Agric. & Environment
How vegetable growing is helping refugees cope with aid cuts in West Nile
According to a recent re-categorisation exercise by WFP, the agency has phased out food assistance entirely for 63% of the refugee population, cutting over one million people off from food aid and prioritising only the most critically vulnerable.
A refugee woman irrigating her tomato crops due to prolonged drought conditions. (Credit: Prossy Nandudu)
By: Prossy Nandudu, Journalist @New Vision
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The drastic decline in global humanitarian funding towards the World Food Programme has triggered a hunger and nutritional crisis among refugees in Uganda.
According to a recent re-categorisation exercise by WFP, the agency has phased out food assistance entirely for 63% of the refugee population, cutting over one million people off from food aid and prioritising only the most critically vulnerable.
Under this arrangement, newly arrived refugees, who in the past received a full 100 per cent food ration for their first three months to help them stabilise, now receive just 60%.
But category 1 refugees, who are at the highest risk of starvation, have seen their rations reduced to 40%, leaving them with a meagre $4.90 per person, per month.
Such drastic food aid reductions have severely escalated food insecurity and malnutrition across already fragile settlements.
To help the refugees cope, stakeholders, including non-government organisations, have stepped in to skill the refugees with food production skills in order to have food at home but also for sale so as to sustain their families.
The skills are being transferred to the refugees through the “Improving Income and Nutritional Security" project, funded by the Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND) and implemented by the East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation (EWS-KT).
Speaking from Rhino Camp refugee settlement, in a telephone interview on July 8, 2026, Joshua Mwangushya, the Country Manager for EWS-KT, said they are focused on building the technical capacity of farmers and local stakeholders on modern vegetable farming practices within Rhino Camp, Imvepi refugee settlements, and their surrounding host communities.
"We are promoting practical initiatives like kitchen gardens, which feature a nutrient-dense variety of crops ranging from Jute melon, spider plants, tomatoes, onions, Sukuma wiki, pumpkin and cowpeas to directly improve household nutrition," Mwangushya said.
He added that the project uses the hands-on demonstration approach where farmers learn by doing and directly observe the impact of climate-smart farming methodologies.
Refugee farmers who have so far benefited from the initiative include Nengere Gel, a South Sudanese refugee from Block F Ofua 3.
"From my kitchen garden, I harvest at least 130kg of a combination of vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, and pepper. Per season. And in a year, he harvests three times for sale. The kitchen garden maintains some plants for home use. When I sell the surplus, I earn sh150,000 from mainly tomato, cabbage, okra, pumpkin and onion in a good season," Nengere said.
The skills are being transferred to the refugees through the “Improving Income and Nutritional Security" project, funded by the Arab Gulf Programme for Development (AGFUND) and implemented by the East-West Seed Knowledge Transfer Foundation (EWS-KT).
Speaking from Rhino Camp refugee settlement, in a telephone interview on July 8, 2026, Joshua Mwangushya, the Country Manager for EWS-KT, said they are focused on building the technical capacity of farmers and local stakeholders on modern vegetable farming practices within Rhino Camp, Imvepi refugee settlements, and their surrounding host communities.
"We are promoting practical initiatives like kitchen gardens, which feature a nutrient-dense variety of crops ranging from Jute melon, spider plants, tomatoes, onions, Sukuma wiki, pumpkin and cowpeas to directly improve household nutrition," Mwangushya said.
He added that the project uses the hands-on demonstration approach where farmers learn by doing and directly observe the impact of climate-smart farming methodologies.
Refugee farmers who have so far benefited from the initiative include Nengere Gel, a South Sudanese refugee from Block F Ofua 3.
"From my kitchen garden, I harvest at least 130kg of a combination of vegetables like tomatoes, carrots, and pepper. Per season. And in a year, he harvests three times for sale. The kitchen garden maintains some plants for home use. When I sell the surplus, I earn sh150,000 from mainly tomato, cabbage, okra, pumpkin and onion in a good season," Nengere said.
Farmers also grow onion, tomatoes, cabbage, okra, cauliflower, pumpkin, and other leafy vegetables like Jute melon, spider plant, amaranthus and sukuma wiki.
“I used to be limited to only farming during the rainy season and miss the entire dry season. After learning irrigation and digging contours that keep water longer in the soil and mulching, which prevents water from evaporating in the atmosphere, I can now grow, with the technical knowledge I gained from the training, I invested in irrigation equipment. I now plan very well for dry season production, which is by far more profitable than the rainy season.” Echoku Fred is a farmer from Ngalikia village in Odupi sub-county in Terego, which is a refugee host district.
According to Osoga Modest the agricultural officer Odupi sub-county, the demonstration learning has been vital in successfully transitioning subsistence farmers into viewing vegetable production as a viable business.
David Baguma, the project lead EWS-KT, emphasised that these interventions extend beyond agricultural productivity to directly tackle health-related concerns.
"We are running widespread nutrition awareness campaigns and conducting practical training sessions anchored around these household kitchen gardens. We emphasise the benefits of having a balanced diet, training about healthy meal preparation and the health benefits of eating vegetables. For example, pumpkin consumption boosts the immune system and the heart, Baguma explained.
Mwangusya further added that while these localised interventions are yielding significant, life-changing results on the ground, (EWS-KT) warns that the current project intervention scope remains narrow, without further scaling and additional partnership support, thousands of vulnerable families across West Nile will remain exposed to severe, unmitigated hunger.
“I used to be limited to only farming during the rainy season and miss the entire dry season. After learning irrigation and digging contours that keep water longer in the soil and mulching, which prevents water from evaporating in the atmosphere, I can now grow, with the technical knowledge I gained from the training, I invested in irrigation equipment. I now plan very well for dry season production, which is by far more profitable than the rainy season.” Echoku Fred is a farmer from Ngalikia village in Odupi sub-county in Terego, which is a refugee host district.
According to Osoga Modest the agricultural officer Odupi sub-county, the demonstration learning has been vital in successfully transitioning subsistence farmers into viewing vegetable production as a viable business.
David Baguma, the project lead EWS-KT, emphasised that these interventions extend beyond agricultural productivity to directly tackle health-related concerns.
"We are running widespread nutrition awareness campaigns and conducting practical training sessions anchored around these household kitchen gardens. We emphasise the benefits of having a balanced diet, training about healthy meal preparation and the health benefits of eating vegetables. For example, pumpkin consumption boosts the immune system and the heart, Baguma explained.
Mwangusya further added that while these localised interventions are yielding significant, life-changing results on the ground, (EWS-KT) warns that the current project intervention scope remains narrow, without further scaling and additional partnership support, thousands of vulnerable families across West Nile will remain exposed to severe, unmitigated hunger.