The U.S. government is celebrating the achievements of a program that has worked with more than 205,000 people from vulnerable households to build incomes, improve nutrition, and strengthen community participation across eight districts in the Kigezi, Acholi, and Karamoja sub-regions.

As a result of this five-year U.S. government-funded project, locally known as Integrated Community Agriculture and Nutrition (ICAN), participants are now accessing formal financial services, saving with a purpose, and connecting with private sector partners. Funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the program also issued 185 small grants (at a total value of 1.86 million Ugandan shillings) to community enterprises, helping them to expand and generate more income.

ICAN further addressed malnutrition by training 130,000 mothers on good nutrition and hygiene practices and assessing 270,000 children under five for malnutrition. The project also trained and built the confidence and entrepreneurial skills of roughly 6,300 out-of-school adolescent girls and young women.

At an event today, USAID/Uganda’s Director of Economic Growth Amy Beeler said, “Households, village health teams, business service providers, mentors, and many others now have the knowledge, skills, and connections to transform their lives and communities.”

She highlighted examples such as in Kanungu District, where the U.S. government activity partnered with the Kigezi Coffee Development Academy to certify coffee farmers by the global Rainforest Alliance.  “These USAID-supported farmers report better incomes and a change in gender norms – coffee is now considered a family business rather than a man’s crop,” she said.

Thanks to these U.S. government investments, the most vulnerable households have been able to weather unforeseen shocks and stressors such as COVID-19 lockdowns and price shocks due to Russia’s War in Ukraine.

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of U.S. Embassy in Uganda.