Refugees and their host communities in Yumbe and Madi Okollo districts are recording improved rice production following the introduction of improved seed varieties and modern farming practices under a Japan-funded project aimed at strengthening women’s economic empowerment and peaceful coexistence.
The “Project for the Implementation of the Women, Peace and Security Agenda in Refugee Settlements and Host Communities”, is funded by the Government of Japan with UN Women Uganda as the grant recipient and collaborating with Peace Winds Japan to implement the Project through other subcontracted partners, including the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO).
NARO is implementing the livelihood component by building participants’ technical capacity in improved rice production and distributing quality rice seed, particularly the NERICA 4 variety.
The project seeks to strengthen women’s agency, resilience and leadership in communities affected by displacement and humanitarian challenges.
During a joint monitoring mission to project sites in Yumbe and Madi Okollo districts, officials inspected rice demonstration gardens to assess progress, implementation quality, results and emerging challenges, including prolonged drought.
Natasha Butorac, the Women, Peace and Security Specialist at UN Women, said the initiative addresses the link between climate change, competition for natural resources and conflict in refugee-hosting communities.
“Part of the aim of this intervention is to bring in drought-resilient and disease-resilient varieties of rice,” she said.
Butorac explained that improving agricultural productivity provides communities with opportunities to generate income, strengthen household food security and reduce economic pressures that can fuel conflict.
She said the intervention aligns with Uganda’s Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan, which recognises climate-related risks as an emerging threat to peace and security.
The project builds on lessons from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-supported Eco-PRiDe Rice project, which demonstrated the potential of improved rice production but needed greater participation by women.
“But by this project, I’m really happy to say that the vast majority of the farmers who are taking part are women,” Butorac said, adding that their involvement is challenging stereotypes that women cannot effectively participate in farming.
Taban Rashid, a farmer from Pitia village in Kululu sub-county in Yumber district, said the training has transformed his approach to rice production, reducing labour requirements and increasing earnings.
Rashid, who has received training under the MUSHO project since 2025, said he previously relied on broadcasting, a method of scattering seed across a field, which made weeding labour-intensive and increased his seed requirements.
“I would usually use 50 kilogrammes of seed to plant an acre, and weeding one acre would take me 15 days,” he said.
Poor post-harvest handling and storage also affected the quality of his rice, resulting in low returns after milling.
Before the training, Rashid said he harvested about eight bags of rice per acre and earned approximately sh800,000.
After adopting the recommended practices, his production increased to 25 bags per acre, while his earnings rose to about sh2.5m.
“I used to blame the milling machine for breaking my rice. But with the knowledge I got from JICA, I came to learn that the quality is made in the garden, protected in the store, and the machinery only reveals the work you did from planting to storage,” he said.
The improved results have also enabled Rashid to become a trainer of other farmers, helping spread the knowledge within his community.
Dr Emmanuel Odama, a senior research officer at NARO, said the project uses the ‘Musomesa’ field school approach, which combines group demonstrations with individual farmer practice.
Under the model, farmers establish a “mother garden”, where demonstrations are conducted, and “baby gardens”, where individual members replicate the recommended practices.
“While we are planting in the mother garden, individual farmers should be planting in their baby gardens concurrently. When we are planting in line, you should be planting in line,” Odama said.
The approach enables farmers to put into practice the skills acquired during training rather than relying solely on demonstrations conducted at group level.
Odama said participating farmers are required to have access to at least half an acre of land.
He added that collaboration between refugees and host communities has helped participating refugees access land beyond what would traditionally be available to them through the Office of the Prime Minister.
According to Odama, the willingness of host community members to share portions of their land with refugees has strengthened coexistence and mutual understanding between the two groups.
He said NARO is tracking the intervention’s performance against baseline data collected before implementation, with adoption of recommended practices and improvements in yields serving as key indicators of success.
Despite prolonged drought in the area, demonstration gardens planted with NERICA 4 rice have shown encouraging results, according to project participants.
Odama said the variety is known for its disease tolerance and some drought tolerance.
“If we had local varietiesof rice, we would not be able to see anything here,” he said, referring to the impact of the extended dry spell on the demonstration gardens.
Amaku Shaban, chairperson of the Dongoloto Farmers Group in Kululu sub-county, said the introduction of NERICA 4 and training in line planting had helped farmers sustain production despite the unfavourable weather.
“We were doing broadcasting; now we sow in line, and they also brought us a new seed variety called NERICA 4. It is disease- and drought-resistant. If it was our ordinary variety, we wouldn’t have any crop to see,” Shaban said.
He said the knowledge and improved seed supplied through the intervention had given farmers renewed hope of improving their livelihoods.
Dr Moses Biruma, the director of research at NARO Abi Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute in Arua, said a needs assessment conducted before implementation established that rice growing was the preferred agricultural enterprise among the target farmers.
The project has subsequently focused on addressing the farmers’ needs through improved seed, practical training and the promotion of better production and post-harvest handling practices.
For women in Bidi Bidi and the surrounding host communities, the intervention offers more than improved harvests. By strengthening agricultural skills, increasing the potential for household income and creating opportunities for cooperation between refugees and host communities, it is also advancing the broader goal of using women’s economic empowerment to build resilience and promote peace.
