National Agricultural Research Organization, National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI)
Governmental organization
National Agricultural Research Organization (NARO) is an apex body for guidance and coordination of all agricultural research activities in the national agricultural research system in Uganda, established by the act of parliament (NARS ACT, 2005). Under NARO, there are 7 National Agricultural Research Institutes (NARIs) and 9 Zonal Agricultural Research Institutes ZARDIs, that together constitute the public agricultural research institutes. National Crops Resources Research Institute (NaCRRI) is a NARI whose mandate is to conduct research and knowledge generation on crops of strategic national importance including; Maize, rice, cassava, sweet potato, beans, oil palm and horticultural crops. NaCRRI’s mission is “To generate, develop and disseminate appropriate crop technologies, methods and knowledge while conserving the environment and crop genetic resources”. NaCRRI’s core competency areas are Plant breeding and genetics, agronomy, crop protection, social economics and livelihood studies and biotechnology. The institute is equipped with the state of the art structures and laboratories to conduct cutting-edge research. Mbarara Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (MBAZARDI) is another public agricultural research institute with a mandate to primarily address agricultural issues in one of the agricultural zones in Uganda. MBAZARDI’s main goal is to enhance increased agricultural productivity and profitability among farmers in South Western Agroecological zone of Uganda in a sustainable way. The major research and development programs at MBAZARDI are: Crops Research and Development, Livestock and Aquaculture Research and Development, Natural Resources Management and Farming systems and livelihood analysis. Both NaCRRI and MBAZARDI conduct applied and adaptive agricultural research and employ various platforms to increase uptake and adoption of their technologies/innovations, including demonstration trials, farmers field days and social platforms, and work with a number of stakeholders along commodity value chains.
Contact person
Dr. Otim Michael
