Enhanced food security and nutrition through crop diversity, year-round harvests and market sales

Women managed vegetable gardens empower women to feed their families, earn income, reduce social isolation and, overtime, achieve greater self-reliance and community respect.  

“It has also reduced the level and rate of domestic violence because if the man doesn’t have money to buy, say, tomatoes, when you request for that money, he can yell at you. But now, since we don’t over rely on them, there is a peaceful environment at home. Love is at its best nowadays in our families.” –  Gardener in Kyabarungira Sub-County

1000WG staff work to establish 75 new women-managed gardens each rainy season (2 times per year) with vulnerable households, especially grandmothers caring for young children, young mothers and mothers of orphaned children. Three years after the start of the project there are over 600 organic home gardens and 44 community gardens in seven sub-counties of Kasese District.

Listen to the Doreen, the director of 1000 Women’s Gardens, share about the history, practices and success of the project in the lives of women and children.

Benefits multiply through community education and 'adopter' gardens

1000WG staff have observed that as many or more ‘adopter gardeners’ are practicing some form of organic vegetable gardening as well, learned from their relatives and neighbors. The goal is that by 2027, at least 40% of households in villages where 1000WG works will be practicing organic gardening, together making a large and sustained difference in the quality of food security, nutrition and health for these families.

Building climate resilience through deep mulching, composting, seed saving and fruit tree planting
Organic soil, water and pest management practices also build resilience to negative climate impacts – flooding and excessive heat, on food production and consumption. Diverse fruit trees intercropped in gardens further reduce climate impacts and add nutritional and income value. 1000WG works with households with the highest water insecurity/scarcity to store creek and rainwater in tanks.

Model Gardener Volunteer (MGV) program empowers outstanding women gardeners to monitor and support prior & new gardeners, allowing 1000WG to grow sustainably

The MGV program enables local women to become leaders in the monitoring and sustainability of earlier phases of 1000WGs, while RCRA staff can focus on recruitment and training of new gardeners. Thus far, 22 exemplary gardeners and community role models have been selected as MGVs, each responsible for an average of 25 women gardeners in (or adjacent) to their villages. MGVs receive additional 1000WG training in priority and complex topics, such as formulation of botanical pesticides, organic soil amendments, value addition and marketing strategies, then pass on the knowledge and techniques to the greater community.

Generating income and reaching landless women with Community Gardens​

Across 7 sub-counties RCRA has helped establish 44 Community Gardens, where a typical group of 6-10 members either rent a plot of land or one member offers land on her farm for group gardening. Community Gardens play a pivotal role in food security, health and education by generating excess vegetables for income and savings to purchase garden inputs and household staples, and to pay school fees. Community Gardens in two urban sub-counties allow women with no land to participate in vegetable gardening. Community Gardens offer the added benefit of socialization to break isolation, especially among young mothers, where women learn, share and overcome challenges together.