USAID COMPETE funded the Sustainable smallholder trade integration project (SSMATI) in collaboration with AGMARK Kenya. (Feb 2010 to March 2011)

This was a one-year pilot project which targeted 50 agro-dealers in Eastern and Western Uganda. The project was aimed at integrating smallholder surplus in the western and Eastern Regions of Uganda into the national and international cereals value chain through agro-dealers located in the two regions. The 50 agro-dealers were trained in all aspects of output marketing and linked to organized farmer groups around them and also to higher value chains that included large grain buyers and millers within and outside Uganda. The project also provided matching grants to 22 selected agro-dealers. By the time the pilot ended the participating agro-dealers had bulked an average of 50 tons of grain (Maize) per agro dealer. The project was evaluated and was found to have positive results and actually it proved that it is possible for an agro dealer to be a conduit for farmers’ products