Ugandan women farmers building food security through QSA's training program

In the Rakai, Masaka and Lwengo districts – as in many rural parts of the world – the women grow most of the food.

In rural Uganda, women farmers are building food security through Quaker Service Australia's (QSA) community-oriented training program.

In the Rakai, Masaka and Lwengo districts – as in many rural parts of the world – the women grow most of the food. So it was the women who came together and requested support to tackle the issue of chronic food insecurity.

QSA, along with their implementing partner St Jude Family Projects, use a two-year model that allows women to drive their own empowerment. In the first year, they receive training in agriculture and livelihood skills; the second year focuses on increasing their economic opportunities and business skills. The women learn to be teachers and leaders themselves and are able to improve the health and wealth of their households.

The women are trained in small-scale irrigation, mixed crop-livestock farming and crop diversification. This improves soil fertility, crop production and crop quality, which strengthens adaptability for climate change. They also learn to mitigate the impacts of climate change through the use of hybrid and resistant planting materials.

The project is designed to firstly meet the immediate household stresses experienced by women and their families and works over the two-year span to build long-term resilience of the communities and their livelihoods.

Quaker Service Australia is supported by the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program.

(With Inputs from APO)