The ‘Connect Uganda’ Pilot Project works through five rural libraries and helps farming families to improve their incomes. It is a partnership between Maendeleo Foundation and the Uganda Community Libraries Association (UgCLA). In less than a year, the project trained 700 farmers and others in the community to use computers and to access agricultural information online. Working with experts from Makerere University, librarians translated agricultural information into local languages.  The project helped farmers petition the government to supply them with disease-resistant coffee plants; to identify new species of trees, and encouraged youth to take up farming as a career.

The project was initiated with support from the EIFL Public Library Innovation Programme in 2012. This two-page case study is based on impact assessment conducted by Maendeleo Foundation.