One of the hardest challenges for farmers to tackle is preventing pests and fungi from growing in their fields. Although tiny in size, these critters can have a huge impact on the security of a person’s food and livelihood. Lucky for us, a combination of methods can be used to prevent the spread of pests and fungi. And while the farmers will often use creative methods to deal with these issues, sometimes fungicides and pesticides are necessary to save their crops. Therefore, and in order to complement their new seeds and fertilizers, we provided all four of the greenhouses with pesticides and fungicides to use when other methods aren't quite cutting it. These small solutions will make a big difference. Last year, the greenhouse in Juru estimates that they lost approximately 6,000 USD worth of crop from drought, insects and animals. Carol assists with ARC programming in Nakivale and Oruchinga and could really imagine the difference this would make. “Last year, the … [Read more...] about Putting the Fun in Fungicide

As any backyard gardener or long-time farmer knows, we can plant as many seeds as we like, but they won’t grow without proper nutrients, water, and sunlight. Places like Nakivale and Oruchinga have sunlight down – crops grow there all year long — but this continued use means the soil takes quite a beating, nutrient wise. To solve this problem, we got all four greenhouses foliar fertilizers to accompany their new fruit and vegetable seeds! Foliar fertilizer is liquid, and it’s applied directly to the leaves. The plants absorb these essential nutrients directly through their leaves to grow bigger, stronger, and to produce larger yields. The farmers at our greenhouses were excited to receive the fertilizer. With limited access to manure and almost no access to other fertilizers, the foliar fertilizers will supplement what they would use and help them grow more to eat. Monica, a long-term member at the Juru Greenhouse, has already felt the effects of this community and is … [Read more...] about Feeding the Leaves

Uganda’s climate is perfect for growing ripe, tropical fruits — mangoes, jackfruit, oranges, passion fruit, pineapple, and so much more. But at the greenhouses we’ve been working in, the bounty is usually limited to vegetables. Vegetables provide many essential nutrients, but the farmers and their families lack regular access to nourishing, delicious fruits. Yesterday, we were able to provide dozens of farmers with the vegetable seeds they needed and wanted. But today, we focused on fruit! The greenhouses had a limited selection of fruits—a handful of papaya trees and a large guava tree were planted recently, but not everyone has access to these trees. We supplemented these trees with fruit seeds for all four greenhouses, so that everyone can enjoy a sweet and healthy treat. Many folks at the greenhouses were especially excited about planting watermelon and passion fruit; both remind them of being at home in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where these fruits thrive. And … [Read more...] about Passionate about Passion Fruit

No matter how dedicated a person is to a farm or garden, it’s impossible to plant anything without seeds. And in places as remote as Nakivale or Oruchinga, it can be tricky to buy seeds – especially if you’re hoping for a wide variety of options. So, while visiting our four greenhouses in Uganda, we made sure to ask the farmers not only what seeds they most needed, but what they especially missed from home, too. Many of the workers are refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo, which means they typically make do with the food available in the settlements. When we asked them what food they missed from their lives back in Congo, faces lit up as spoke of beets, carrots, yams, garlic, ginger and cauliflower. The groups had already been busy growing tomatoes, eggplant, onions, bell peppers, corn, and sorghum, but they missed familiar foods. We decided to source a huge assortment of seeds — we found all the plants they were already growing plus seeds of the plants they so … [Read more...] about Planting Seeds of Change

It’s hard to reap a bountiful harvest with only poor, tired soil to grow in. The folks at Nakivale’s four greenhouse learning centers know this well. But lucky for us, the solution to depleted soil is easy and au naturel. Today, we visited one of the greenhouse learning centers, where the space and its surrounding grounds have been used for months to grow fruits and vegetables that the residents can eat. But the greenhouse is good for more than just nutritious food — most importantly, it’s a learning center that teaches people how to cultivate their own gardens. Unfortunately, all this learning and growing has taken a toll on the soil in and around the greenhouses. The land isn’t as lush as it once was — even during the wet season — and it needed some revitalization. We decided to bring the team here a hefty pile of manure, produced by some local goats living in Nakivale! Not only were we able to help this greenhouse get the necessary nutrients it needed, but we were able … [Read more...] about Revitalizing the Soil

A sense of community is important to all of us. Sometimes it’s community created by the family we grew up in, and sometimes community comes from our chosen family. In Nakivale Refugee Settlement, it’s easy to find small, tight-knit communities. One is a group called Courageous Women. They were founded by 15 women with the simple yet powerful goal of supporting one another, of being there for each other. Many of the women are single mothers, were orphaned as children, or are a part of the albino community. Each of these groups have dealt with their own difficulties, but they’ve decided to come together - to get through the tough times together. When we arrived, the group welcomed us quickly into their tight-knit community. We all met in a shaded meeting location they had constructed for the purpose of accommodating community members with sensitive skin. Josiane, the chairperson for the group, talked to us about her idea to help the group – ducks. “Rearing ducks is a … [Read more...] about Getting Our Ducks in a Row

Most businesses begin with a little start up fund—something to rent out a store front, buy the materials you need, pay the staff. But especially in places as remote as Nakivale Refugee Settlement, residents don’t have access to these types of materials. In Nakivale, we seek out groups that might have a harder than average time accessing funds and opportunities to start or grow a business. Our team focuses especially on helping socially-minded businesses - from using your time to train single mothers or giving youth something to do. Today we met with an entrepreneurial group our team knows well. We’ve been scheming of ways to help them for a while. Today, we're making our move. This group is especially aimed at helping people with special needs. While a disability might be able to prevent them from labor-intensive farm work, they’re able to make ends meet by specializing in things like shoe-making and mending. We helped gather all the things they needed to kick start … [Read more...] about It’s a Shoe In

Food insecurity doesn’t have to do solely with access to food itself — sometimes, it’s caused by an unstable income. On our journey to promote stability, our next stop was to a collective of tailors to see what we could do to support them. These tailors live in Rubondo and are distance away from many other income-generating activities, so instead of asking them to come to us, we came to them! And when we went, we brought sewing machines with us. The center of this community was a neighborhood square, with children running around, elderly sitting in chairs, and calves and chicks wandering through picking at grass and lost seeds. In an unassuming building on the South side, we peeked our heads in to meet some of the women being trained in tailoring by the collective’s leader, Jean. When we spoke with Jean, he told us the direct impact these sewing machines we brought would have: “We are using the machines to sell clothes such that the women can make enough money to meet … [Read more...] about Tailor Made

Food security is an everyday problem for millions of people in the world. We're tackling the issue in a remote community in Rubondo — an already secluded area of the Nakivale Refugee Settlement of Uganda. Here, we could focus directly on agriculture and livelihoods by meeting people where they are. We started with goats! Our livelihoods advisors introduced us to one of the women’s cooperatives they work with. This particular women’s cooperative consisted of ten women who primarily focus on agricultural work. We were able to give them four goats to help along their progress! One woman, Glorias, explained how these four little goats would help her and the community: “First of all, we do not have jobs, so the goats will become our jobs. With the help that you have given us, we will be able to do more. As we keep the goats, they will mature and give birth. We will be able to sell the baby goats and send our children to school and buy clothes and shoes.” Rachel, the leader of … [Read more...] about We’ve Goat Your Back

Damli is a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo. A mother of two, she’s given her time and energy over the past few days to help us find communities in need of a boost in green, fruit, and life-giving trees. Serge, a former journalist from DRC, fled five years ago when the government seized his laptop and cell phone because of his reporting. He too was happy to hop in the back of our truck and help distribute, interpret, and help communities plant the trees. Pastor Jean Bosco reached out to his community to find those who could most use the fruit-bearing trees, helping us connect with families and hear their stories. All three had incredible ideas for what might impact the Kyaka community in the most powerful ways. And they had one more... Damli, Serge, and Jean Bosco wanted to plant trees in the center of camp, in the community of Sweswe. “The trees help the community in Sweswe in so many ways,” he said. “They help the environment, they attract … [Read more...] about Start from the Center