

Diversification in East and Southern Africa
Overview
The CGIAR Initiative on Diversification in East and Southern Africa, also known as Ukama Ustawi, supports climate-resilient agriculture and livelihoods in 12 East and Southern African (ESA) countries by helping millions of smallholders intensify, diversify, and reduce the risks in maize-based farming through improved extension services, small and medium enterprise development, an enabling environment, robust governance frameworks, and increased investment with a strong focus on gender equality and social inclusion (GESI) and targeting seven key SDGs. The Initiative’s theory of change is operationalized through three impact pathways: assessment, application, and scaling, which link to activities under four focus areas and two cross-cutting ones to deliver through a systems approach:
- Diversify and sustainably intensify
- De-risk and digitalize
- Support and accelerate
- Govern and enable
- Empower and engage
- Scale and coordinate