USAID Uganda Feed the Future

The Feed the Future Uganda Inclusive Agricultural Market Activity (FtF IAM) is a five-year Activity implemented by DAI Global LLC. The Activity seeks to increase incomes and improve the livelihoods of households through agriculture-led inclusive economic growth in 38 focused zones of influence (ZOI) districts in Uganda. The Activity seeks to enable the private sector to access the technologies and services they need to succeed in a more competitive agricultural sector, increase productivity and earn higher incomes.

In February 2022, DAI Global LLC a lead implementing partner of the USAID Uganda Feed the Future Inclusive Agricultural Markets Activity (USAID FTF IAM) contracted The Link Agency East Africa (TLAEA) to provide Business Development Services (BDS) to Mbale Industrial Area Millers Association (MIAMA) - an apex body to improve its management, leadership, institutional capacity, grow value added services to members and reduce management costs by ensuring efficient operations. MIAMA is a private sector actor apex body with a membership of 77 mill operators/owners with 92 mills that mill maize, rice, cassava flour, millet, and other combination products.

Prior to the Business Development Services (BDS) that TLAEA has provided, the Association was constrained by among others; limited organizational capacity, unstructured supply chains, limited internal capital mobilization, limited access to finance, poor relationship with the regulatory agencies and, limited awareness of quality standards and certification processes.

Over the period of implementation, the following have been achieved;

1. Conducted inception workshop with FTF IAM Team, MIAMA Board & Management
2. Conducted an organizational capacity and structure assessment of MIAMA examining its service offering and models, existing relationships, and their strength to develop a capacity building plan to address key leadership, management, and institutional challenges.
3. Facilitated the development of relevant business documents and policies for MIAMA i.e., Human Resource manual, Finance manual, Procurement manual, Governance manual. In addition to supporting the apex body, we also supported 5 members to cascade the best practices from the apex to the members. These would late act as centers of adoption of skills.
4. Together with the MIAMA leadership developed a service package that MIAMA is using to deliver services to its members.
5. Together with MIAMA leadership and selected members, we developed the MIAMA Inclusive Business Plan and Business Model to facilitate additional revenue generation & built the capacity of the interim committee managing the SACCO, developed a business case and came up with a clear road map for the MIAMA SACCO, a Quality Testing Lab and a grain handling facility.
6. Developed records- capture system and trained board and management in the usage of the system to streamline data and information management within MIAMA.
7. Built the capacity of MIAMA leadership and 5 MIAMA members in business, financial literacy, resource mobilization, basic economic skills, and management through training, coaching and mentorship.
8. Conducted business to business meetings to build stable and sustainable supply chain relationships between MIAMA members and financial institutions, members and buyers, members and traders, agents, and farmers to ensure reliable supply of quality raw materials to MIAMA members.
9. Developed a stakeholder engagement and communication plan for MIAMA.