Having Enough Food Makes My Family Safe

Field report, February 2023

Linda is a 30-year-old mother of 4 living in Bungatira Village, Gulu District. Her family suffered from severe food insecurity in 2021, allowing the family only one meal a day. Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, rising fuel costs and inflation in East Africa, Linda’s business of selling food, grains and cooking oil collapsed.

It was so hard for me to understand why the price went so high in a short period. And my business collapsed I ununderstood latter that factors was due to conflicts between Russia and another country, I asked why other countries fight and we suffer? My family resorted to one meal a day. Thankfully WGEF came with a soft agro support loan of $370 that enabled me to prepare my garden, purchase seeds and inputs after 3 months the first harvested started my journey to recovery. I learnt that having enough food makes a family safe.

Now we eat 3 meals a day, I can buy food and have a balanced diet occasionally, and I have restocked again my shop with cereals rebuilding my business again and it’s growing slowly, I know it will take some time, but we are resilient now.

WGEF’s agro support program is critical in our region I have tested the benefits, it can save many families in the region

— Linda, WGEF member

Women’s Global Empowerment Fund is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that creates innovative economic, social, and political opportunities for women and families in the post-conflict region of northern Uganda. Those opportunities include literacy training, a unique microenterprise model and agriculture initiative, accompanied by business and leadership development training, health initiatives, sexual violence education, social justice programming, and more. WGEF helps these communities transform by becoming their own advocates and creating their own solutions to move themselves forward.

Our agriculture initiative has enabled local food economies, increased food security and the health and well-being of families.