From February 10th to 13th, 2004, Dr. Fitigu Tadesse, Vice President, and Ms. Jennifer Thomson, AWFFI Senior Program officer, visited The Hunger Project Epicenters in Uganda. The following is a report of their visit.

A men’s group receiving SPIA credit in the Iganga Epicenter area.

The Hunger Project’s work against hunger and poverty in Uganda is striding ahead with new expansion this year into the south western district of Mbabara, which brings the number of Epicenters in Uganda to six! During our visit, we had the opportunity to visit four of these Epicenters, and one Sub-Epicenter.

As part of the process of expansion to Mbabara, Dr. Tadesse visited the local governmental officials as well as local community leaders to explain the principles and methodologies of The Hunger Project to our new partners. Many of the officials and community leaders had attended the Vision, Commitment and Action (VCA) workshops and expressed their agreement with The Hunger Project’s approach of self-reliance and community mobilization. They committed themselves to work in close partnership with The Hunger Project to combat hunger and poverty in their villages and in the district as a whole.

Last year, The Hunger Project started mobilizing communities in the district of Iganga, and now the Epicenter building itself is under construction on 5 acres of land donated by the district and the communities in cooperation. During our visit, we met with community members at the Epicenter building construction site, where the foundation has been laid and the community-donated bricks are ready in piles near by. The community has already started planting communal gardens of maize which will be stored in the food bank when it is ready. In addition, 40 men and women have trained as Functional Adult Literacy Instructors and will be opening their classes soon. Ten men and women have also attended specialized training in the HIV/AIDS and Gender Inequality Workshop and have now become HIV/AIDS animators.

Also during our visit to Iganga, the first thirteen AWFFI women’s groups and one “SPIA” men’s group took their first loans from The Hunger Project for farming and income-generating activities.

Women’s Group receiving AWFFI credit in the
Iganga Epicenter area.

Dr. Tadesse visited the Kiboga Epicenter which was inaugurated in 2003. He was happy to learn that the AWFFI and SPIA credit that was disbursed during our visit in 2003 has been repaid 100% by both the women’s groups (AWFFI) and the men’s groups (SPIA). In addition, he attended an HIV/AIDS and Gender Inequality Workshop at the Epicenter and met with about 200 people, including the HIV/AIDS Animators. Even though the Kiboga Epicenter is relatively new, the people there have demonstrated a high level of commitment and dynamism.

At the Wakiso Epicenter, we attended another AWFFI loan disbursement, and visited the Epicenter clinic which was conducting a measles immunization campaign that day.

The AWFFI women at the Wakiso Epicenter are preparing to form the first THP government-recognized rural bank in Uganda. The women have become very financially sophisticated in the three years that they have been participating in the AWFFI program, and are very excited about the next phase: operating their own AWFFI-women cooperatively owned rural bank which will be registered with the government in order to have its own autonomous status!

After the meeting, we visited some of the AWFFI women at their places of business. One AWFFI women (pictured below) had invested her loan to increase her vegetable vending business at the local market. She grows some of the vegetables herself and buys others. She is looking forward to being a member of the new AWFFI rural bank at the Wakiso Epicenter so that she can continue to expand her business.

Like the Wakiso Epicenter, the Namayumba Sub-Epicenter is also planning to have its own rural bank next year, but will join with Wakiso for the first year to gain experience.

One AWFFI group near the Namayumba Sub-Epicenter received credit to increase their passion fruit juice and jelly business which supplies the local market.

We left Uganda feeling impressed with the growth that The Hunger Project-Uganda and the partner communities have been able to achieve together in partnership. The partner communities demonstrated a deep understanding of how to end hunger and poverty based on the principles of “Vision, Commitment and Action,” and have mobilized a high caliber of local Epicenter leadership to work with the communities to achieve their vision of villages free from hunger and poverty.