Executive Director, Vital Signs Meets Uganda Minister of Agriculture
Nancy Nandudu
Researchers from the Africa Innovations Institute (AfrII) and Conservation International met with Hon. Tress Bucyanayandi, the State Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) on the 12th of January to introduce the Vital Signs project to key stakeholders and technical personnel at the ministry.
The team consisting of Vital Signs Executive Ms. Sandy Andelman, key technical staff from Conservation International and AfrII Chairman Professor George William Otim-Nape highlighted the fact that the project, which has recently been launched in Uganda aims to develop sustainable systems of agricultural practice around the world through the set up of data collection tools and mechanisms that provide accessible real-time information and statistics for use by stakeholders at all levels of the agricultural chain including farmers and policy makers.
Ms. Andelman relayed examples of impact from the project from other African countries where it is currently being implemented, particularly Ghana and Tanzania. She assured the Minister of the project’s utilisation of local, affordable resources to actualise the end goal of small holder farmer access to necessary information on land and other factors that would enable them to make wise decisions in the optimisation of land for agricultural purposes.
She highlighted the fact that the Vital Signs project shall introduce a kenyan-made crowd sourcing system to equip Ugandan farmers with the ability to access information using simple phone SMS technology.
Prof. Otim-Nape also furnished the office of the Minister with a revised Uganda atlas, titled "The Measure of a Land" that has been developed from information gathered by Conservation International in partnership with AfrII, as the Ugandan partner in the implementation of the Vital Signs project.
Hon. Bucyanayandi pledged the support of the Ministry to the actualisation of the Vital Signs objectives and proposed capacity building meetings for the technical staff at MAAIF to enable them access and properly utilise the data collected through the system to feed into the development and implementation of relevant policies at the policy level.
MAAIF officials at the meeting further urged the Vital Signs project team to facilitate the process of defragmenting data collection efforts across the country in order to streamline the access points for necessary conservation and agricultural information. They hailed the project as a possible mechanism for bringing together all stakeholders in the environmental conservation and agricultural sectors, driving them towards the attainment of a unified sustainable agriculture data collection and analysis system.
Launched initially in Africa with a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to Conservation International (CI), Vital Signs provides near real-time data and diagnostic tools to leaders around the world to help inform agricultural decisions and monitor their outcomes. It fills a critical need for integrated measurements of agriculture, ecosystem services and human wellbeing, and is creating a “gold standard” environmental monitoring system. Vital Signs is led by CI in partnership with the Earth Institute (EI), Columbia University and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in South Africa.
The system has launched in 3 African countries – Tanzania, Ghana, and Uganda – with plans for expansion to Ethiopia and Mozambique followed by other parts of Africa and the globe.
Judith Ngole
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Ijala Tony
Cassava: Adding Value for Africa-Uganda
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