PROJECT

By means of this project of two years duration, ACAV wants to give a development perspective to all South Sudanese refugees who are hosted at Rhino Camp (in the West Nile sub-region). In addition, ACAV wants to strengthen the spirit of resilience both of refugees and of host communities.

By increasing food safety of people living in Rhino Camp and in the neighboring areas, ACAV would like to ensure a peaceful coexistence between the newcomers and the local population that is already sharing the scarce resources.

The farmers are beneficiaries of this project and they will receive improved cassava cuttings and selected bean seeds, with which they will be able to grow an acre of land each, along with resident farmers in the region. ACAV is providing technical assistance both in the vegetable garden of individual peasants and in a demo field of 4 acres which is made available by the host community.

This intervention is in line with the development strategy of the Ugandan Government “Refugee and Host Population Empowerement (ReHoPE)”

WHERE: Rhino Camp, Arua District, West Nile, Uganda

LOCAL PARTNER: Abi Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute (Abi Zardi)

THE CONTEXT

Uganda has historically arranged to welcome refugees from various neighboring countries. At present, refugees are mainly coming from South Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Burundi and Somali. People flee from South Sudan because of conflicts between armed groups, who are causing harassments and sexual abuse, lack of basic services and food insecurity.

The massive influx of refugees in the West Nile sub-region has caused both a high pressure on available resources and on basic services and tensions between refugees and the local population.

In the West Nile sub-region 5% of the population (144.905 out of 2.898.100) is suffering from severe food insecurity. The causes are mainly long periods of drought, livelihood-limited agricultural production, lack of appropriate plants, low purchasing power due to an increase of food prices and the influx of refugees reducing access to food stocks and to services.

WHAT ARE WE DOING?

Main objective

Helping improve living conditions of refugees and host communities through an intervention in the field of food insecurity in the Rhino refugee camp located in the Ofua region.

Specific objective

Improving food safety and resilience of refugees and local community

WHO ARE WE WORKING WITH?

450 farmers (300 refugees and 150 Ugandans)

OUR ACTIVITIES

• meeting between stakeholders
• baseline study with the aim of collecting relevant data in order to understand the socio-economic condition of refugees and of the host community
• preparation of the demo field where 2 varieties of cassavas and 2 varieties of beans will be planted
• selection and training of beneficiaries that are going to follow a course on the importance of both good farming practices and of improved varieties compared to the traditional ones
• distribution of cassava cuttings and of bean seads: every farmer will in this way be able to grow an acre of land. Beneficiaries will also receive technical assistance in the countryside

SUSTAINABILITY

The intervention’s sustainability will mainly be guaranteed by the support and the training of the local staff which will carry out an important role in accompanying beneficiaries during the farming of cassavas and beans. The exclusive use of local personnel allows the enhancement of expertise on the spot and the training of new teachers. We will promote the capacity building of local communities and of refugees in the areas of agriculture and food safety! Javik and Abi Farm participation will ensure the sustainability of all activities and the ongoing and constant support with actors of the Ugandan system.

FUNDS