The African Development Fund (ADF), the concessional window of the African Development Bank (AfDB) Group will support a Community Agricultural Infrastructure Improvement Programme Project-1 (CAIIP-1) in Uganda with a loan of 30mn units of account (UA), equivalent to US$45.13mn approved by the fund’s board of directors.

The specific objectives of the project are to enhance farmers” access to markets, attract competitive prices and increase incomes through improvements in rural infrastructures and their management by well-mobilised communities. The overall sector goal is to contribute to poverty reduction and economic growth in Uganda through enhanced commercialisation of agriculture.

The project consists of one core field component and two service components, with the following outputs:

  • Rural infrastructure improvement comprising (i) rehabilitation of 390km of district roads; 3,510km of community access roads; annual routine and recurrent maintenance of 587km of district roads and 5,267km of community access roads; (ii) construction of 78 functional marketplaces (50 entry level and 28 comprehensive level marketplaces) and promotion of agro-processing in 78 sub-counties (78 produce stores, 78 cold rooms, 52 rice hullers, 78 grain mills, 39 milk coolers); and (iii) supply and maintenance of electricity in marketplaces (50 solar, 27 diesel and 1 micro-hydro).
  • Community mobilisation through local participation in prioritisation and maintenance of physical infrastructure;
  • Programme facilitation, including supplementary support for existing project facilitation team (PFT), monitoring and evaluation, as well as financial management activities.

The proposed project is targeted to cover 26 districts in central and eastern Uganda, which represent about 27% of the country land area. The districts are: Sembabule, Masaka, Rakai, Lyantode, Mpigi, Mubende, Mityana, Kiboga, Nakasongola, Kibaale, Mukono, Kayunga, Iganga, Namutumba, Butaleja, Tororo, Kamuli, Kaliro, Pallisa, Budaka, Mbale, Sironko, Manafwa, Bududa, Bukwa and Kapchorwa.

The population of the districts put together is about 8.8mn belonging to 1.76mn households or 35% of the national population. The average size of rural households is five, with agriculture as the dominant occupation.

The total project cost is estimated at UA34.2mn. The ADF loan will cover 87.7% of the total cost. The Ugandan government will contribute UA3.76mn (11%), while the beneficiaries will contribute UA0.44mn (1.3% of total costs).

The bank group’s operations in Uganda started in 1968. To date, the cumulative commitment of the group in the country amounts to US$1.27bn in 100 operations.