FOOD AND NUTRITIONAL SECURITY
More people die each year from hunger and malnutrition than from AIDS, tuberculosis, and malaria combined. Because the Ugandan population is increasing rapidly, demand for more varied diets is also increasing, which calls for growing more food yet the land is already exhausted and degraded. Ugandans are facing increased costs constantly, but the yields continuously decline, and the people’s survival, livelihoods, and incomes are threatened.
OUR APPROACH
Hope for Women Uganda is working to develop community-driven sustainable responses that address the three pillars of food security: food availability, food access, and food utilization. The efforts also contribute to the National Development Goals and SDGs, using the following cross- cutting interventions:
- Teach resource-poor families how to manage small animals (poultry,pigs, goats, etc.) that can act as collateral for loan acquisition; support the families with integrating the animals into the farmingsystems; facilitate marketing of local produce through storage depots and linking producers to buyers; explore linking producers to micro-finance institutions (MFI) such that loans can be made available forthose with produce in store waiting for better market prices.
- Promote the beekeeping craft and aqualiculture to help poor farmers get higher yields from flowering crops (plants), while ensuring food security and responding to the rapid environmental degradation; in addition to pollination and fecundation, bees/beekeeping helps monitor environmental pollution, create employment, reduce poverty, and improve nutrition through the selling and consumption of honey.
- Promote general awareness on environmental sustainability through a wide variety of activities such as promoting use of solar panels at our office, waste recycling (plastic and non-plastic), eco-tours and eco-photography competition.
- Promote gender mainstreaming and effective engagement of women and youth in environmental activities.
- Promote adoption of renewable energy technologies such solar, bicycle, and wind energy.