ARD Inc. was contracted by the Uganda Mission of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) to provide technical assistance and support in helping to raise rural productivity, incomes and competitiveness in Uganda via the program, " Livelihoods and Enterprises for Agricultural Development- LEAD". Program activities commenced in August 2008 and will continue over a five year period. LEAD's aim is to help integrate farmers and related micro and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) into commodity value chains so that they gain improved access to markets, and more empowered relationships with suppliers, processors and traders. LEAD will improve performance in the rural economies by increasing productivity, improving trade capacity and enhancing competitiveness in targeted value chains, which include staple crops (cereals, roots, pulses and oil seeds), coffee, fish farming together with cotton, fruits, vegetables and livestock. The project is covering 21 districts in northern Uganda and 14 districts currently in Southern Uganda. The program seeks to help transform Uganda's agricultural sector from subsistence farming to a more commercially oriented perspective with approximately 60% of project resources being directed at Northern Uganda. LEAD seeks to optimize results in this region through a combination of private/public sector partnerships as well as working through partners in the north who have long standing relationships with war-affected populations including IDPs and other vulnerable populations. ARD uses its successful, innovative Farmer Field School (FFS) methodology in LEAD. The FFS is participatory training approach that can be considered both as an extension tool and a form of adult education, or a school "without walls" for improving decision making capacity of the farming communities. It consists of a group of 2030 farmers from the same or nearby villages, who meet regularly, guided by a trained facilitator during the course of a cropping cycle. The purpose of FFS is to experiment with new production options. FFS focuses on building farmers' capacities to make well-informed decisions through increased knowledge and understanding of the agro-ecosystem. Farmers are encouraged to experiment on their own farms and make their own decisions based on observations and knowledge.

LEAD's technical approach to achieve results includes: Setting-up FFSs, including identifying candidates for the training of trainers; Targeting assistance to prioritized value chains, beginning with robust markets working back through all actors to producers; Using Strategic Activities "Grants" Funds to stimulate development of commercial value chains. This is a demand-driven approach where LEAD supports grant applications solicited from the private sector and also in partnership with public sector entities; Transferring technology via the FFS to sustainably increase technology adoption rates; and Establishing and strengthening commercially-oriented Producer Organizations. LEAD OVC program is targeting Northern Uganda because the convergence of war and AIDS has increased poverty and food insecurity thereby causing key long-term investments such as proper nutrition, education, and securing children's property rights to fall by the wayside, as families grapple with ensuring short-term survival.

The OVC not only face the daunting tasks of meeting their basic needs but they are also amongst the poorest and are often the most prone to food insecurity. The OVC households have limited access to land, labour and other inputs which hampers their ability to engage in meaningful agricultural activities.

In order to effectively address the OVC challenge, LEAD secured funding through the PEPFAR program to support OVC and PHA activities in the areas of physical health and nutrition that are targeted at the most vulnerable segments of the rural population in Northern Uganda. LEAD believes that the OVC households have the potential to transform into commercial farmers and be able to improve and sustain their livelihoods through increased agricultural productivity and value addition through the value chains that have been developed.

The LEAD OVC program which started in July 2009 will cover all the 21 districts in Northern Uganda. However implementation has started in 10 districts and will continue in the same districts for the year FY 2009/10 to ensure that some results can be realized before expanding to other districts. The 10 districts including Pader, Gulu, Amuru, Kitgum, Lira, Dokolo, Oyam, Apach, Kaberamaido and Amolatar have been selected on grounds that they have been drastically affected by the war. Subsequently the program will be rolled out to other districts based on availability of funding. The program is delivered through implementing partners; National or local NGOs that have experience in delivering development interventions targeting OVC. In FY 2008/09, three (3) out of the five (5) targeted implementing partners have been identified and contracted. The other two new implementing partners will be identified at the beginning on FY 2009/10. The program will focus on improving food and nutritional security of OVC households through training on improved farm practices, nutrition education, and support to access inputs and improve storage. In addition other services like economic strengthening, vocational training for vulnerable youth, protection and psychosocial services will be provided as they directly contribute to improved food security, nutrition, and livelihoods of OVC and their families. Support will be channeled through the OVC groups and the program will maintain linkages between the commercially oriented producer organizations that LEAD is working with to benefit from knowledge, expertise and joint marketing opportunities. The OVC groups will enventually benefit from the value chains being developed by LEAD.

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The intervention will target children below the age of 18 years living in Northern Uganda who are vulnerable because of the combined after-effects of the 20-year war waged by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) and the HIV/AIDS scourge. The overall goal of this intervention is to expand sustainable economic opportunities for improved livelihoods of the OVC and their households. A total of 15,000 OVC will be served in 10 districts including Pader, Gulu, Amuru, Kitgum, Lira, Dokolo, Oyam, Apach, Amolatar and Kaberamaido. The program will provide 5 services including food and nutrition support, economic strengthening, psychosocial support, vocational training and protection services.

LEAD will focus on strengthening 5000 OVC (existing and new) households through increasing their agricultural productivity and off farm income. New households will be identified by the implementing partners working through the LEAD network of Producer organizations. The OVC households will be supported to form 200 groups and their capacity strengthened so that they are able to sustain OVC service delivery. The Farmer field School (FFS) methodology shall be used as an approach to extension. Selected community facilitators will be trained to work alongside farmers as advisors and facilitators, encouraging independence, analysis and organization. The implementing partners will establish a mechanism that will enable agro dealers/stockists within their localities to provide OVC households with free inputs including improved seed, fertilizers, implements and information. This mechanism is intended to build and strengthen linkages between the stockists and the households for continued access of required inputs beyond the project life. To boost off farm income, OVC household will be supported to set up income generating activities particularly for households that have inadequate agricultural land. It is envisaged that increased productivity and off farm income will improve the economic performance of the households and as such increase their capacity to meet the needs of the OVC including food and nutrition, education, basic care, health among others. Youth from Child headed households will be targeted for apprenticeship skills training based on needs assessment that will be conducted by the implementing partners.

The activity also seeks strengthen the households through enhancing parenting knowledge and practices and providing social support and practical assistance to families for purposes of improving outcomes for children. Through training, home health visiting and group conferencing, capacities of caregivers will be enhanced to support children through critical development stages. The purpose will be to provide OVC households with knowledge on types of nutritious foods rich in vitamins, proteins and other vital nutrients. Discussion sessions will also be conducted with household groups that will enlighten them on how to prepare well-balanced nutritious food for their children and lactating mothers. Households will also be supported to establish kitchen gardens and to consider both commercial value as well as the nutritional content of crops grown. A mentor manual will be developed and used to train facilitators who counsel care givers on improved child care through the home visits. The manual will cover aspects including body hygiene, stigma and discrimination, HIV prevention and care, life skills, counseling, health/nutrition, child needs assessment, emotional symptoms, psychosocial support among others. The purpose is to provide a comprehensive package on OVC care to the care givers. A total of at least 5000 caregivers will be trained. Social workers will also offer psychosocial support and child protection support to households that will require specialized services. Interactive activities that strengthen resilience, coping and build the self esteem of OVC will be delivered. These will include recreational and group counseling activities that target OVC to cope with difficulties. For children under 15 years, the "journey of life tool", an empowerment and communication tool for working with children living in adversity will be utilised. LEAD will ensure that Early childhood development and other health needs like immunization, health screening, HIV testing are addressed through creating linkages and strengthening referrals with health care providers.

The second priority action will be around strengthening community support systems and coordination. Communities have provided the first and often the only line of support for children affected by war and HIV/AIDS and hence the need reinforce effective community action. The OVC groups shall provide the first safety net for the vulnerable children as the members will be trained on OVC care and will be able to refer the children in need of services that cannot be provided by the group. Community campaigns will be conducted to garner support for OVC and also to build community capacity to care for children. Campaigns will cover different aspects including HIV, nutrition care, stigma and discrimination, water and sanitation, children's protection and safety in school and home and OVC needs among others.

The OVC coordination committees at sub-county level in the targeted districts will be strengthened through assessing capacity needs that impact on their functionality and support will be provided to address those needs. Through community dialogues existing child protection committees, Village Health Committees and opinion leaders will be trained on children's rights and OVC care so that they are able to engage in different child protection activities and act as focal points in the sub county to guarantee sustainability. At the district level, LEAD will participate effectively in the OVC coordination meetings and any district/NGO led OVC activities.

Under this priority action, LEAD will also establish linkages with existing OVC service providers such as NUMAT, NuLife, PACE, Path Finder International, Straight Talk, the Aids Information Centre, TASO to enable identified OVC and their households to access wrap around services such as; voluntary counseling and testing, anti-retroviral therapy, HIV prevention messages, TB/HIV information. The OVC groups will be trained on developing their referral systems so that appropriate referrals and follow up can be made for the households.