Using right-to-participation approaches, this programme is administered through Legal Empowerment and Social Accountability frameworks. CEFROHT builds and strengthens the capacity of local governments and communities regarding their respective responsibilities and rights under this initiative.

The programme employs community advocacy to raise awareness about nutrition, agribusiness, food safety, and the prevention of non-communicable diseases. It also empowers community members to advocate for their right to adequate food and health.

Strategically, the programme engages national, regional, and global policymakers through policy dialogues, meetings, and workshops to uphold governance and accountability. This includes supporting the formulation of laws and policies that promote sustainable agri-food systems, particularly agroecology.

Additionally, the programme advances climate justice using a Human Rights-Based Approach, while advocating for the implementation of international environmental and climate change legal instruments, such as the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Convention on Biodiversity.

Programme Objectives

• Strengthen social accountability mechanisms and advocacy skills within local communities to promote and protect Adequate Living Rights (ALRs).
• Build the capacity of vulnerable and marginalized groups to use legal frameworks to protect and claim their ALRs.
• Establish local food systems that utilize natural resources for soil health, pest control, and fertility in food production and ecological science.
• Cultivate responsive and supportive local governments for inclusive, safe, and sustainable agri-food systems.
• Promote seed equity, sovereignty, and seed rights among smallholder farmers.
• Encourage the multiplication, preservation, and marketing of indigenous, safe, and nutritious foods using agroecological technologies.
• Advance climate justice through a Human Rights-Based Approach, leveraging national, regional, continental, and international legal instruments.

Programme Areas of Intervention

1. Law and Policy to Promote Agroecology
To uphold governance and accountability, the programme recognizes the need to embed agroecology in local, national, regional, and international laws and policies. This ensures accountability for duty-bearers and protects rights-holders from exploitation. The programme conducts action research, generates empirical data, and engages stakeholders to develop policies supporting the global agroecology movement.

2. Seed Equity, Seed Fairness, and Seed Sovereignty
The programme challenges the colonization of food systems, particularly regarding seed rights, which are threatened by trends like genetically modified organisms (GMOs). Key actions include:

• Establishing community-led seed banks at CEFROHT agroecology learning centers.
• Promoting Indigenous Farmer-Managed Seed Systems.
• Conducting legal analyses of seed-related laws and policies at all levels.
• Developing position papers and policy briefs to inform legislative reforms.

The programme remains committed to resisting the GMO and corporate seed industry while defending farmers’ economic rights.

3. Agro-Inputs
This intervention addresses the importation of highly hazardous agrochemicals due to European double standards. The programme mobilizes communities to petition policymakers, advocating for bans on such chemicals. Through Agroecology Learning Centers, it promotes indigenous knowledge-sharing to develop safe, organic, and sustainable agro-inputs.

4. Agroecology Entrepreneurship and Territorial Markets
The programme organizes smallholder farmers into an Agroecology Community of Practice, with one established in Mukono District. This includes:

• An Agroecology Learning Center for knowledge-sharing.
• A territorial/earth market for trading agroecological products.
• Local government partnerships to establish levy-free markets and supportive bylaws.

Action research informs farmer training materials and marketing strategies. Four Agroecology Learning Centers operate in Mukono, Naggalama, Kiboga, and Wakiso, transforming traditional farming into agroecological practices.

Programme Achievements

a) Strengthened the capacity of the East African Legislative Assembly (EALA) Committee on Agriculture, Trade, and Natural Resources (ATNR) on agroecology, resulting in a resolution recognizing agroecology as a strategic priority. See this link .

b) Collaborated with the Inner Working Group of agroecology actors to develop the Uganda National Agroecology Strategy.

c) Trained over 1,000 smallholder farmers in sustainable agroecological practices.

d) Developed production sustainability plans and marketing strategies for agroecological products with smallholder farmers.

e) Established two earth markets for agroecological trade.

f) Formed one Agroecology Community of Practice in Nakisunga Sub-county, Mukono District.

g) Launched four Agroecology Learning Centers in Kiboga, Naggalama, Wakiso, and Nakisunga.

h) Signed three Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) with districts to promote agroecology for food and nutrition security.

i) Drafted a petition to the European Union against its double standards on highly hazardous pesticides in Uganda.