LIVELIHOODS AND NATURAL RESOURCES GOVERNANCE PROGRAM

Sustainable Organic Agriculture and Food Security is at the heart of GWEFODE’s community development work, which focuses on increasing food security and strengthening agricultural livelihoods by training small holder farmers in organic agriculture through experiential learning, practical work, on-farm experimentation, and demonstrations. While women play an important role in agriculture and natural resource management in Uganda, they have greater financial and resource constraints, and lower levels of access to information and services than men.

In the last 100 years Uganda’s forests have faced severe pressures mainly from agricultural conversion as a result of population increase, urban demand for charcoal, over grazing, uncontrolled timber harvesting and policy failures. The forestry cover has shrunk from 45% in 1890 to the present 20.3 % of the total land area in Uganda. Currently, the rate of deforestation is estimated to be about 1% per annum (Kigenyi, 1995).

Uganda is not a water scarce country but poor land management practices are leading to catchment degradation resulting in river siltation and degraded rivers banks. GWEFODE’s work is to improve catchment management and restore / maintain environmental flows in critical freshwater ecosystems that are not only important for safeguarding Uganda’s biodiversity but are also important sources for domestic (drinking and agriculture), municipal and industrial use.

GWEFODE’s theory of change to improving the wellbeing of women, youth and other marginalised groups is that of economic empowerment of women and financial inclusion. At GWEFODE, we recognise that poverty and dependence are invariably linked with violence and human rights abuses. We aim to deliver women’s economic empowerment through promoting Self-Reliance, Self-governance and Social economic development for women and girls.