Our Work

Mayuge district in one of the many districts with highest population densities in Uganda. The area population is faced with acute food insecurity. The people of Mayuge are historically heavily agricultural who engaged in crop, livestock, fishing, hunting and gathering of wild foods collection. With the outbreak of the CORONA- 19 Virus in recent years especially 2020-2021, the population is highly strained to meet the social and human needs especially food, income and other social services. There is mass displacement of farming households and large declines in total cultivated area in the current years thus resulting into uncontrollable poverty levels. There are changes in social system with great reliance on government programs like Operation wealth Creation (OWC), Parish Development Model program that is in its initials phase of implementation. Therefore, there is a lot required to be done in relation to sustainable productive livelihoods. Affected population The most vulnerable persons are the children, women, youth, elderly and almost everybody is affected by food insecurity. The current affected population of Mayuge District at over people (229,252 males; 243987 female). According to Uganda National Bureau of Statistics (web) , 2014. Problem Analysis: As the health situation normalizes following the massive Covid-19 Vaccination program, there is increased number of needy people especially due the effects of the pandemic including; high incidences of girl child pregnancy, high school drop outs, break down of small business enterprises resulting into high level of poverty in the local communities. The biggest problem people are facing is acute food insecurity and high levels of poverty. An area that was predominated a food basket to most of the neighbourhood including Kampala City is now in urgent need of emergency food and livelihood support. The major cause of food insecurity and high levels of poverty is the over cultivation of Sugarcane that has become increasingly unmarketable and has rendered mostly the poor and the elderly landless as they are forced to hire land out to some of the rich individuals who are basically engaged in large scale production of Sugarcane plantation. Other causes include: very limited access to agricultural inputs especially seeds; destruction of crops and livestock; abandonment of crop fields; increased vulnerability to climate changes especially drought; limited capacity for climate change resilience; lack of income sources and low purchasing power; limited trade and exchange of food within and across borders; strained social systems e.g. family networks that would act as shock absorbers during food scarcity; high unemployment; overburdened women who do most of the farming because husbands are either dead or physically challenged; limited food storage; threats of food and animal theft especially (e.g goats, pigs, Cows and chicken); poor farmer mobilization. ‘’The effects of food insecurity include: increased acute food scarcity; hunger; human death; malnutrition, illness and diseases; increased vulnerability to climate changes especially drought; increased inability to cope with climate changes; low farm productivity; limited food storage; increased insecurity; hopelessness; limited markets and farmer organization; increased ignorance and low skills. From a communication perspective, there are low levels of knowledge about better farming practices especially climate smart Agriculture (CSA) which must be emphasised and adopted as a response to climatic change effects. Often, the directly distributed food items are eaten, sold and/or stolen. There is interest to improve the people’s livelihood especially the members of Mayuge Multipurpose cooperative society but the major problem is limited capital and skill that directly hinder the successful implementation of programs intended to offer necessary support to the vulnerable individuals especially the unemployed youth, the single mothers, widows, People with disabilities (PWDs) and the elderly. Stakeholders Analysis It’s evident that all stakeholders at all levels (international, national and local) are very much concerned about the problems faced by the people of Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda. The primary stakeholders are the beneficiary communities. These are individuals, households and communities especially in the rural settings and those on the lake shore of Lake Victoria. This has substantially influenced rural urban migration resulting into fewer people involved in agricultural production. There is also increased involvement of the civil society especially humanitarian and relief agencies, NGOs, community groups; health, education, religious and political actors. The Cultural leadership system (KYABAZINGASHIP OF BUSOGA SUB REGION) is involved in mobilizing the local communities especially to respond positively to development programs that are seen to improve people’s livelihoods for joint rehabilitation. There are also local CSOs such as Lively Minds Uganda that is involved in Early Child development program. Community & farmer groups; Faith based organization such as World Vision, involved in Child Protection and Development. The government of Uganda under Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries ( MAAIF), support people with farm inputs under the Wealth Creation Program(OWC) but the biggest challenge is that such farm inputs come in very limited quantities and at unpredictable periods , thus not following the prevailing planting seasons. Intervention Logic: In order to respond to the need of the community, Mayuge Multipurpose Cooperative Society Ltd intends to base our intended intervention on the following critical analysis of the food insecurity problems faced in Mayuge district. This clearly explains the linkage between the major pathways for achieving the intended sustainable results as a result of the intervention, (impact and outcomes) and how implementation of the project will be done (outputs, activities and inputs). Thematic Area/ components The project will focus on seven (4) thematic areas: Food security (Availability, Access, Utilisation & Stability) Climate Smart Farming practices Farm Input support Training & Institutional strengthening (Information, Skills, Knowledge& Networking) Target Beneficiaries & Areas •2000 persons who are food insecure living in 500 households •4 Sub counties •20 Farmer Field School(FFS) groups (30 per Group) Goal (Impact / project contribution): •To promote better livelihood (food, income & nutrition) among 500 Households (2000 persons) in in four (4) Sub counties of Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda by end of year 2024. Objectives (What to Achieve): i.To promote sustainable food production and availability among 500 Households (2000 persons) in in four (4) Sub counties of Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda by end of year 2024. ii.To promote improved climate smart agricultural production among 500 Households (2000 persons) in four (4) Sub counties of Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda by end of year 2024. iii.To promote better skills, knowledge and information Enterprise selection and development among the 500 Households (2000 persons) in in four (4) Sub counties of Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda by end of year 2024. iv.To strengthen Farmer Field School Groups capacity towards better livelihoods among 20 FFS groups of Mayuge district, Eastern Uganda by end of year 2024. OUTPUTS (Project Deliverables) The project intends to deliver the following: Identification and Registration of Farmer beneficiaries Provision of appropriate farm inputs (e.g Passion fruit seedlings, Certified Soybean Seed Variety, Bee Hives & usable tools in Apiary production) Provision of basic instructions on agricultural and fishing practices Strengthening capabilities and building capacity (resilience light) for Farmer Field School Groups Monitoring and evaluation (Results and implementation progress, Farm input utilization and benefits, post planting Bee hive establishment and and post-harvest assessments and marketing)