Background

The East African horticulture sector holds significant untapped potential, but it faces various constraints and challenges along the value chain. To address these issues, the Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture, hosted by the University of California, Davis, and funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is spearheading efforts to enhance horticultural production in the East Africa region. The Horticulture Collaborative Project in East Africa is a 3.5-year (March 2023- September 2026) initiative aimed at improving the livelihoods of smallholder farmers in the region.

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This globally supported but locally led project is being implemented by the Horticulture Innovation Lab in partnership with the International Centre for Evaluation and Development (ICED) in Kenya and Uganda. Through strategic partnerships and collaborative research, the program seeks to build the capacity of researchers, institutions, private sector, and small-scale farmers in East Africa to advance horticultural production for better nutrition and income

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The Goal

The goal of this regionally led initiative is to increase productivity, profitability, and consumption of horticultural produce in rural areas. This will be achieved through:

1. Adoption of Innovative Climate-Smart Technologies and Practices: Implementing advanced agricultural techniques that are environmentally sustainable and resilient to climate change.
2. Capacity Strengthening of Farmers: Providing training and resources to enhance the skills and knowledge of farmers, enabling them to adopt best practices and improve their yields.
3. Enhancing Market Access: Facilitating connections between farmers and markets to ensure that they can sell their produce at competitive prices and reach a broader customer base.
4. Promoting Value Addition in Horticultural Value Chains: Encouraging the processing and packaging of horticultural products to increase their value and extend their shelf life.

Ultimately, the regionally based initiative seeks to empower small-scale women farmers in rural areas, to earn more income while better nourishing their families. By doing so, the program aims to help these farmers break out of the vicious cycle of poverty and hunger, leading to more resilient and prosperous communities

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The Projects

The Feed the Future Innovation Lab for Horticulture, East Africa Regional Hub is coordinating the implementation of four projects in the region. Three of the projects are focusing on the research priorities identified during the 2022 regional workshop, which involved different actors in the horticulture sector. View the report of our 2022 East Africa Horticulture Regional Workshop.

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The first priority is to address pre- and post-harvest management to reduce food waste and losses in vegetables. The second priority is to improve the marketing of and access to vegetables in the East Africa region, through the empowerment of rural women smallholder women farmers growing vegetables on a small-scale level. Each of these projects  was specifically designed to unlock access to vegetables for women smallholder farmers.