Gender Equality Uganda Project #48520

1,000 Women's Gardens for Health and Nutrition

by Rwenzori Center for Research and Advocacy

Summary

Your donations will support 1,000 organic home gardens and five community gardens managed by rural and small town women in Kasese District, Uganda. Small-scale organic gardens empower women to feed their families with nutritious foods, generate income, buffer against illness and hunger, and nurture the soil. "We learned sanitation, family planning, nutrition, kitchen gardening, and health education from RCRA..as for me the good life that we are in is because of kitchen gardening." Mother of 7

$50,000
total goal

$9,041
remaining

148
donors

2
monthly donors

5
fundraisers

7
months

Challenge

In Kasese District, 85% of households make a living as subsistence farmers on degraded land and hunger and malnutrition are chronic issues. Over 40% of children 5-59 months old are stunted and 13% are wasted. Women are the main farmers of food but need support to improve crop diversity and productivity. Other women lack access to land but can garden collectively. Better nutrition is essential for improving the health status of children and school performance.

Solution

Establishing sustainable gardens is a low-cost and effective way to increase family vegetable and fruit consumption and empower women to generate and spend income on family needs - food, medicine, school fees. This project brings together the skills of RCRA staff in health and nutrition, Mountains of the Moon students in agronomy and integrated pest management, and the local knowledge of village and small-town women to establish and manage home and community gardens in 50 villages.

Long-Term Impact

This project will significantly improve the dietary diversity, nutrition, health and welfare of 1,000 rural and small-town families in Kasese District. It will provide a partnership model of effective support for home and community gardens for replication and scaling-up throughout Uganda. Women managed gardens empower women to feed their families, earn income, reduce domestic tension and, eventually, command community respect.