Help a Child and Share an Opportunity (SAO) work together in this lobby and advocacy project in Abim (Karamoja). The aim of the project is to build the capacity of women, youth and persons with a disability to access inclusive markets by establishing favourable policies and legislations for marginalized people.
Small scale farmers especially women, youth and disabled people in Karamoja are food insecure due to limited access to land and qualityseeds, extension services and the lack of knowledge about and the relevant policies and laws to enhance productivity. Women are major players in the agriculture sector, in household food and nutrition security and in natural resource management. 80% are engaged in agriculture sector, they work along the value chain from the field to the market in their own enterprises and in other family activities. They also engage in a mix of non-farm and income-generating activities, as part of their strategy to diversify their livelihoods and household nutrition options. The Karamoja community empowerment project will use several approaches to ensure that the targeted small holder farmers among the women, youth and people with a disability do access the market. This will be done in the following ways:
1. Conducting research in order to map out the existing farmers’ groups which are organized and the value chain that the farmers and the entire Abim community are involved in;
2. Awareness raising activities to popularize the need to access favourable markets resulting in a protracted and elaborate marketing communications plan for the region;
3. Dialogue meetings from grass root to district level to raise the critical hindrances for producing for and accessing markets;
4. Formulation of bi-laws and policies that favours marketing for small holders at parish, cub county and district level.
This project is part of a Strategic Partnership with the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs on “Convening and Convincing programme” (SPCC), implemented by ICCO Cooperation in coalition with EDUKANS, KerkinActie, Help a Child and Wilde Ganzen.