Edson dropped out of school at the age of 14 to engage in subsistence farming with his parents to support his struggling family. Fifteen years later, as a father of four living in Kibarama village, Rukungiri District, Edson still relies on subsistence farming to support his household. During prolonged dry seasons, the family is at [...]

In the small village of Kyesabo – several kilometers from Mitooma town council – we met Feredensi in her garden harvesting onions and tomatoes. Parents to eight children, Feredensi and her husband rely on subsistence farming to provide for the family. A good harvest is critical to the family’s survival. Subsistence farmers depend on farming [...]

In a small town almost 2 hours away from Rukungiri’s main town, we drove around the towering hills to get to Kiteme village.  “You are most welcome,” said Georgina as soon as we arrived in her compound. She quickly poured us some water and “obushera” a very popular local drink in the area made up [...]

On a sunny afternoon in Rukiri A village in Kagadi District, a group of women are seated under a jackfruit tree, a common scene for many last-mile rural gatherings and meetings. This group of women make up the Bakyala Tubinge Obunaku Savings Group, which roughly translates to “Women Who Fight Poverty.” This group was formed [...]

In February 2020, Uganda registered its first case of COVID-19. Since then, the disruption of supply chains caused widespread food shortages, especially in last-mile rural villages in Uganda. Smallholder farmers and other local producers lost all contact they had with local markets and customers as well as other potential producers. Inevitably, this resulted in a [...]

Zephaniah, a farmer in the rural highlands of western Uganda, walks through his garden, picking ripe tomatoes. He is one of two billion smallholder and family farmers around the world, producing four-fifths of the food people consume overall.* He is also among the 433 million people estimated to live in extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa.** [...]

In Rukiri B village in Kagadi district, Daisy, like the other members of her community, used to fetch water from an unprotected stagnant source for domestic use as well as drinking. The entire community did not have access to safe and clean water. “We use this water at home for doing domestic work like washing [...]

In the Rukiri B Village – a last-mile village in Kagadi District – a group of young people have started construction of a small agricultural store to sell their produce. This was made possible through the Rukiri B Tukulakulane Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA). This VSLA group provides participants basic financial services such as [...]

Gladys weeding carrots in her vegetable garden Did you know that half of the farmers in Eastern Africa are women? However, these remarkable women are often not able to produce as much as their male counterparts because they are held back by many restrictions in their local communities such as lack of access to land, [...]

David Miryango is a full-time farmer supporting a family of four. The cost of investing in inorganic manure, which is the most crucial element that he needs every planting season, has worn David out. For communities like his, spending all of their income on just one variable of the equation makes no financial sense, and [...]