging between 0.5 to 2 acres and their farms situated in Agroecological locations suitable for rice growth yield gap of at least 50%, and they belong to a farmer rice group, with inadequate market access, and rice being the major household livelihood source.
Project Objectives:
Project Outcomes:
Expected Results:
Stakeholder groups and collaborating projects and partners
Kilimo Trust will be the lead implementer working with both public and private sector partners (mainly rice processors/off-takers, providers of mechanization services and machinery fabricators, Government Ministries of Agriculture and Industrialization, Farmer Cooperatives, Financial Institutions, Competitive Africa Rice Initiative in East Africa (CARI-EA); Government of Uganda Farm Income Enhancement and Forestry Conservation-Phase Two (FIEFOC-II) project, Africa Harvest Rice Program in Kenya and Uganda, Kenya Agricultural and Livestock Research Organization(KALRO) and Uganda’s National Agricultural Research Organization(NARO), particularly ZARDI Buginyanya in Eastern Uganda.
In the area of regenerative and precision agriculture, Kilimo Trust will work closely with Egerton University and Buginyanya ZARDI in Kenya and Uganda respectively, among other private and public players in both countries to demonstrate innovations and research for possible upscaling.
Anthony Mugambi
Country Team Leader – Kenya
amugambi@kilimotrust.org