Business Plan for the Kajjansi Aquaculture Research And Development Centre Uganda

Department for International Development DFID - Project Dates:
May 2003 - June 2003

Description of Project:
Uganda’s National Agricultural Research System (NARS) has been identified as inadequate to cope with the challenges of poverty eradication and Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA). The new policy focus, driven by the Government and Uganda and its Development Partners, is actively seeking to raise smallholder incomes with a strong focus on increases in land and labour productivity and a shift in production patterns from low value staples to higher value commodities. Core research – through access to competitive funding allied with greater responsiveness to integrated farmer needs, is perceived as the means of influencing change to a agricultural systems which lead to poverty eradication. This change in direction requires a greater focus by the existing institutions within the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) to contributing to development.

Services Provided:
The output of this assignment represents a Strategic / Business Plan for the Aquaculture Research and Development Centre, Kajjansi that contains the following components

A recommended aquaculture research policy framework for the centre clearly indicating what activities should be commercialised and those that should not be.
A funding plan that aims to provide a cost-effective, cost-shared and sustainable source of funding contributed by multiple actors.
A review the strengths of existing research strategies, how these respond to the systems approach and meet with PMA / PEAP objectives, costing these and other stakeholder orientated research priorities against potential sources of income.
A plan for the management of the centre that is non-bureaucratic, flexible, provides incentives for research service providers to answer to farmer demands and encourages a rational allocation of funds to priority activities.
A plan for human resource development to ensure the availability of a critical mass of professional research staff skilled in fisheries sciences and socio-economics as well as in the new skill areas of participatory procedures, gender awareness, poverty focus and environmental sustainability.