The region encompassing Uganda’s Mbarara District played a dynamic role in the 19^th century as a supplier of commercial exports to major seaports along the Indian Ocean. In recent decades, however, the region has faced challenges created by political turmoil in Rwanda and the Congo and an influx of refugees from regional conflict zones.

ADF has provided Gomba Daals and Spices, Limited (GDS), a processing company located in the town of Mbarara, with funding to help local smallholders diversify their production and expand their income-earning opportunities by offering them training and resources to cultivate of a broad range of high-value spices (chilies, ginger, and cardamom), chick peas, and two varieties of daal (black and green gram).

GDS will establish a revolving loan fund to provide farmers with capital to purchase seed and manure, as well as the wire mesh, wire nails, and plastic sheeting required for spice husbandry. ADF funds will also supply GDS with a cash reserve to enable the company to purchase the farmers’ produce when they deliver it to GDS’s processing plant.

Over the life of the five-year project, GDS will contract with approximately 400 farmers, and it is projected that the average annual cash earnings of participating smallholders will increase from a current base of about US $100 to between US $350 and US $2,300, according to the crops that each farmer produces.

The project will be implemented with technical assistance, training, and participatory evaluation support provided by ADF's Uganda partner organization, the Uganda Development Trust (UDET).