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Growing More Resilient Local Food Systems

November 2, 2021

When the pandemic shut down markets and restaurants, DIG farmers like Fernard and Cecile were prepared to fill in the gaps. Their gardens were no longer just reliable sources of food for their families, they became a critical resource for their entire community.

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Blogs

Celebrating the Batwa’s Indigenous Foodways

November 2, 2021

DIG's journey with the Batwa is only beginning. We have so much still to learn from this remarkable community. Together, we are embarking on a discovery project to identify and cultivate the Batwa's indigenous forest fruits and vegetables in their gardens.

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Blogs

The Seed Savers of Kenya

November 1, 2021

The work of local seed savers is critical not only for their own household benefit but also for the benefit of their broader communities and the long-term survival of their local plants. These women, all DIG graduates, have become known as expert seed-savers are are a critical link in ensuring their food systems remain resilient and biodiverse.

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Blogs

Eunice Anyango Otieno

May 5, 2021

Eunice Anyango is a 37 year old mother of six. She credits her success to the knowledge she received from DIG. Her garden income has enabled Eunice to better feed her family and invest in poles and iron sheets to improve her house.

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Blogs

When a Garden is Lifesaving

May 5, 2021

At 31 months old, Hannington was diagnosed with severe malnutrition. Learn how DIG worked with Diana, Hannington's mother, and the local hospital to help Hannington recover.

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Blogs

A Milestone to Celebrate ~ DIG Reaches 50% of all Batwa in Uganda

March 2, 2021

Building trust, confidence, and hope is key to our program’s success; and no where is that more important than with the culturally displaced Batwa of southwest Uganda. DIG has made a long-term commitment to this uniquely marginalized community. The Batwa have experienced terrible poverty and poor health since their eviction from their ancestral lands in the early 1990s. (Read more about DIG’s work with the Batwa here.) After four years of engagement, DIG is celebrating having reached half the Batwa

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DIG is celebrating our third year in Southwestern Uganda. In that time, we’ve adapted our model to work with almost half the Ugandan population of displaced Batwa and 314 People Living with Disabilities. We’ve built critical trust in both communities which has helped seed the measurable impact we’ve had in this time.

DIG’s work in Uganda represents some of our most creative and unique, it’s also arguably serving our most vulnerable populations.

The challenges facing the Batwa and People Living with Disabilities are complex and systemic. Added to this, the rocky soils, steep landscape, isolation, and extreme- poverty make success here difficult.

We are proud to report that close to 5000 people living with physical disabilities and Batwa community members have benefitted from DIG’s growth in Southwestern Uganda since 2017. And, as our studies show, for every one farmer DIG trains, they go on to train roughly 3 more people in their communities. With that level of organic growth, we are beginning to see what a self-scaling program can mean for the broader community.

2020 Highlights

60,000 seedlings were grown in 16 demonstration gardens.

The seedlings were transplanted into individual homes and community gardens bolstering resilience and farmer capacity during Covid19

17 different varieties of nutrient dense fruits and vegetables were introduced to our farmers through their demonstration gardens.

The wide varieties encourages both dietary diversity and helps farmer explore market potential.

Program Graduates are now growing 6+ more types of vegetables in their home gardens.

Meaning farmers can better withstand climate disruptions and pests and disease damage. Equally, they are able to improve their family’s nutrition and meet new market opportunities.

Registered 9 groups with the government.

Registered groups are able to access government funding to invest in their own development projects.

Looking forward to 2021

Replication:

In 2021, DIG will be working closely with 20+ groups in the region, prioritizing the displaced Batwa, People Living with Disabilities and People Living with HIV/AIDS.

Evaluation:

We will undertake an extensive Impact Evaluation measuring the short and long-term impact DIG’s program has had on six cohorts of farmers.

Connecting Culture and Food

We are also seeking to deepen our work with the Batwa by documenting and promoting traditional agro-ecological cultivation of indigenous forest foods. Having solved their immediate food challenges, we believe now is the time to create a program that celebrates their culture through food.