Refugees and host communities in Uganda’s Yumbe and Madi Okollo districts are recording improved rice harvests following the introduction of improved seed varieties and practical farming training under a Japan-funded project promoting 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. Peace Winds Japan is collaborating in implementation alongside partners, including the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO).
NARO is implementing the livelihood component through technical training in improved rice production, the distribution of quality seed, particularly the NERICA 4 variety, and the promotion of better crop management and post-harvest handling practices.
During a joint monitoring mission to project sites, officials inspected demonstration gardens to assess progress, implementation quality and emerging challenges, including prolonged drought.
Natasha Butorac, UN Women’s Women, Peace and Security Specialist, said the intervention addresses the relationship 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 told NARO News.
She explained that improved agricultural productivity can increase household incomes, strengthen food security and ease economic pressures that may contribute to conflict. The initiative also supports Uganda’s Women, Peace and Security National Action Plan, which recognises climate-related risks as an emerging threat to peace and security.
Building on lessons from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-supported Eco-PRiDe Rice project, the initiative places women at the centre of agricultural development.
“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, noting that their participation is challenging stereotypes about women’s capacity to engage effectively in farming.
For farmers, the impact is already evident.
Taban Rashid, a farmer from Pitia village in Kululu sub-county, Yumbe district, said training received through the MUSHO project since 2025 has transformed his farming practices, reduced labour requirements and increased earnings.
Previously, Rashid broadcast rice seed across his field, a method that required more seed and made weeding difficult.
“I would usually use 50 kilogrammes of seed to plant an acre, and weeding one acre would take me 15 days,” he said.
Before adopting the recommended practices, he harvested about eight bags of rice per acre and earned approximately sh800,000. Following the training, his yield increased to 25 bags per acre, while his earnings rose to about sh2.5m.
He also learnt the importance of proper post-harvest handling and storage in maintaining grain quality.
“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,” Rashid said.
His improved skills have enabled him to train other farmers, extending the benefits to the wider community.
Dr Emmanuel Odama, a senior research officer at NARO, said farmers are trained through the Musomesa field school approach, which combines group demonstrations in a “mother garden” with practical application in individual “baby gardens”.
The model ensures farmers practise recommended techniques as they learn, including line planting, which improves field management and reduces unnecessary seed use.
Odama said cooperation between refugees and host communities has also improved access to land, with host community members sharing portions of their land with participating refugees. The arrangement has strengthened mutual understanding and peaceful coexistence.
Despite the prolonged dry spell, demonstration gardens planted with NERICA 4 have shown encouraging results.
Amaku Shaban, chairperson of the Dongoloto Farmers Group in Kululu sub-county, said the improved variety and line-planting techniques had helped farmers sustain their crops.
“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,” he said.
Dr Moses Biruma, director of research at NARO’s Abi Zonal Agricultural Research and Development Institute in Arua, said a needs assessment identified rice growing as the preferred agricultural enterprise among the target farmers.
The project is now addressing their needs through improved seed, practical training and better production and post-harvest management.
Beyond increased harvests, the intervention is creating opportunities for women to strengthen household incomes, build resilience and take leadership roles. By bringing refugees and host communities together around a shared livelihood, the initiative demonstrates how agricultural development can contribute to food security, women’s empowerment and lasting peace.
