Sowing the Seeds and Reaping the Benefits
100 farmers’ groups… 1,750 households… 3,500 members – these are the immediate beneficiaries of TPO’s livelihood projects in the Eastern districts of Soroti and Kaberameido. All this impact for little more than the training of nine Field Extension Workers and donations in forms of seeds and livestock.
By comparison to the war-ravaged Northern regions of Uganda, this part of the country ‘only’ suffered a few years of LRA insurgency. Nonetheless, the consequences are much the same; a displaced and traumatised population, livestock and fields plundered and destroyed, abducted and orphaned children – and so the list of damages goes on.
The Initiative
As a response to the insurgency TPO moved to the area in 2004, conducting its psychosocial programmes, and in 2006 programme activities were expanded to integrate livelihood projects. The pilot project included 18 groups in total, whose members were all vulnerable people within the communities; such as those suffering from HIV/AIDS, parents of formerly abducted children, and caretakers of children with epilepsy. Based on the outcomes of the pilot project, the TPO livelihood project was formally launched in late 2007, supported by a multi-year fund from USAID through ACDI/VOCA.
“The pilot project showed great improvements and helped us improve the design of the project,” explains Obongo Isaac, Project Coordinator of the TPO Livelihood programme. “It was an emergency response to the impact of the conflict, and though people didn’t benefit much financially, at least they were now food secure. When people are displaced it means that the social and cultural settings are all disintegrated, and returning home from the camps means beginning afresh. Relatives are missing – some abducted, some killed – and people are traumatised by witnessing the brutalities and killings by the hands of the LRA rebels. The loss of property and livestock left people impoverished and dependent on relief and humanitarian agencies.
“With this new project we’re now trying to move from emergency relief to structured rehabilitation and development. Our main objectives are that all vulnerable households restore their food basket, that they are supported to increase their household incomes, and to ensure that they embrace improved hygiene and sanitation practices. We are very optimistic that the communities will benefit greatly irrespective of whether they have been directly involved or as secondary beneficiaries as the impact spills over to the rest of the community. When we achieve that, having successfully integrated the livelihood projects in to the core psychosocial programme and seeing the results multiply within the communities, then we will have realised our dream of an integrated, holistic approach.”
The Do’ers
To realise this dream, TPO employed and trained nine Field Extension Workers, who each are responsible for moving forward between 10-12 farmers’ groups. One such member of staff is Florence. “When TPO started counselling these groups, restoring resilience and hope, it really helped them overcome their emotional problems, but their stomachs were still empty,” explains Florence. We watch her as she’s working with one of her groups in the Kalaki sub-county in Kaberameido, improving the group’s demonstration field, which initially didn’t meet the standards set by TPO as it was too small and poorly planted.
This group is particularly challenged, as the majority of its members are either disabled or weak due to old age and illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. “When I first met this group, their farming skills were very poor, but we have already seen progress,” explains Florence. “What we’re doing with this demonstration field is to show the advantages of modern farming practices such as measuring the fields and planting in rows, and the long-term importance of investing in better and more resistant seeds. Group members have been able to replicate these practices and skills to their own homes and villages.
“The nature of the services and the design of the project requires TPO not to work in isolation, but together with the local governments who are very aware and supportive of our work and are now advocating many of our initiatives, particularly within hygiene and sanitation. We expect a good yield and great changes, and it’s not something you do in one day, it’s a gradual process, but already you can see the difference the programme is making as their quality of life is slowly improving.”
The Results
Henry, one of the group members, who – with a big smile fixed on his welcoming face – couldn’t agree more; “This new way of planting seeds is much better, we can already see the difference it’s making, we weren’t doing well before. TPO has been very good to us; they have given us good groundnuts and sorghum seeds and hoes, things that we couldn’t afford before. So now we can get started, and with the next harvest we can buy more seeds and continue feeding our families. I am very happy!”
Another village, and another story – illustrating the scope of TPO’s work and its ability to adapt to individual groups’ strengths and needs. We’re in Alere in the Katine sub-county and Suzanne, the chairperson of this group, enthusiastically explains the progress she has witnessed. “When we came back from the camps, a lot of people had nothing to do, all they did was drinking and smoking. Many of our community members had common problems, for example if a child became sick there was no money and no way of getting treatment. Myself, I felt very lonely and isolated and thought that everything was lost. And so we realised that we couldn’t get back on our feet alone. We started working in groups, rotating between different gardens and started a group field where we planted sugar canes together.
“Then TPO became involved, they gave us four oxen to help with the gardens, and they gave us better seeds so now we can do better farming. They also helped us setting up our Village Savings and Loans Association. It is a group savings initiative, where each member contributes 500 shillings per week and of that money, members can get small loans to buy seeds or produce to sell at the market. The loan is then repaid with a small interest, and from the profit group members make they can buy household products, pay for medical treatment, more seeds etc. And at the end of each year, we distribute the money made from interest between all the families. This initiative has been a great help for us.
“They also helped us with our drama group so we can use it to educate the community in issues like HIV/AIDS and hygiene and sanitation through music and drama. Before, people feared those who were affected by HIV, but now after the education it is much better and gradually, the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS will be demystified.
“Now that people are part of a group they feel energised and supported. The best thing about our relationship with TPO is that they have sensitised us in sustainable agriculture and hygiene practices. Hygiene and sanitation used to be a big problem, there were no toilets, but now TPO train us and people have adopted that.
TPO has really helped us so much, they have changed our lives.”
By comparison to the war-ravaged Northern regions of Uganda, this part of the country ‘only’ suffered a few years of LRA insurgency. Nonetheless, the consequences are much the same; a displaced and traumatised population, livestock and fields plundered and destroyed, abducted and orphaned children – and so the list of damages goes on.
The Initiative
As a response to the insurgency TPO moved to the area in 2004, conducting its psychosocial programmes, and in 2006 programme activities were expanded to integrate livelihood projects. The pilot project included 18 groups in total, whose members were all vulnerable people within the communities; such as those suffering from HIV/AIDS, parents of formerly abducted children, and caretakers of children with epilepsy. Based on the outcomes of the pilot project, the TPO livelihood project was formally launched in late 2007, supported by a multi-year fund from USAID through ACDI/VOCA.
“The pilot project showed great improvements and helped us improve the design of the project,” explains Obongo Isaac, Project Coordinator of the TPO Livelihood programme. “It was an emergency response to the impact of the conflict, and though people didn’t benefit much financially, at least they were now food secure. When people are displaced it means that the social and cultural settings are all disintegrated, and returning home from the camps means beginning afresh. Relatives are missing – some abducted, some killed – and people are traumatised by witnessing the brutalities and killings by the hands of the LRA rebels. The loss of property and livestock left people impoverished and dependent on relief and humanitarian agencies.
“With this new project we’re now trying to move from emergency relief to structured rehabilitation and development. Our main objectives are that all vulnerable households restore their food basket, that they are supported to increase their household incomes, and to ensure that they embrace improved hygiene and sanitation practices. We are very optimistic that the communities will benefit greatly irrespective of whether they have been directly involved or as secondary beneficiaries as the impact spills over to the rest of the community. When we achieve that, having successfully integrated the livelihood projects in to the core psychosocial programme and seeing the results multiply within the communities, then we will have realised our dream of an integrated, holistic approach.”
The Do’ers
To realise this dream, TPO employed and trained nine Field Extension Workers, who each are responsible for moving forward between 10-12 farmers’ groups. One such member of staff is Florence. “When TPO started counselling these groups, restoring resilience and hope, it really helped them overcome their emotional problems, but their stomachs were still empty,” explains Florence. We watch her as she’s working with one of her groups in the Kalaki sub-county in Kaberameido, improving the group’s demonstration field, which initially didn’t meet the standards set by TPO as it was too small and poorly planted.
This group is particularly challenged, as the majority of its members are either disabled or weak due to old age and illnesses such as HIV/AIDS. “When I first met this group, their farming skills were very poor, but we have already seen progress,” explains Florence. “What we’re doing with this demonstration field is to show the advantages of modern farming practices such as measuring the fields and planting in rows, and the long-term importance of investing in better and more resistant seeds. Group members have been able to replicate these practices and skills to their own homes and villages.
“The nature of the services and the design of the project requires TPO not to work in isolation, but together with the local governments who are very aware and supportive of our work and are now advocating many of our initiatives, particularly within hygiene and sanitation. We expect a good yield and great changes, and it’s not something you do in one day, it’s a gradual process, but already you can see the difference the programme is making as their quality of life is slowly improving.”
The Results
Henry, one of the group members, who – with a big smile fixed on his welcoming face – couldn’t agree more; “This new way of planting seeds is much better, we can already see the difference it’s making, we weren’t doing well before. TPO has been very good to us; they have given us good groundnuts and sorghum seeds and hoes, things that we couldn’t afford before. So now we can get started, and with the next harvest we can buy more seeds and continue feeding our families. I am very happy!”
Another village, and another story – illustrating the scope of TPO’s work and its ability to adapt to individual groups’ strengths and needs. We’re in Alere in the Katine sub-county and Suzanne, the chairperson of this group, enthusiastically explains the progress she has witnessed. “When we came back from the camps, a lot of people had nothing to do, all they did was drinking and smoking. Many of our community members had common problems, for example if a child became sick there was no money and no way of getting treatment. Myself, I felt very lonely and isolated and thought that everything was lost. And so we realised that we couldn’t get back on our feet alone. We started working in groups, rotating between different gardens and started a group field where we planted sugar canes together.
“Then TPO became involved, they gave us four oxen to help with the gardens, and they gave us better seeds so now we can do better farming. They also helped us setting up our Village Savings and Loans Association. It is a group savings initiative, where each member contributes 500 shillings per week and of that money, members can get small loans to buy seeds or produce to sell at the market. The loan is then repaid with a small interest, and from the profit group members make they can buy household products, pay for medical treatment, more seeds etc. And at the end of each year, we distribute the money made from interest between all the families. This initiative has been a great help for us.
“They also helped us with our drama group so we can use it to educate the community in issues like HIV/AIDS and hygiene and sanitation through music and drama. Before, people feared those who were affected by HIV, but now after the education it is much better and gradually, the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS will be demystified.
“Now that people are part of a group they feel energised and supported. The best thing about our relationship with TPO is that they have sensitised us in sustainable agriculture and hygiene practices. Hygiene and sanitation used to be a big problem, there were no toilets, but now TPO train us and people have adopted that.
TPO has really helped us so much, they have changed our lives.”
TPO Field Extension Workers at their offices in Soroti, Eastern Uganda
A TPO supported farmers' group at work
TPO Field Extension Worker Florence provides training in improved farming practices
A happy Henry with seeds donated by TPO
Suzanne, Chairperson of TPO supported Alere farming group; "TPO have changed our lives"
Seeds donated by TPO for demonstration field
Click here for more photographs from West Nile projects.
A TPO supported farmers' group at work
TPO Field Extension Worker Florence provides training in improved farming practices
A happy Henry with seeds donated by TPO
Suzanne, Chairperson of TPO supported Alere farming group; "TPO have changed our lives"
Seeds donated by TPO for demonstration field
Click here for more photographs from West Nile projects.