Introduction To Climate Research

The National Agricultural Research Laboratories (NARL) with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) is working to scale out successful Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) technologies in Uganda through the "Enhancing resilience and adaptive agricultural livelihoods in Uganda (ERAAL)" project. This project aims to improve crop yields, reduce crop losses, and increase the resilience of farmers to the effects of climate change. By working with key stakeholders such as extension agents, private sector partners, policymakers, and researchers, NARL is using a market-based approach to ensure sustainable production and improved livelihoods for farmers.

Climate change poses a significant threat to farmers in Uganda. To address this, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA) and the National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) has been working since 2013 to research and develop climate-smart agriculture technologies. With support from USAID, the project aims to enhance smallholder farmer climate resilience and livelihoods, while promoting private-sector investment in CSA in the long term. The project has identified maize, beans, and coffee as key commodity crops to focus on, in line with the Uganda Government's National Development Plan III (NDPIII) which prioritizes these crops for value addition and increased household incomes, export earnings, and import substitution.