Sorghum Sector Development Strategy (2015-2020).

This Sorghum Sector Development Strategy is a nationwide sectoral document aiming at improving food security of sorghum farmers to help ensure adequate food availability as well as to increase household incomes through raising production levels and reducing its vulnerability. This overall goals will be achieved by realizing strategic goals in each of the following components of the sorghum value chain (i) research and technology development; (ii) access to inputs; (iii) on-farm production; (iv) post-harvest processing; and (v) trade, marketing, and demand sinks. The document also underlines the importance of integrating a gender perspective to value chain programs into design implementation, monitoring and evaluation and reporting by including at least 30% female-headed households and 10% youth in every value chain program and components.
The identified strategic goals are (i) research program which generates appropriate technologies, knowledge and information; (ii) increased knowledge and access to improved sorghum seed varieties, fertilizers, farm machineries and equipment’s; (iii) benefit from adopting improved varieties, proper crop protection and agronomic practices such as crop rotation, intercropping, soil and water management, and conservation farming; (iv) knowledge and sufficient access to cost-effective post-harvest processing, handling and storage methods, and consequent reduction of post-harvest losses; and (v) efficient and integrated domestic Sorghum markets, with significant and complimentary export components. The implementation process to achieve the goal will be primarily led by the Ministry of Agriculture.