Rwamwanja Rural Foundation

Refugee populations in East-Africa are at risk of hunger and malnutrition, especially when movements are restricted due to covid. Their local environment also tends to degrade as forests are cut for fuel. Refugees are thus highly vulnerable to climate change impacts, which materialize as erratic precipitations leading to landslides, heatwaves, depletion and degradation of freshwater resources and rise of water- and vector-borne diseases such as malaria. 

By teaching regenerative agriculture via cell-phones and in person to youth in refugee camps of East Africa and neighbouring host communities, we jointly address food insecurity and the climate emergency. Regenerative agriculture provides nutritious food to vulnerable populations, while helping restore degraded ecosystems through reforestation, and the growth of climate-resilient biodiverse vegetable gardens. 

Scaling up this solution globally could dramatically improve the health of refugees and other displaced populations, while helping sequester carbon, mitigate climate impacts, and restore biodiversity. 

As mean global temperatures increase, the number of refugees and of populations displaced because of the adverse effects of climate change will grow. East Africa already hosts around 3.25 million refugees, including 1.4 million in Uganda, 82% of whom are women and children. As many as 1.2 billion people in 31 countries could be displaced by the climate crisis by 2050. In turn, displaced populations in East Africa are already at risk of hunger and malnutrition, and dependent on fluctuating international aid (the World Food programme had to decrease refugees' cash and food ration of 30% in 2020) which is increasing vulnerability to diseases. They will also be particularly exposed to climate change impacts, such as increased temperatures, erratic rainfall with devastating effects on crop productions, cyclones, floods and landslides. 

Moreover, as vulnerable populations put more pressure on ecosystems impacted by climate change, through deforestation, intensive agriculture, mass irrigation, overfishing, ecosystems will further degrade. Degraded ecosystems are less resilient to climate change impacts, creating a vicious cycle that enhances the climate vulnerability of refugees and other displaced populations, by affecting their livelihoods and their health. 

We provide both on-line and off-line training programmes in regenerative agriculture and reforestation to youth in refugee camps and neighboring host country communities in Uganda and other countries of East Africa. The training programme was developed with the support of Permaculture Education Institute, Ethos Foundation and Permayouth, improved with local indigenous and traditional knowledge, and tailored to the specific language needs of the refugee and host countries' youth groups. It enables trainees to start their own kitchen gardens and feed their family, to produce briquettes as fuel, but also to regenerate some revenue through the selling of vegetables, soap, and shampoo, while restoring biodiverse ecosystems. 

The training programmes build on proven permaculture  techniques and indigenous farming technology for terracing, woodlot planting, crop diversity and rotation, fish ponds and soil fertility enhancement. The programmes are provided both in person and online, by using a combination of YouTube videos, zoom workshops, Facebook, and whatsapp group messaging for day-to-day support and continuous mentorship. The programmes are thus easily available to any individual having access to a cell phone, and are provided in a variety of languages (e.g. Kiswahili, Kinyarwanda, Kirundi, Runyakore, Luganda, Runyoro And Rutoro, Lingala, French, English). A dedicated app is also being developed. 

Our solution serves primarily refugees living in refugee settlements, including the Rwamwanja refugee settlement in Southwest Uganda which hosts 68 000 people and other refugee camps in East Africa. We also give access to training to neighboring communities of the host countries when they wish to participate. Refugees currently depend on monthly food donations that barely cover their needs and have been at greater risk of hunger and malnutrition owing to 15-month of lockdown. Refugee populations do not have adequate access to water and sanitation and have limited access to health facilities.  

I, Bemeriki Bisimwa Dusabe, have been a refugee in Uganda for the past 15 years and live in the Rwamwanja refugee settlement. The solution was developed based on my own experience, in response to the needs I had as a refugee, and taking into account the resources that the people around me have access to. By training 500 youth, including young women, over the past 1.5 year, I have also been able to integrate their own ideas and needs, and improve the training programme. After each training programme in different locations, some time is spent with the trainees to understand what they appreciated about the programme and how it could be improved. Such ideas also come through the various whatsapp group discussions. 

The lives of trainees are improved because they are able to start kitchen garden, so as to both feed their families and generate some revenue, despite lockdown. They are healthier, less at risk of violence, especially violence against women, as they stay within the community. They also have new knowledge and skills they can either share in the community or monetize. Training programmes that include both refugees and members of communities from the host country have also helped improve relationships locally, decrease risks of conflicts over resources, and enhanced cooperation. Trainees also live in a healthier and more biodiverse ecosystem. 

By developing regenerative agriculture and increasing reforestation in and around refugee settlements in East Africa, refugees and host communities in East Africa can restore local ecosystems, make ecosystems more climate resilient and biodiverse, and can benefit from their regenerative agriculture activities by accessing nutritious food, and generating revenue. 

Rwamwanja Rural Foudation is a registered non-profit in Uganda. The training programmes have been provided for the past 5 years and around 500 youth, with a focus on young women, have been trained in refugee camps in Uganda, including in the Rwamwanja refugee camp as well as in other refugee camps in Uganda, including in Acholi pii ,Bidi bidi, Impevi, Kampala, Kiryandongo, Kyangwari, Nakivale, Oruchinga, Rhino Camp, and Adjumani Settlement. The Youtube channel was established one year ago and has hundreds of views. The Facebook page has over 600 followers. 

Our solution is innovative because it was designed by refugees for refugees. We combine indigenous farming technologies, local languages, and easily-accessible digital technologies to enhance reach and impact. By training trainers in regenerative agriculture, and developing an app that can be accessed via cell phones in multiple languages, we are able to cater to the needs of population groups that have long been marginalized in East Africa and are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts. We are also turning refugees and other members of local communities, particularly women, into entrepreneurs and change agents. Our solution gives our trainees the tools to contribute actively to ecosystem restoration while improving their living conditions, their health and economic opportunities for themselves and their family in a short period of time. As such, our solution will have a major positive impact in East Africa, making the region greener, and both communities and ecosystems more resilient to climate change. Our model could also be replicated in many other countries, to address the needs of refugees, or of populations displaced by the adverse impacts of climate change, and living in settlements where both space and economic opportunities are limited.  

The solution is currently serving 500 youth. In one year, with the current combination of in-person training programmes, zoom meetings and whatsapp group support and mentorship, it could serve an additional group of 7000 in 5 years, impacting 16 refugee settlements in Uganda, Kenya, Burundi and Tanzania. With the rapid development of the app, we could reach a much greater number of people in the next 5 years. There are currently over 3 million refugees in East Africa who speak the languages we can provide support in. 

We are currently keeping track of the number of trainees and trainers who benefited from our programme with disaggregated data for gender, age and community; kitchen gardens created; households benefiting from better access to food; and new economic activities developed. 

We are aware that we would need to develop additional indicators, including with the support of universities or research institutions, to measure impacts related to ecosystem restoration, biodiversity and enhanced resilience of ecosystems, including in relation to climate change impacts. Specific indicators and impact assessment processes would also be needed to evaluate the impacts of our projects on the overall health and well being of household members who set up kitchen gardens and developed new revenue-generating activities, as well as in relation to gender equality. 

In addition to myself,  Bemeriki Bisimwa Dusabe, who work full time, there are 9 trainers on the team, who work part-time to deliver the training and support online activities. 

All our team members are refugees from refugee settlements in Uganda. Hence our life and work experience help us tremendously in understanding the needs of our communities and in designing approaches and projects that respond to those needs. 

Team members are between 16 and 34 years of age. 4 team members are women. We have regular meetings to discuss our activities, both prior implementation, during implementation and afterwards, and all views are taken into account. 

At the moment, the leader of the project is myself, Bemeriki Bisimwa Dusabe. As our work expands, we plan on creating a leadership team that would include women and various generations, including team members with disabilities, from various national origins, and having different and complementary skills. 

We wish to gain visibility so that it can help us build long-term partnerships with international and intergovernmental organizations that could support us financially and help us in expanding our activities in the East Africa region, and beyond. 

We need technical help from organizations working with digital technologies so as to support the development of an intuitive and simple app in multiple languages to increase the reach of our online training resources. 

We would also like to connect with other organizations, particularly in the Global South that are provided regenerative agriculture training to refugees so as to learn from each other, jointly raise awareness about the benefits of our approach and enhance our respective impacts. 

• We would need partners in the technology field to develop our regenerative agriculture training app for refugees, as well as our online presence. The quality of the app is critical to enhance our impact. 
• Once the app is developed, we would need to communicate about it so that is used widely in refugee settlements in East Africa. 
• By enhancing public relations, we will be able to collect more donations and increase long-term partnerships to sustain our activities in the region, and reach out to a larger number of refugees. 
• We would need some legal support so as to help protect the access to the land that refugees regenerated. 
• Regarding the business model, we are currently relying on punctual donations from organizations and would like to expand our revenue base by having more regular and long-term donors, as well as partnerships through which we could monetize our training services. 
• To raise more financial resources, partners would also be helpful to best present our activities to international donors. 

We are open to discussing with all partners that wish to support our work. 

We are a refugee-led organization working to improve the health, economic self-reliance, inclusion within host countries and resilience of refugees in East Africa by teaching regenerative agriculture and reforestation practices. 

By teachning regenerative agriculture and reforestation practices to refugee populations and neighboring communities from host countries in East Africa, Rwamwanja Rural Foundation helps create smart, safe, and sustainable refugee communities. The model we have developed can also be replicated to improve the lives of other refugee communities in East Africa and around the world. 

Our training in regenerative agriculture and reforestation were designed to specifically adress of women in refugee settlements. Women and children represent 82% of refugees in Uganda. Refugee women suffer from hunger and malnutrition, including that of their children, which are likely to be more vulnerable to diseases when they are malnourished. Women also suffer from difficult access to water and fuel, and  from lack of economic opportunities in the settlements, which is likely to expose them to violence. 75% of our trainees are women, particularly young women. By developing cell-phone based online training resources, we will be able to improve the lives of a much larger number of women and girls refugees. Many of the women trained also become regenerative agriculture trainers and local entrepreneurs, which helps in making their voices heard and celebrated in the community. 

Our online training in regenerative agriculture for refugees contributes to enhancing life-long education opportunities, alleviating poverty, and to building a sustainable world, with an emphasis on innovative and accessible technology-powered solutions for East Africa.