Our Programs
Women's Financial Inclusion and the Law Programme
Women’s decision making is limited by laws interfering with their economic activities. Such laws can affect women’s ability to save, borrow, pay or insure themselves against risk. Discriminatory laws can affect women’s demand for financial services.
Women and the Environment Programme
Women play a critical role in managing natural resources on family and community levels and are most affected by environmental degradation. In communities around Uganda, women manage water, sources for fuel, and food, as well as both forests and agricultural terrain.
Women and Climate Change Programme
Women have proven to be leading the way towards more equitable and sustainable solutions to climate change. Across sectors, women's innovations and expertise have transformed lives and livelihoods, and increased climate resilience and overall well-being.
Women and Civic Space Programme
Over the last few years, the space for Women Human Rights Defenders has been shrinking. Government agents are using security policies, including counter-terrorism strategies and COVID-19 prevention measures to restrict public freedoms and the role of women’s groups and organizations.
Women's Fund Programme
Under the Women’s Fund, FOCDE provides Small Grants ranging from $500-$1000 for Women’ s projects: The small grants are used to implement grassroots projects that empower women and girls in communities. Small Grants can be used to implement projects for empowering women and girls in the following focus areas;
Recent Updates
The Local Food Association (LFA)
In 2020, FOCDE launched Local Food Association (LFA) through which it is working to facilitate a transition to a sustainable food system in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality. Through the LFA, FOCDE continues to foster food systems sustainability in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality. Working with different actors, FOCDE is facilitating a transition of existing local market actors towards shorter supply chains and greater sustainability and encouraging the emergence of new actors, not only to reduce CO2 emissions and overall environmental impacts, but also to secure and create long term local jobs and strengthen urban communities while supporting a local food culture.
As part of building a sustainable food system, FOCDE collaborates with different actors as a strategy for facilitating a transition to a sustainable food system by;
1) Encouraging every household to grow fruit and vegetable in the Municipality, in gardens, in parks, on rooftops, on balconies, on derelict lands etc., safeguarding & improving fertility of lands.
2) Supporting sustainable food delivery practices which encourages short supply chains and efficient means of transporting and delivering food to consumers in a more sustainable and less carbon intensive way.
3) Encouraging residents in the Municipality to consume local food sourced from local farmers and food shops, improving diets by reducing the share of animal protein and processed foods and switch to plant based diets, using products that meet environmental and sustainability criteria and preventing waste.
FOCDE is training women and women’s groups in sustainable food production and natural resource management. This training is important because women are the ones mostly affected by environmental degradation as a result of food production. Through such trainings, FOCDE is working to increase women’s participation in environmental governance by reducing the effects of food production on the environment such as water and air pollution, loss of wild life and natural habitats.
FOCDE continues to witness increasing costs of diet related diseases, environmental degradation, which have led to growing attention to food systems inclusiveness and sustainability. Therefore, FOCDE continues to put women at a fore front of building a sustainable food system in the Municipality. Women represent a high percentage of poor communities that are highly dependent on local natural resources for their livelihood since women are responsible for gathering and producing food.
Most food related greenhouse gas emissions are from producing food, transporting it and storing wasted food in landfills which produce greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change and in turn this climate change puts food production at risk due to extreme heat, severe weather and drought. This further disrupts food production hence limited food security in terms of access, availability, quality, utilization and stability of food systems.
FOCDE encourages residents in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality to grow more fruits
FOCDE continues to build a sustainable food movement and supports farmers, food vendors, restaurants, food shops, schools, universities and residents in the municipality to undertake different actions aimed at building a sustainable food system. The actions FOCDE supports emphasize the need to place food systems at a fore front of addressing climate change through implementing activities tackling food production and consumption insufficiencies.
FOCDE continues to strengthen its Local Food Association (LFA) that brings together different actors including individuals, food producers, households, food suppliers, distributors, food vendors, hotels, canteens, schools, restaurants, final consumers among others.
The Sustainable Food Forum (SFF)
IFOCDE is scaling up the Sustainable Food Forum (SFF) that is providing communities in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality with a variety of ways to get involved in food solutions. FOCDE is a pioneer working on sustainable Food Systems in the Muncipality. Through the SFF FOCDE has a new approach with a variety of ways of making residents in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality get involved in food solutions. By scaling the Sustainable Food Forum, FOCDE is supporting farmers in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality to grow fruit and vegetable in gardens, in parks, on rooftops, on balconies, on derelict lands etc., safeguarding & improving fertility of lands. FOCDE supports initiatives on food delivery that are more sustainable and less carbon intensive. FOCOD support Residents in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality to enjoy more sustainable food (local products, without pesticides, seasonal and fresh products, etc.) while improving diets (reducing the share of animal protein and processed foods), using products that meet environmental and sustainability criteria (certification), and preventing waste (food and its packaging).
Scaling up the SFF provides an opportunity to residents in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality to join the Local Food Network and Local Food Support Group. These are supporting integrated approaches of making food systems or chains in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality and make them more sustainable. Members of the Local Food Network are working together to adopt best practices for sustainable Food Production and trade by providing a permanent space where the different stakeholders of the food sector work together to address common challenges and find adequate and practical solutions. The Local Food Network brings together producers, their organizations, trade unions, cooperatives, exporter groups, food producing companies, retailers, traders, consumer associations, governments, research institutions, universities and civil society organizations that are based in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality.
FOCDE is working with farmers, community and commercial fruit and vegetable growers & food producers, local producers; food suppliers, distributors, retailers, food vendors, purchasing groups, networks as well hotels, canteens, restaurants, Schools, urban consumer groups and all other actors that are involved in food production and consumption. Through the initiative, FOCDE brings together, policy makers, stakeholders and individuals on the importance of building a sustainable and more localized food system in Bushenyi-Ishaka Municipality. The Sustainable Food Forum focuses on three major themes of Growing, Delivering and Enjoying:
1) GROWING fruit and vegetable in the Municipality, in gardens, in parks, on rooftops, on balconies, on derelict lands etc., safeguarding & improving fertility of lands;
2) DELIVERING food stuffs in a more sustainable and less carbon intensive way;
3) ENJOYING more sustainable food (local products, without pesticides, seasonal and fresh products, etc.) while improving diets (reducing the share of animal protein and processed foods), using products that meet environmental and sustainability criteria (certification), and preventing waste (food and its packaging).
