The aim of the present project is to strengthen 5,000 small farmers through the systematic transfer of sustainable and efficient agricultural cultivation methods and strategic knowledge of a market economy. This also includes the promotion of specific value chains - e.g. moringa, honey, peanuts or chickens -, and hence of products which, because of their high nutrient content and/or commercial potential in local and international markets, help to address the challenges facing the affected population.
Other activities are designed to directly improve the nutritional status of the smallholder families, in particular infants, children, pregnant women and breastfeeding women who get access to vitamin products and de-worming medicines. Raising awareness in practice about the principles of a balanced diet, e.g. through the cultivation and consumption of vegetables, helps to prevent nutrition-related deficits in the long term. In view of the overburdening of the economic, social and ecological resources due to the demographic trend, family members of reproductive age are also informed about the available means of family planning.
Methodically, the project is based on findings from agroecology, the market system approach, as well as nutritional concepts such as Infant and Young Child Feeding or Community Based Management of Acute Malnutrition. It not only targets the affected population, but also the institutional capacities of the involved civil-society organisations – Advance Afrika, AFARD, and Gwed-G – and the local governments in the benefitting districts, in order to ensure the long-term viability of the intervention. They benefit, among other things, from the technical know-how of internationally renowned actors from science and the private sector – BFH-HAFL and africrops! –, who are directly involved in the project implementation. In close coordination with other implementation partners under the Development Initiative for Northern Uganda and the direction of the Ugandan Office of the Prime Minister, the project thus supports the consolidation of stability in northern Uganda, the reduction of poverty and undernourishment, and the strengthening of sustainable and inclusive socio-economic development.