State Minister for Northern Uganda Rehabilitation, Beatrice Akello Akori, visiting members of NDIMIFA Sacco in Purongo Sub-County, Nwoya District.
In 2020, Jane Kipwola, a resident of Oruka Village, Purongo Sub-County in Nwoya District, joined a savings and co-operative society with the intention to borrow low-interest loans to invest in agriculture.
Ms Kipwola, a widow and a mother of eight, became a member of the Nwoya District Mixed Farmers (NDIMIFA) SACCO. The SACCO, which has 600 members drawn from 11 villages, was formed in 2019 with the intention of helping women and vulnerable households access low-interest loans to invest in agriculture so as to become both water and food secure.
“Before I joined the SACCO, we used to cross the River Nile and visit Centenary Bank, Nebbi Branch to borrow money,” Kipwola said. “It was really a big challenge for rural women. But now, we have our own SACCO. We do not have pressure to pay back after borrowing unlike in the recent past.”
In Uganda, majority of commercial banks offer agricultural loans at interest rates ranging from between 23% and 30%. However, after joining NDIMIFA, Kipwola says, she is ‘now under no pressure to pay back money’.
“At NDIMIFA, we borrow loans at just 2.5% – and you pay it after six months,” Kipwola explained. “I usually borrow Shs 2 million during the farming season. I used the money to open a 2-acre piece of land,” she explained.
In 2009, Kipwola lost her husband, and she since been her family’s sole bread winner. The farmer now mainly grows new varieties of maize such as ‘bazooka’ an dground nuts on her land.
“I used to harvest only four bags of maize on one acre of land,” she said. “Another acre also gives me just four bags of groundnuts. But now, I can harvest up to 16 bags of maize and another 10 bags of groundnuts in the first season.”
The proceeds reaped from her garden, she adds, has helped her pay school fees for her children and meet other expenses at home. Kipwola earns between Shs five million and Shs 10 million annually from farming.
“My second child is now in Senior Three. Others are in the lower classes. The facility from the SACCO has enabled me to live comfortably. I am now both financially and food secured. Actually, nearly all members of the SACCO are food secured. We can afford to pay our children in school too,” she noted.
The SACCO also trains its members on food security, adult illiteracy, agricultural mechanisation and financial literacy. Add to that, members can borrow between Shs 500,000 and Shs five million to invest in agriculture — and pay back after selling their farm produce.
Jane Akwero, another member of the SACCO, said the loan has helped her become both become food secure and also an ‘agricultural entrepreneur’.
“I used to grow staple crops such as cassava, potatoes, green peas and vegetables to keep hunger away from my household,” she said, adding. “But now I have large gardens, where I grow maize. In a good season, I can harvest up to 10 bags of maize. Without the loan, I was not going to open 2-acres of land,” she said.
Since 2020 when her SACCO received Shs 100 million as seed capital from The Hunger Project Uganda, Akwero says, said she has not heard any reports on malnutrition in her village.
The United Nations defines hunger as the period when people experience severe food insecurity—meaning that they go for entire day without eating due to lack of money, access to food, or other resources. According to a baseline survey conducted by the Hunger Project-Uganda in 11 villages in Purongo Sub-County the between 2019 and 2026, hunger fell by 60% relative to the baseline, with no household reporting severe cases in the last six years. Moderate or severe hunger fell from 45.9% in 2019, to 18.5% in 2026.
William Okot, another farmer who is also a member of the SACCO, said loans from the SACCO have enabled members to fight hunger, live healthy and put their children in school.
Okot noted that being a rural farmer with few assets registered to his name, he has been able to access loans since he does not have collateral to surrender to commercial bank as loan security.
“The loan has helped me to engage in commercial agriculture. I used to harvest only 3 bags of maize. Now, I can get between 18 and 20 bags of maize in one season. I am now food secure,” Okot said.
Through peer learning, bulking, storage and collective marketing, farmers have also been able to get premium prices for their farm produce. Besides that, the SACCO has also helped farmers to become climate resilient amid extreme weather conditions such as drought, heavy rains and wildlife pressure. Other benefits include agronomic and post-harvest handling techniques, use of quality seeds, food bank, storage, value addition and market access.
In December 2024, Nwoya District Local Council passed the Food and Nutrition Security Ordinance, in an attempt to address local challenges, improve multi-sectoral coordination among government and civil society partners, and strengthen governance efforts. The goal was to to ensure that households can reliably produce and consume diverse and nutritious foods throughout the year.
A 2025 report by CARE Netherland indicates the district was grappling with high household food insecurity with 45.7% of households experiencing food insecurity, malnutrition burden/ stunting at 25.4% and wasting standing at 3.6%. The report further indicates that 87.2% of the total population of 220,593 as per the 2024 Uganda National Housing and Population Census depend on Agriculture as their major economic activities.
Tonny Lakwo Omon, the Project Officer Oruka Epicentre, said fighting hunger is beyond food insecurity.
Omon explained that ‘hunger is [not just] the absence of food’, but ‘it is a combination of many factors, including poor quality of education and lack of access to finances’.
“It has always been a misconception that hunger is all about absence of food, but hunger is beyond that. Hunger means absence of finances, hunger means absence of health services, it means lack of access to quality education. It means limited access to other basic needs. All those bring into one what we call hunger,” he noted.
In the 2025 Global Hunger Index, Uganda ranks 87th out of 123 countries with sufficient data to calculate 2025 GHI scores. With a score of 20.2 in the 2025 Global Hunger Index, Uganda has a level of hunger that is serious. This GHI Score is based on the values of four component indicators: stunted growth among children under 5, death of children before their fifth birthday, stunted growth among children under 5, and undernourishment.
Ms Irene Naikaali Ssentongo, the Country Director of The Hunger Project-Uganda, said empowering women will go a long way to addressing issues around hunger and poverty in the country.
“We start with the woman. Why do we start with the woman? In the household, who is responsible? We know the husband and wife are responsible. But when a child is hungry, who will they run to? She is the first point of contact, when a child is seeking for something to eat. It will be the mother. So, if you can work on the mindset of the mother to know that if I’ve given birth to these children, my children should never go hungry,” she noted.
The organisation invested Shs 700 million to set up a community hall, health facility, solar powered water system, a food bank, food store and accommodation for nurses at Oruka Epicentre in Oruka Village, Purongo Sub-County in Nwoya District, as part of efforts to fight hunger.
The State Minister for Northern Uganda Rehabilitation, Beatrice Akello Akori, said the government will continue to help households so that hunger and malnutrition becomes history in the country.
Minister Akori noted that through multibillion programs such as Emyooga and the Parish Development Model, they will continue to empower local farmers so that they will be able to defeat hunger in their households.
“When people are empowered, they defeat hunger from within. As a government, our commitment remains clear. Initiatives like the PDM, Emyooga, YLP, restocking will translate into sustainable household Wealth and Food Security. Ending hunger is the ultimate form of national security. This Government remains committed to scaling up partnerships that champion agricultural productivity and enhance household incomes,” she adds.
This story was made possible thanks to NUMEC’s partner, The Hunger Project-Uganda.
