Ebibala Bugagga ne TechnoServe

Ebibala Bugagga ne TechnoServe

“Ebibala Bugagga ne TechnoServe” is a marketing campaign in the Lake Victoria Crescent, Elgon and Kigezi regions of Uganda focusing on; The Horticulture Credit Line (HCL) – a tailor-made funding facility (loan) to smallholder farmers engaged in horticulture, the promotion of Certification of Horticulture products for bigger markets and the promotion of Food safety and nutrition practices for better health.   The Horticulture Market Acceleration Project (HortiMAP) is a four-year project funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and implemented by TechnoServe in collaboration with Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) as well as a consortium that includes BiD Capital Partners, PUM Netherlands, and Wageningen University and Research (WUR).

The Horticulture Credit Line (HCL) 

The Horticulture Credit Line (HCL) is a tailor-made funding facility (loan) for smallholder horticulture farmers aiming to improve financial inclusion through the provision of affordable credit to smallholder horticulture farmers in Uganda. SACCOs, Cooperatives, and farmer organizations acquire the HCL through Pearl Capital Partners (PCP) to enable them to provide customized medium-term loans to horticulture farmers. These loan product services are provided to finance activities along the horticulture value chain including, purchase of quality agro-inputs (seeds and herbicides), mini-irrigation equipment, support pre- and post-harvesting technologies, establish storage facilities, strengthen primary value addition and processing among others.

Product Certification 

Product Certification is the third-party attestation that a commodity has demonstrated fulfilment of set requirements. Certification provides the assurance of conformity to the specifications of applicable standards. The Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) is mandated to carry out product certification and undertakes Conformity Assessments to ensure that both local and imported products comply with the relevant Uganda standards. Through HortiMAP, UNBS certifies the quality of a product and authorizes horticulture related processors to affix the UNBS Quality Mark on the product or the package of the product as an assurance to customers that the products conform to Uganda’s Quality Standards.

Food Safety and Nutrition 

Food safety refers to practices and procedures put in place by food vendors, food handlers and processors to avoid contamination through handling, storage and preparation of food. This is to ensure food safety for human consumption and minimize the risk of foodborne illnesses. Consumption of safe fruits and vegetables provides essential nutrients that are good for health.

HortiMAP is promoting food safety through training horticulture smallholder farmers on safe on-farm practices for spraying, harvesting and transportation of fresh fruits and vegetables to avoid contamination. Horticulture market vendors are encouraged to maintain general cleanliness of their products, stalls, packing and storage facilities. Consumers are encouraged to maintain personal hygiene by washing hands before consuming fresh fruits and vegetables as well as to include fruits and vegetables to their diet for better health.