“Everything we study remains abstract if our products cannot cross the border.”

Today at the #HarvestMoneyExpo2026, our Head of Innovation, Regina Nakawuki, delivered a masterclass in policy and systems thinking during the high-level dialogue on Agro-ecology and Market Access.

Regina challenged the status quo, identifying a critical gap: Many Ugandan businesses are growing, but they are not scaling. Scaling requires systems, and systems require technology.

Key Strategic Pillars from Regina’s Panel Session:

The Certification Bottleneck: Our current infrastructure relies too heavily on manual paperwork. Regina advocated for a digital shift where data—not paper—drives the certification process.

Technology as an Enabler: Integration of technology allows entrepreneurs to track their own data. By the time they reach the CREEC Labs, they have the “sustainable data and traceability” needed to beat the stress of simultaneous product certification.

The Infrastructure Gap: In a direct call to the Government and partners, Regina emphasized that “Investment in Innovation” must include modern, advanced testing equipment. Currently, the costly delay of sending equipment abroad for calibration is a barrier to local acceleration.

Her 3-Point Solution:
1.Integrate Technology: Don’t just farm; use technology to monitor your processes.
2.Ditch the Paperwork: We need a digital infrastructure for certification to reduce delays.
3.Invest in Labs: We need more modern equipment in Uganda so we don’t have to send tools abroad for calibration.

The CREEC Promise: As a research center, we don’t just test; we categories and validate. We provide the “currency of trust that allows an agro-ecological product to be competitive internationally.