KAMPALA – The government of Uganda has committed to working with development partners to address food security and malnutrition challenges in the country.
Ms. Sarah Nyirabashitsi Mateke, the Minister of State for Youth and Children Affairs said Food security is a fundamental human right and that government will do what it takes to address it.
“Unfortunately, we still have people who suffer from hunger and malnutrition in Uganda. We need to invest a lot in agriculture and prioritize nutrition-sensitive interventions,” the Minister said during the launch of DREAMS and CASCADE women economic empowerment projects by Care International in Uganda.
Minister who delivered a Keynote address commended CARE International in Uganda for its impact on the lives of women in Uganda and the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs for their support toward life-changing projects in Uganda.
“I am hoping that this project will have a positive impact on the lives of women and girls across the country by enabling them to realize their full economic potential and build stronger and more prosperous families and communities,” Mateke added.
Apollo Gabazira, the Country Director for CARE International in Uganda said the overall purpose of DREAMS is to strengthen the economic resilience of 340,000 women through gender transformative WEE policy, enterprise growth, and accessible markets.
“DREAMS is going to address enterprise issues relating to women businesses, why it will be moving women from the micro-enterprise space into the small and medium space, working with partners in government and other stakeholders. CASCADE, on the other hand, is going to deal with issues on nutrition and undernutrition targeting women and children under the age of five.” Apollo Gabazira said
DREAMS, is a 3-year women’s economic empowerment project, with an overall goal of strengthening the economic resilience of 340,000 women through gender transformative policies, enterprise growth, and accessible market systems.
Mr. Josephat Byaruhanga, the Senior Policy Officer of Food Security and Agribusiness at the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands in Uganda says we need to work so we can eat, be healthy, and do all these developments.
Mr Byaruhanga added that the Dutch Embassy got different divisions and one of them is food and nutrition security.
“We are committed to our contribution to the goal of fighting malnutrition in communities.” He said.
The overall CASCADE project goal is to improve food security and contribute to the reduction in malnutrition among 1 million women of reproductive age and children less than 5 years.
Joweria Nambooze, a researcher from Kyambogo University said as the university, they have brought in a research aspect in the implementation of the CASCADE project.
“We have heard about implementation, but without evidence, there are no implementations, so we as Kyambogo University, are here to provide the evidence through research,” Nambooze said at the launch of DREAMS and CASCADE projects.
The Launch of these two projects marks another milestone in CARE’s journey of defending dignity and fighting poverty by empowering women. DREAMS and CASCADE projects are also going to be game changers for the Entrepreneurship industry in Uganda.
