Sustainable Agriculture for Rural Development Network (SARD-Net) is a national network organization legally registered with Government of Uganda since 2013 with registration number: 176363.
The organization is also accredited by Directorate of Industrial Training (DIT) under Ministry of Education and Sports with: ISO 9001:2015 Certificate No: UG92580A. SARD-Net works to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the sustainability of farming communities by empowering them through Sustainable Agriculture practices and management in Uganda. The network has membership of 200 individual members and most of them work with rural communities in all the four (4) regions of Uganda i.e. Northern, Eastern, Central, and Western. SARD-Net has a presence in 38 districts in Uganda and reaches over 100,000 smallholder farmers in the country (60% women). Our National Secretariat is based in Nebbi town, West Nile region and field office is based in Paluda, Palabek refugee settlement, Lamwo District., Northern Uganda.
Majority of the members of SARD-Net are graduates from Baraka Agriculture College in Kenya. When the Franciscan Brothers came to Uganda, it was realized that for these past students to have impact on rural communities, it was necessary to develop a structure through which to capacity and capability build them for promotion of Sustainable Agriculture. In November 2009, they decided to initiate a national Network (SARD-Net) to facilitate capacity and capability development of members and target rural communities for effective and efficient promotion of Sustainable Agriculture for rural development in Uganda.
Since then, a total of 13 cells covering 38 districts of Uganda have been initiated and these cells are working with rural communities across the country. The 13 cells established are facilitating 52 communities in all the 4 regions of Uganda. Through the cell structure, members support each other in the mobilization of their respective villages and they act as catalysts in the development process while community members work for their development through participatory processes. At the end of the process, target communities are empowered. Through the cell structure, target village members have been facilitated to initiate development initiatives using locally available resources.
Since 2013, SARD-Net has been working to improve the livelihoods of smallholder farmers and the sustainability of rural communities, through the fostering of Sustainable farming practices and management in Uganda. We:
- Share knowledge and skills about good practices and techniques, through our cells and smallholder farmers;
- Undertake research and demonstration projects; and
- Advocate for agrarian policies that better support smallholder farmers.