Project Name: EACOP PROJECT
Monitoring the East African Crude Oil Pipeline’s (EACOP’s) Compliance to Social, Economic and Environmental Safeguards in Tanzania and Uganda. This project is intended to monitor the EACOP’s compliance to social and environmental safeguards enshrined in the policies and legislation of the two participating countries Uganda and Tanzania as well as enshrined in international conventions, protocols ,agreements/treaties and industry best practice.
Project Name: AQUAPONICS PROJECT
Project Title: Training Women and Youth on Integrated Fish and horticultural Crop Farming Practices in Kasese and Kyegegwa Districts in Uganda.
Project Funder: Enabel – The Belgian Development Agency
Implementing Partner: Agency for Co-operation in Research and Development Uganda
Project Specific Objectives:
- To introduce integrated fish and horticultural crop (Aquaponics) farming approaches in Kasese and Kyegegwa districts for the promotion of water efficiency, food and income security and livelihoods improvement in the districts as well as contribute to mitigating climate change and its associated effects/impacts and enhancing household adaptation and resilience to effects/impact of climate change.
- To train selected groups of women and youth in the community, as well as the refugee and host communities in Kasese and Kyegegwa districts on how fish can be raised in combination with horticultural crops in a symbiotic and complementary manner using water efficiently and using the fish wastewater as organic fertilizer for growing high monetary-value and high-nutrient quality vegetables that can be used as food and income sources for the households that adopt the practice
- To train women and youth on how to fabricate and establish Aquaponics systems using locally available materials as well as establish 10 integrated fish and horticultural crop (Aquaponics) demonstration sites in Kasese and Kyegegwa districts. The trainings will take a TVET approach in delivering skills to the selected youth and women.
Project Context
Good nutrition is a catalyst for social and economic transformation; human development and well-being; buffer against infectious diseases and epidemics including COVID 19. Without improvement in nutrition, aspirations of Uganda’s Vision 2040, African Union’s Agenda 2063 and 2030 SDG Agenda cannot be achieved. Government loses revenue worth 1.8tn (equivalent to 5.6% of the GDP) due to child malnutrition. Evidence shows that investing in nutrition in young children can: (i) prevent child deaths by more than one third per year. (ii) Improve school attainment by at least one year (iii) Increase wages by 5-50% (iv) reduce poverty as well-nourished children are 33% more likely to escape poverty as adults (v) empower women to be 10% more likely to run their own business (vi) break the inter-generational cycle of poverty.
When girls & women are well-nourished and have healthy newborn babies, children receive proper nutrition and develop strong bodies & minds, adolescents learn better & achieve higher grades in school, young adults are better able to find work & earn more, families & communities emerge out of poverty and the communities are productive & stable, then the world is a safe, more resilient & stronger place.
Key sources of good nutrition are fish and horticultural (vegetable) crops, but these are in short supply. With the growing population, demand for these products is increasing, yet traditional systems of accessing or producing these products are overstretched and are unable to sustainably satisfy the needs. This calls for alternative means to ensure supply of these products and this forms the basis for project design.
Targeted stakeholders of the Project
- Unemployed or under-employed women and youth;
- Cultural, Religious and Academic institutions;
- Local authorities (district & council officials;
- Refugees;
- Pregnant and Lactating mothers/women;
- Stay at home mothers/ women.
Project Districts
- Kasese and Kyegegwa Districts