The Food security and nutrition program empowers rural farmers of Uganda by providing them with improved seeds, farm inputs, training on modern farming techniques and provides a market for the sale of their farm produce. This gives the farmers the capacity to farm more acres and by extension leads to increased food production and security in Uganda.
Ssamba Foundation is looking at empowering 280 rural farmers in 56 villages across Kyampisi Subcounty in Mukono district to increase their incomes, yields and literacy skills. The organization is working to improve the business planning, financial and management skills of 280 rural farmers (180 women and 100 men).
The program will be strengthening rural farmer’s technical skills and agricultural knowledge, and will promote literacy and numeracy, leading to improved livelihoods and incomes. The farmers will also expand their sales markets, collectively transporting goods to markets and negotiate on prices.
Despite strides being made by Ssamba Foundation in Kyampisi Subcounty, Mukono district, there are still huge inequalities in income, education and food security here. Kyampisi Subcounty a predominantly agricultural community in the Mukono district of Uganda, is one of the poorest areas where three thirds of the households are food insecure, and where 43% of people are living below the national poverty line (which is less than US$0.88–US$1.04 per person per day).
The food security & nutrition program works to tackle this through building the skills of local farmers to increase their incomes and quality of life. Poverty, food insecurity and low literacy levels impact women more severely in the Subcounty.
Women also have limited access to land and are vulnerable to discriminatory attitudes which can hinder their ability to negotiate crop sales and to coordinate production with local buyer demands.
Already, a farming cooperative structure created by Ssamba Foundation exists within the Subcounty. The program builds the skills of farmers – to increase the effectiveness and sustainability of the farming cooperatives. And, by improving the technical agricultural, business and functional literacy skills, it will enable farmers to increase their crop yields.
Ssamba Foundation trains individuals from each village to become literacy facilitators. They are trained in literacy skills relevant to agriculture, such as crop production, storage, fertilizer measures, pesticide labels, and marketing. They will then deliver literacy training to other groups over the project duration.
The projects train individuals from each village in business and financial management as well as network organization and marketing. Farmers gain the relevant knowledge and facilitation skills to effectively disseminate learning to their peers, supporting their fellow farmers to increase yields and income.
The food security & nutrition program will create long-term and sustainable change, by permanently improving household income, which will enable families to be able to spend on education, health care and nutritious foods. The increased economic empowerment of women will also reduce gender inequality relating to education and economic engagement.
As the average household size in Mukono District is 8.5, we estimate that these outcomes will support at least 2,380 indirect beneficiaries (the family members of direct beneficiaries) through increased household income and improved food security.