UTAP works with community leadership by assisting farmers in the Northern Regions in the short-term and long-term arid Africa to improve food security. Farmers will be provided inputs and equipment during the dry season with irrigation assistance and seeds to grow production food items during the dry season. Through lessons learned, the farmers and communities will teach their neighbors about the new technologies, creating a ripple effect to stimulate food self-reliance across arid Africa that constitutes a third of the continent. Infant mortality in Africa often is linked with malnutrition, primarily because the maize porridge that infants rely on lacks complete nutrition, preventing the development of strong and healthy bodies that can ward off disease and infection. Since improving agricultural development is only half the battle, the UTAP program helped identify less costly, more efficient local markets to sell their surplus crops with a higher profit margin.