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By Steve Archambault
 Life here in Uganda can be challenging, rewarding,
and thought provoking all at the same time. Currently, I am
a program assistant for an agriculture and marketing support
project at the UN World Food Program (WFP) in Uganda. My main
tasks are further developing and implementing a project that
assists small scale farmer groups in marketing their maize
and beans directly to WFP. I also work with local governments
and communities in areas recovering from war as they implement
small scale agriculture development projects.
WFP Uganda feeds over two million people--refugees, school
children, HIV-AIDS patients, and internally displaced persons
(IDPs). Most of Uganda is stable, but the northern part of
the country is suffering a rebel war that has gone on for
over 17 years, with civilians being the primary target. This
has caused the creation of IDP camps, which are home to over
one and a half million people. Due to insecurity, these people
have very little access to their fertile farmland, and therefore
rely on food aid in the form of maize, beans, and cooking
oil.
Feeding so many people requires large quantities of food.
In 2004, the estimated food requirement for WFP projects in
Uganda is 238,951 metric tons, worth nearly $120 million.
About half of this food is bought locally, providing a boost
to the Ugandan economy. Typically, WFP procures food from
large scale traders who take advantage of the inadequate knowledge
and organization of small farmers. Farmers are willing to
sell their produce at very low prices in order to receive
cash to pay for medical bills and school fees. WFP's target
is to buy at least 10% of all procured foods directly from
farmer groups. It is a target that is not easily reached.
My job consists of assisting WFP in adjusting its procurement
procedures so they are friendlier to the small supplier, and
at the same time sensitizing farmer groups, extension agents,
and government officials to WFP's procurement requirements.
I spend half of my time in small rural areas throughout Uganda.
I also assist in the coordination of NGO partners mandated
to build farmer group capacity through training in such things
as business management, post harvest handling techniques,
and group organization.
 The second component of my work targets those areas of Uganda,
particularly in the West Nile districts (near the Sudanese
and Congo borders) that have recently come out of war time
situations. Because these communities spend so much of their
time trying to meet their food needs, there is very little
time to build community infrastructure, which would lead to
better food security. Therefore this project uses food aid
as an incentive to undertake sustainable development projects
such as construction of market to village roads, fish farming,
forestation, small-scale irrigation, construction of stores,
and agriculture training. I assist local communities and government
officials in developing work plans for the projects they have
proposed. There is a push to have these projects community
owned, so WFP does very little in terms of telling communities
what types of projects they can implement.
In addition to the projects mentioned, I have had the chance
to visit the IDP and refugee camps throughout Uganda. I sometimes
travel in military protected convoys to deliver food to the
camps that are in remote areas. Because of the insecurity,
there is very little NGO access to the camps, meaning they
have very poor sanitation, and minimal access to medical supplies.
Although WFP brings food, there is still a problem with poor
nutrition. It has been a very sobering year, but it has given
me the incentive to continue working towards sustainable development.
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