Mbarara Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute is one of the 16 Public Agricultural Research Institutes (PARIs) under the policy guidance of the National Agriculture Research Organization (NARO). Specifically, it is one the nine Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institutes (ZARDIs). It is responsible for identifying constraints, developing and disseminating appropriate agricultural technologies in the South Western Agro-ecological Zone (SWAEZ).
Mbarara ZARDI started as a Livestock Breeding Centre for Western Uganda, established in 1926 as a Stock Farm. In 1996 the Stock Farm was handed over to NARO by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal industry and Fisheries and has since become a fully-fledged agricultural research institute.
