Grow Nutritious Vegetables

Poor nutrition is a hallmark of substance farmers’ family diets and malnutrition is rampant in children leading to stunted growth and poor brain development. These family farming villages lack requisite farming knowledge to grow nutritious vegetables that can help improve their health.  In Akisim village, 29% of children aged 0-59 months are stunted, and in Omuranga the figure increases to 51%. Adults are affected too, with 40% of women aged 15-49 suffering with anaemia in those villages (Mukongoro Health centers 111 records).

 Villages are generally dry due to poor rainfall patterns and any successful farming has to rely on irrigation. Families lack finances to buy seeds and farming equipment.  Children who are sick miss school hence no education.  Adults are unable to work, causing a loss of household income and increasing poverty. Malnutrition-related deaths among children are on the increase.

 A good starting point is to Grow Nutritious Vegetables.

15 kilometers south of Kumi town, in Kanyum County, Uganda ,are AKisim/ Omuranga villages, which have about 60 family farming families( 10 people in each family) who rely predominantly on a protein-rich diet of meat, small silver  fish( OMENA) and Enkejje. There is a lack of awareness about the need to include vegetables in daily diets to meet nutritional needs.

Pamo Volunteers wishes to support 15 family farmers’ households (150 people) in Akisim/ Omuranga villages to grow a variety of nutritious vegetables on a 5-acre piece of land. This will help in promoting healthier diets, fight malnutrition among children and improve the income of families. The initiatives will provide the farmers with water to irrigate their farms, seeds, farming tools and techniques.

Grow Nutritious Vegetables will bring different stakeholders together to improve food and nutrition security. The stakeholders in the initiative will help develop innovative solutions to our problem: malnutrition.  People are suffering from severe consequences of inadequate diet that lacks essential vitamins and minerals. This project is executed throughout the entire food value chain with a focus on the consumer. It will use simple, appropriate and affordable technologies. compost  will be made by project beneficiaries for health crop growth and soil fertility; a deep borehole will be drilled to provide a source of water for irrigation; Buy improved seeds  from  recognized private companies in Uganda; Provide a training session for farmers; provide irrigation kits for project beneficiaries; Buy piping for  one  shallow well; open backyard gardens . It will use a market based approach and develops innovative (social) business models, to ensure that the project is financially sustainable in the long-term.  Market based approach leads to product innovation, value chain optimization and use of locally produced ingredients. It will work with, farmers, food processors, supermarkets, health clinics, irrigation experts, health advocates and laboratory analysts. The local partners will participate in project implementation, as bottom-up interventions offer the only road to success.

Rural small-scale producers, especially women (ages 18 – 55 years) including persons with disabilities. Rural producers are vulnerable to extremes of climate, drought, followed by flooding, and other weather related issues, along with restricted services of almost every kind. They are invisible, notwithstanding our dependence on the food and other goods they produce.  Persons with disability, like women, Indigenous communities, and other marginalized groups, are routinely left out of conversations and action to protect rights to a clean and healthy environment.

Pamo Volunteers wishes to build innovative partnerships for community well-being that empower women and children. Women comprise half the world’s population and yet are lowest in most societies.  While both men and women suffer in poverty, gender discrimination results in women having fewer resources to cope, even if they bear a heavy responsibility for caring for their children. They eat last if any food is left, the least likely to access health care and be trapped daily in time-consuming and unpaid household chores. They have no or limited options for paid work or to develop a business.  Involved them in planning and implementation of their own projects.

The solution will help them have political stability and economic prosperity.

The target group lacks access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate foods like fruits and vegetables, equipment, farm tools, capital, supplies, and education.  Poor nutrition is evidenced in families and malnutrition is rampant.  The solution is to grow nutritious vegetables with expanded uptake of vegetable farming to all 50 family farming families in project villages and the surrounding communities by putting more land under cultivation. With improved nutrition, income, skills and knowledge, and sustainable food use, then we can proudly talk of Sustainable Food Systems which is related to the 2020 Global Challenge on the topic of “Sustainable Food Systems”.

The solution uses behavioral technology which embraces the knowledge and skills rural communities and even student need to acquire, maintain and promote healthy behaviors. Concepts related to health promotion and disease prevention to enhance health are addressed. It builds skills: analyzing influence, access to valid information through networking, product and services; using interpersonal communication, making decisions, setting goals, practicing healthy behavior and advocating for personal, family and community health.

Information: food and nutrition information is disseminated and education materials in the local language provided during training.

Networking: This is vital in order to get connected to networks that have vegetable crops from different botanical families. We are already networking with the World vegetable center.

The recurrent emergencies in Uganda caused by natural and biological hazards, such as floods, drought, pests and diseases have exposed an important segment of the population to high levels of vulnerability. This is sometimes further aggravated by HIV/AIDS and economic set-backs. Climate change and the expected increase in the frequency and severity of extreme weather events, are affecting the agriculture sector, thereby increasing risks faced by rural populations, the majority of which are dependent on agriculture for their livelihoods and food security.

 Villages are generally very dry due to poor rainfall patterns and any successful farming has to rely on irrigation.

 Watering can - The watering can provides a simple and accessible irrigation technique that is understandable and widely practiced by small-scale farmers for vegetable production. The technology requires low investments, but is labour intensive and allows irrigation of only a small garden/area (50 to 100 m2.)

Irrigation by watering can provides many Small-scale farmers with a simple way of growing irrigated crops.

In some cases, locally sourced natural materials (e.g. bottle gourds) are used, but in most cases the watering can is locally produced from galvanized iron or plastic. Carrying the cans from the water source to the crop is labour-intensive and daily watering is required.

In general, the water source should: not be more than 50 m away from the area to be irrigated; not be too deep; and allow easy access for filling the watering can.

Plastic drums are used to store water.

The community is already embracing this solution. A strong partnership has already been built. People with healthy behavior are better equipped to cope with personal/ academic challenges. They have knowledge and skills to navigate life, work and the responsibilities of citizenship successfully. This solution is all about improving the health of all people. That is why the Center for Disease Control (CDC) is disseminating information on ‘Healthy people 2020’. Information is on how behaviors established by Youth impact their adult health.

The initiatives will provide the farmers with water to irrigate their farms, seeds, farming tools and techniques.

compost manure will be made by project beneficiaries; Buy improved seeds and seedlings from recognized private companies in Uganda; Provide a training session for farmers; provide irrigation kits for project beneficiaries; Buy piping for 1 shallow well; open backyard gardens documentation and networking in order to access information and other resources; reporting; monitoring

Our solution is addressing the problem of the lack of access to affordable, nutritious, and culturally appropriate foods like fruits and vegetables.  This solution is paving the way to Increasing Access to Fruits and Vegetables. This will be achieved and people’s lifestyles will change through:

• Improved consumption of a healthier diet and the income of households through vegetable sales.
• Improved food security and reduction of diet-related diseases like obesity and diabetes in the project areas and low-income neighborhoods.
• Enhanced availability, affordability and the consumption of nutritious foods to reduce malnutrition among Ugandan families.
• Improved quality and quantity of fresh and dried vegetables.

Fruit and vegetable consumption is recommended by the American Heart Association and others as part of a healthy diet and specifically for reducing cardiovascular disease, the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States/ other regions. Local efforts to increase access to fresh produce are increasing resulting into a healthy population. Communities will have education around nutrition, gardening, cooking, and other essential skills for building healthy communities. , local programs will be integrated with other initiatives so as to improve access to fresh produce in large areas. Community efforts will   complement programming for those at highest risk for diet-related diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular diseases, in high-poverty neighborhoods.

Currently, there are 450 rural poor women ages 18 -55 years as beneficiaries and in one year we expect the figure to triple (1350) In 5 years’ there will be 6750 beneficiaries. Our solution’s mission is to build innovative partnerships for community well-being that empower women and children. You may ask, why the focus on women? Women comprise half the world’s population and yet are lowest in most societies.  While both men and women suffer in poverty, gender discrimination results in women having fewer resources to cope, even if they bear a heavy responsibility for caring for their children. They are likely the last to eat if any food is left over, the least likely to access health care and be trapped daily in time-consuming and unpaid household chores. They have no or limited options for paid work or to develop a business.   This is so unfortunate for entire families and communities when “girls and women spend 90% of their earned income on their families, while men spend only 30-40”.

The overall development goal of our solution is to improve the livelihood, health and economic situation of the people of Uganda by raising the production and consumption levels of fruit and vegetables and its value added products. 

Targets

If the Fruit and Vegetable sector strategy is implemented, it is anticipated that the overall sector contribution to GDP will increase in approximately 10% over the next 5 years.

However its impact on SDG‟s will be greater because the economic impact will be at the rural and subsistence level.

The implementation of the sector strategy targets to improve delivery and quality of fruits and vegetables not only for  consumers who will benefit from a wider range choices on offer contributing to improvements to health and nutrition needs, but also  processors by increasing returns from exports and improved sustainable development options for Uganda.

Buyers will benefit from being able to plan their activities and promotions around a more secure supply of fruit and vegetables. The 2010 market demand survey conducted here identified that over 80% of hotels and restaurants surveyed would stop buying imported product if a satisfactory locally produced, competitively priced alternatives were made available.

 National economy will benefit through increased production in the sector due to at least 50% reduction of foreign exchange losses for sector products from import substitution.

 Social Benefits

 Returns to farmers will improve every level of society that has an interest in agriculture as they will feel more secure and better able to plan for the future.

We have put more emphasis on increasing productivity and access to finance but we have inadequate inputs, capital and inability to attract any grants because, as family farmers, we are invisible in the eyes of donors and banks feel we are not bankable. Access to credit is a constant and cyclical challenge for us. We have inadequate knowledge and skills in vegetable growing.

Price volatility: price, availability, and other structural factors are meaningful barriers to fruit and vegetable consumption in the general population, and particularly among low-income adults. Healthier diets, which include higher produce consumption, are more expensive and price becomes a meaningful barrier.

Food product standards: are still low yet they are increasingly important for the development of domestic and export markets. Producing high-quality food is important to satisfy more sophisticated consumer expectations. It can boost the competitiveness of agribusinesses locally and help companies transition to high-end markets such as the European Union.

Advice for agribusiness: is still inadequate and more help and support is needed.

Food choices: individual-level factors, including limited cooking skills and lack of familiarity with a variety of fruits and vegetables, are influencing food choices.

Marketing: is done in local markets on bicycles as we cannot travel to far away markets- bicycles are slow.

Competition: Even in this challenge, we are competing with well-established solutions which are to our disadvantage as a rural solution.

Improve household income: In a systematic review of environmental determinants of fruit and vegetable consumption among adults, in which environment was defined as “all factors external to the individual,” household income was shown to be the most widely studied variable and also highly predictive of fruit and vegetable consumption.

Increase purchases: When price is reduced by using coupons and discounts as incentives to buy more fruits and vegetables, purchasing is increased.

Training and good technical support: Farmer Training and Demonstrations - Demonstrations and training need to be included in the solution and are most effective if implemented over an extended period, spanning a full agricultural calendar, for example, and in groups where farmers have ample opportunity to assess the benefits of the new technologies jointly.

Technical support services: Success and failures of new irrigation technologies/ solutions can be attributed largely to the capacity of the promoters of the solutions. Good results can be directly ascribed to a good institutional system with effective support services. Building strong productive partnerships and networks is vital.

In sum, addressing availability and income, as well as other barriers, such as lack of food preparation knowledge, should be considered in the development of broader strategies to increase fruit and vegetable consumption in diverse urban communities.

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Executive Director –supervise all the project work,  physical checks, authorise release of project funds and make final project reports;Project officer – directly involved in project activity implementation, reports to the Executive Director, makes quarterly project reports and submits the same for review, makes all working schedules and administers them;Accounts assistant – Writes books of accounts, produces project financial reports, controls budgets, arranges all cash flows and prepares books for auditing;Secretary – Documentation and keeping safe project documentation, records all management meetings, and adheres to all office practices procedures; project support staff – help project staff to achieve project objectives . 

We work for and with local communities in project planning and implementation. We encourage them to invest in their own country and Use local initiatives to transform society. All staff are local farmers themselves and have specialist knowledge on what beneficiaries are going to produce, process and sell. We have practical knowledge on vegetable growing and any deficit can be covered by training. There are partners with qualifications that complement each other to work with us in this solution. All staff have management skills (calculating prices, doing the accounts, identifying favourable purchasing sources, organizing the company) of over five years. Weaknesses in this field can also be remedied by training or internships. We have entrepreneurial skills to help our beneficiaries become successful entrepreneurs (determination, initiative, creative, commitment, sustained enthusiasm, courage, ability to survive defeat and to learn from mistakes and a readiness to take calculated risks). We have good motives and personal environment and knowledge of the sales market or look for it. We use collective approaches, no individual side marketing

We will partner with other farmers to provide raw materials and other in kind contributions, food processors- to process the products, supermarkets - to buy goods from the solution, health clinics- as health experts in the solution, health advocates- to lobby and advocate for the solution and laboratory analysts - to test the quality of our products.

Vegetables are a vital component of a balanced diet. Unfortunately, diets of many people in low-income countries lack vegetables. A market study conducted by health ministry here showed that people prefer to buy vegetables but do not always have the financial means to do so.  We will partner with other farmers, food processors, supermarkets, health clinics, health advocates and laboratory analysts. We and the local partners take the lead in the solution, as bottom-up interventions offer the only road to success.

Our social enterprise business model aims at improvements in the vegetable value chain.

We will use and also supply to local farmers improved vegetable seed varieties at affordable costs to increase production and quality.  Farmers will be trained to adopt and apply best practices for vegetable farming and are given access to farmer credit. This will be done in collaboration with financial institutions. In the chain, Improvement in transport and storage, as well as a distribution channel for dried vegetables will be done and new drying techniques will be developed. Researchers will help in developing cheap, safe and effective drying techniques ensuring the preservation of micronutrients in the vegetables.

Consumers will be persuaded to eat healthy. Mixing of dried products into attractive products and brands will be done. Dried products can be used in soups and stews, which in combination with fortified stock powder or cubes, provide a healthy meal.  Targeted campaigns and health education aimed at the end consumer to create demand for the products will be conducted.

To meet / hire the right people; improve our financial literacy; build our capacity, and to learn from experts in field of social entrepreneurship; Join a supportive community of peers, funders, and experts to help advance our innovative work through Salve’s nine-month program; Receive mentorship and strategic advice from Solve and MIT networks; Attend Solve at MIT, our annual flagship event in May; and Receive access to more than $1.7 million in prize funding for the 2020 Challenges.

We will partner with all cultural and scientific groups to Changing the World/ improve communities. We work with companies, trading firms, financial institutions, and civil society organizations to help farmers overcome hurdles to higher productivity and become part of the supply chain. We will cause Social Challenge: Economic Development, Food Security.

 We have Common goals in these important partnerships, but we aim to improve our own business. More than shared goals, a shared vision and clearly communicated objectives are necessary to make great business partnerships succeed. We will work together in order to meet Development goal 17: Partnerships for the Goals “Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the global partnership for sustainable development."

we are focusing on A Public-Private Partnership that will Include private sector- provision of technical advice and supply of inputs at a cost; Family- provision of funds for the solution; business partners – provision of knowledge on running business; world vegetable center – knowledge, skills and resources on vegetable growing.

Uganda is Well-known for hosting thousands of refugees from neighbouring countries like southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo ( DRC), Rwanda, etc. When refugees are camped, they face food shortages and are malnourished. Our solution fits well into the refugees installments arrangement as we  are able to supply them with nutritious vegetables to build their immunity and can also train them to start backyard gardens in their refugee camps.

Our Solution  uses innovative technology to improve quality of life for women and girls  the majority of which they are the beneficiaries. Ours is a technology-focused solution that advance the needs of women and girls, and that promotes a world where women’s voices can be celebrated( lobbying and advocacy).