In Uganda, where hunger can be commonplace, agricultural training provided by World Vision has given the Kadowas, a family of eight, food for the present and hope for the future.

January 2009

By Jessie Lester, World Vision U.S., and Simon Peter Esaku, World Vision Uganda

When she looks at her plentiful harvest, 35-year-old Catherine Kadowa is amazed at the variety and quantity of food that she is able to grow for her family. In a region prone to droughts and floods, producing enough to feed six young children is no simple task. “We do not just eat enough food; we eat [a] balanced diet,” she says proudly.

Small harvests

Yet the Kadowas have not always eaten well. Like many in their country, they are familiar with hunger and the worries associated with insufficient crop yields. Over the past year, steadily increasing food prices, resulting from poor harvests and high demand, have compounded these worries. In some areas of Uganda, crop loss caused by drought and delayed rains have resulted in some 3.5 million people at risk of starvation.

In Tororo, the eastern province where the Kadowas live, food availability has never been taken for granted. Most families in this region depend on crop production, but inconsistent weather patterns and lack of agricultural knowledge frequently hinder cultivation.

Like many of her neighbors, Catherine used to have small harvests that barely provided enough to supplement her husband’s meager income. “We were getting little harvest because we were not applying the correct farming methods and were using the traditional seed varieties,” Catherine explains.

Improved methods

But when World Vision began working in the Kadowas' community, and three of Catherine’s children became sponsored, things changed. The goal of sponsorship projects is to assist families in the present, while equipping them for success in the long term. World Vision came alongside the Kadowas and provided them with agricultural training, tools, oxen, and better seed, helping them to create a sustainable future.

World Vision taught Catherine the best way to plant her crops for maximum yield and showed her how to properly care for them as they grow. “Now I know that if I want a high yield, I must also do the right spacing, weed my crops twice, thin the crops…and control pests,” she explains. Where she used to harvest only one sack of millet from an acre of land, Catherine is now harvesting 10.

Transformed yields

Since her training began in 2000, Catherine's harvests have been completely transformed, and her life has seen dramatic improvement. Now, farming not only supplies food that is necessary for survival, but it also provides an additional source of income. “We have enough food to eat and surplus to sell,” says Catherine.

This past year alone, Catherine raised the equivalent of nearly $500 U.S. just from the sale of her crops. She invested much of this money into building a three-bedroom brick house that will allow her family to move out of their small grass huts.

Thanks to the help of World Vision, the future is bright for the Kadowa children, who are now able to attend school. With proceeds from her crops, Catherine can purchase their necessary books and clothes.

In addition, these children — who know what it is like to feel hungry — no longer have to wonder if they will have anything to eat. “We have enough food; we no longer miss meals or suffer hunger in our home,” says Catherine's 11-year-old daughter, Elizabeth.

Continuing need

World Vision is continuing to work in Uganda to assist those facing chronic hunger and to provide agricultural training that will help more families secure a sustainable future, like Catherine. In the Kadowas' community alone, World Vision has trained 60 farmers, all of whom are working to train others. As this multiplies, it is expected to reach as many as 5,900 farmers.

This training can transform lives. Just ask Catherine, who credits her successful harvests to the help she received from World Vision. “For us, we get much yield because I got training and improved seed varieties, two oxen, and a plow from World Vision,” she says.