This South Initiative Project was funded by VLIRUOS started January 2018. The South Initiative project target was enhanced food and nutrition security by empowering family farmers in Mpanga Catchment area to be able to reduce avoidable food losses and improve production efficiency.

The project implementation was in collaboration with IIes de Paix a Belgian NGO working with the Super Farmers Project in two villages in the Mpanga Catchment Area (Karangura, Kabarole District and Kabambiro in Kamwenge district.) The project aspired to contribute to this goal by increasing awareness about causes, impact and measurement of food losses among family farmers in their systems of production. In addition, appropriate technologies of food storage were identified and promoted in the Rwenzori region.

The approaches used involved the use of a Food Insecurity Experience Scale that to show the food and nutrition situation of farm households. In addition, the Food Loss and waste Protocol will be applied to assess the occurrence and magnitude of food losses in farmer production systems for which a comparison was made with their food and nutrition security situation. Finally, appropriate technologies of food storage were identified and promoted through exposure visits, field day events and radio programmes.

Project was Coordinated by Prof. Xavier Gellynck (UGent) and Professor John Rubaihayo who was by then the Dean School of Health Sciences – MMU.