KAMPALA, 7 October 2026 – The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Local Government, Ben Kumumanya, yesterday chaired a meeting with a delegation from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), led by its Country Director, Mr. Jongsu Yi, to discuss findings from a recently concluded systematic review of KOICA Uganda’s agriculture and rural development portfolio.
The review is informing the design of KOICA’s flagship initiative, the Uganda Program for Rural Innovation, Sustainability and Empowerment (UPRISE), which seeks to strengthen community-led rural development in Mityana, Mpigi, Jinja, Mayuge and Kamuli districts.
The proposed program will promote mindset change, participatory planning and integrated infrastructure and livelihood development, building on lessons from KOICA’s existing interventions.
According to the KOICA delegation, the projects represent a strategic progression rather than isolated interventions. The portfolio review is intended to identify implementation gaps, build on successful approaches and inform the design of interventions that can support sustainable rural transformation.
During the engagement, Mr. Kumumanya thanked KOICA for supporting areas experiencing high levels of poverty, noting the potential for growth and synergies with existing development interventions. He reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to working with KOICA to advance the development agenda presented during the meeting.
The Uganda Program for Rural Innovation, Sustainability and Empowerment (UPRISE) will focus on three strategic pillars: agricultural extension systems, agricultural value chain systems, and community governance and leadership.
Through these pillars, the program aims to boost agricultural productivity using climate-smart extension services, promote agricultural commercialisation by strengthening small and medium enterprises (SMEs), cooperatives and market linkages, and build inclusive, self-reliant local governance systems for sustainable development.