Improving Agricultural processing for female farmers in Amuru, Amuria and Napak

A food secure community is an empowered community.

Forum for Women in Democracy has recognized that the food value chain is critical in enhancing food security. In the past the female farmers only participated at the lower levels of agricultural value chain as a result, were ripped off by middlemen and in the long dry spells they suffered hunger because their produce would was not stored properly.

To ensure this FOWODE with support from Diakonia and the Funding for Leadership Opportunities for Women (FLOW) under the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, gave the female farmers maize milling machines.

In order to improve on household food security especially in female headed households, 3 maize milling machines were handed over to the model female farmers in Amuru, Amuria and Napak districts in the presence of the District Production officers, Sub county Chiefs, Councilors and rights holders that gathered in Kuju, Amuru s/c and Lopeei sub counties. 

The grain milling machines were highly praised because of their high engine power and durability, process a variety of crops including; sorghum, cow peas, millet, cassava and maize which will enable farmers add value to their agricultural produce and get other products like maize and cassava flour for posho, millet bread, soya porridge, among other products. This improves on the standard of the agricultural produce for the women who will now be able to also sell their processed products in the market at favorable prices for increased household incomes.

FOWODE is now confident to say that this will in turn lead to women’s active participation in economic development.

The dry season has been a difficult one for women who go hungry especially during the dry not because they don’t have the millet or sorghum, but because they could barely meet the milling costs and the long distances to far off centers to process this into millet flour for food.

Consequently, to this they would instead make local brew that would keep men at the liquor centers all day neither providing basic needs at home nor supporting the women in gardening but only grabbing money from them to go for drinking. This would also increase the rate of domestic violence in their homes, subjecting women to torture, poverty and living miserable lives.

The women now say that with the processing machines near, they will not use the grains for making local brew but rather to make food and feed their families and also sell some to cater for other family basic needs. 

“Here in Karamoja, we women are so despised! Nobody has ever thought of us like you have done, FOWODE, from all the knowledge you have given us, now you have crowned it up with a milling machine, now in Karamoja we can see God has started remembering us, we shall no longer have to walk as far as Matany for 12kms but mill from just next to our doors” Nangiro Mary Napak district

“When I could not afford the 1,500 to mill my maize, I simply sold some of it and some would be eaten by the hens, yet my children were going hungry, but now I will make flour and sell to get some income,” Said Aujo Goretti from  Amuria
 

FOWODE and Diakonia have set the pace done is indeed what we would like other partners to do. Not only to provide software but to supplement with some hard ware that will live on transforming the entire community. The machine we had in the centre could mill only maize, but this one, I have seen for myself it can process a variety of crops and is of high quality. I must say, we the leaders are grateful. NAADs coordinator, Amuria District. 

People of Karamoja lining up to have their grain milled

 For more information on the story do not hesitate to write to prudence.nyamishana@fowode.org