In 2020, the Independent Office Evaluation of IFAD (IOE) carried out an evaluation of the performance of the Agricultural Technology and Agribusiness Advisory Services Project (ATAAS) in Uganda. The project’s overall objective was to enhance the performance of the agriculture sector through support for technology development, extension services and stronger linkages between farmers and the market.

The evaluation found that the project met its targets in terms of households reached (1.68 million) and number of women beneficiaries (52 per cent of the total). ATAAS also contributed to environmental conservation. This was achieved mainly through the adoption of Sustainable Land Management measures.

Despite some notable achievements from ATAAS investments in research and extension, there remains an unmet demand for technology improvements and extension advice in as much as 75 per cent of Uganda’s farming households.

Going forward, the evaluation recommends ensuring that IFAD’s comparative advantage is adequately leveraged and its target group is sufficiently and effectively reached. It also recommends that IFAD-supported projects pay greater attention to political drivers in project design and that in complex projects, there is a single project management unit for sound coordination, monitoring and evaluation, and administrative efficiency.