The Government of the Republic of Korea, through its development agency Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), and the International Trade Centre (ITC) will provide funding to support ITC in boosting competitiveness for farming households and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the cassava, shea and oilseed value chains in Uganda
They signed a four-year grant arrangement (2022-2026) to provide US$5.07mn in funding for the cause and also to enhance gender-responsive resilience to natural disasters in 10 districts across Northern and North-eastern Uganda.
The grant arrangement was signed by Taeyoung Kim, KOICA Uganda country director, and ITC deputy executive director Dorothy Tembo at the KOICA Uganda office in Kampala.
The new project named, ‘Strengthening Agribusiness Resilience and Competitiveness – STAR’ aims to increase the resilience of smallholder farmers, women in particular, to natural disasters exacerbated by climate change and environmental degradation in Abim, Agago, Kaabong, Karenga, Kitgum, Kotido, Lamwo, Lira, Oyam,and Pader districts. Producers and agribusinesses can actively contribute to and profit from decisions on how their communities and businesses develop and implement disaster risk reduction measures and adjust to climate concerns.
Targeting 10,000 agricultural/agro-pastoral households and 60 cooperatives and SMEs working in the respective value chains, ITC support will focus on: supporting farming households to increase the value of their production by adapting to climatic risks; creating a more supportive business and policy environment for women producers and SMEs; and enabling SMEs to be more competitive, resilient to natural disasters and increase their sales and expand to new markets.
The partnership reaffirms the close cooperation between KOICA and ITC, hallmarked with ITC’s three-year SheTrades West Africa project running from 2019 to 2023 focused on improving the lives of 10,000 women in the cashew, shea and cassava sector in Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone. The new funding supports ITC's efforts to link small businesses in developing countries to international markets through inclusive and green trade.
