<\/p>\n
The financing, provided through the African Development Fund, forms part of a broader $207 million programme, with additional contributions from the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries Fund for International Development, the End School Age Hunger Fund, the Government of Uganda and project beneficiaries.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The Uganda Multipurpose Water for Climate Resilient Irrigation Development and Agro-Industrialisation Programme is designed to address constraints to agricultural production in rural communities that rely heavily on rain-fed farming. The project will support the construction of a large-scale water conveyance system linked to irrigation networks, initially covering more than 4 000 hectares, with potential expansion to 13 000 hectares in a second phase.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Beyond irrigation, the programme will provide farmers with climate-smart technologies for crops and livestock, including access to certified seeds, soil restoration initiatives, livestock watering points and mobile veterinary services. It also includes investment in post-harvest systems, storage, aggregation and cold chain facilities to reduce food losses and improve access to markets.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
The initiative is expected to directly benefit more than 121 000 households and create over 13 000 jobs across agricultural value chains, including processing and logistics. It will also support school feeding programmes linked to local food production, reaching an estimated 21 000 children. Officials said around half of all beneficiaries will be women, while 30% will be youth.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
AfDB East Africa Director General Alex Mubiru said the programme goes beyond infrastructure development.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is therefore not simply an irrigation project,\u201d Mubiru said. \u201cIt is a program that addresses a binding constraint, unlocks a clear opportunity, and does so through an approach that is integrated, scalable, and focused on delivery.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–AfDB\/ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":37035,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-37034","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved a $140 million loan to support climate-resilient irrigation and agricultural development in Uganda\u2019s Bunyoro subregion, as part of efforts to strengthen food systems and boost rural economic activity.","published_date":"","news_description":"The African Development Bank (AfDB) Group has approved a $140 million loan to support climate-resilient irrigation and agricultural development in Uganda\u2019s Bunyoro subregion, as part of efforts to strengthen food systems and boost rural economic activity.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37034","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37034\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":37036,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/37034\/revisions\/37036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/37035"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=37034"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=37034"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}