Uganda in depth

Uganda is home to our longest-standing programme, launched in 1988. Families in our projects here face problems such as environmental degradation, HIV/Aids and conflict. Yet they are growing food, selling surplus vegetables, milk and calves, and setting up small businesses. Many parents who themselves never went to school are seeing their children through university – and members of our most established groups are lobbying local authorities on behalf of their communities.

Strengthening people

Ugandan society has undergone upheaval in recent decades; previously strong family and community networks have been damaged, and conflict during the last few decades has left many families’ livelihoods in tatters. As a result, most of our work here is with communities as they start afresh.

In the 1990s, HIV/Aids hit Uganda. Although rates are now dropping, many children have been left orphaned and adults too weak to work. Our project work includes support for families who have taken in orphaned children, plus some groups of child-headed households. We also support groups of disabled people and their families.

Many of the longest-standing groups have now ‘graduated’ from Send a Cow. They no longer receive funding, yet many retain links with us and continue to pass on their livestock, skills and support to new groups. Some groups are now strong enough to lobby their local authorities for services, while individual members have become confident enough to stand for election to local bodies.

Find out more about our social development approach.

Farming and animals

Most rural people in Uganda are smallholder farmers. The country has huge agricultural potential, particularly in the fertile south. Yet environmental degradation, lack of skills, and shortage of quality livestock hampers farmers’ attempts to escape poverty. Many spend most of their income on buying food to survive.

The country’s animal stock was massively depleted by the civil war in the 1970s and 1980s. The consequent shortage of manure led to a drop in crop yields and what livestock there is in Uganda is generally low-yielding, local cattle.

However, by introducing some dairy and cross-breed animals, Send a Cow can improve the genetic stock for a wide area. All the families we work with in Uganda receive livestock from us, along with training in animal care and the skills to integrate those animals into a mixed farming system.

Uganda has a diverse range of climates, terrains and soils, so we need to adapt our natural farming techniques to suit. This tailored approach reaps great benefits; in the arid north and east, for instance, families are now successfully growing oranges and pineapples and other high-value fruit and vegetables –an achievement they had previously thought impossible.

Caring for the environment

Because our projects are located right across Uganda, we operate in many differing climates and terrains. Water conservation is vital, particularly in the arid north and east. We also have to focus hard on conserving woodlands, which are under threat from farmers needing new land to cultivate, and people seeking wood for fuel.

Despite the challenges, our work in Uganda is clearly having beneficial effects on the wider environment. By planting fodder trees and cultivating crops on manure-enriched land, farmers absorb carbon from the air. In fact, recent research indicated that over a five year period, one Send a Cow group captured twice as much carbon than was emitted.

Find out more about our environmental approach.

Locations of projects:

• North, East and Central Uganda

Main partners:

• Send a Cow Uganda is now a sister organisation to Send a Cow UK, with its own Board of Trustees. It remains largely funded by us.
• Heifer Netherlands
• Oxfam Novib
• Self Help Africa