How income diversification is impacting refugee household

In Uganda's rural areas, deprivation is still widespread despite an overall increase in poverty reduction due to initiatives by government and non-governmental organisation. Suzan Gumoshabe tells how limited sources of income posed a significant obstacle until the UKAid funded-Graduating to Economic Resilience Project intervened.

“We were not in any savings groups but occasionally accessed a loan of UGX 100,000 (21 GBP) in community savings groups to cover necessities, including food, clothing, and health care,” says Suzan.

Twenty-year-old Suzan Gumoshabe resides in Kahe Village, Kyegegwa District, Western Uganda, with her husband, Safati Mutesigensi, and child. They initially survived on casual labour while the household was struggling to get food and other basic needs.

The couple also engaged in small-scale maize, bean, and peanut farming. Despite never accounting for the earnings, they utilised the collected income to settle debts, reinvested capital for other planting seasons, and used the majority of the produce for home consumption, but it was insufficient. The main issues were food insecurity and lack of a tangible income source since all their efforts were exhausted in putting food on the table.

Amidst all of their hardships, their household's enrolment in the UKAid funded-Graduating to Economic Resilience Project in June 2024 offered a glimmer of hope. They engaged in sessions pertaining to saving, nutrition, Water Sanitation and Hygiene, conflict management and negotiation, sharing household responsibilities, agronomy practices, and training in Village Saving and Loans Association.

“The trainings in Farmer Field and Business School and savings played a major role in the household; we learnt good agronomic practices such as spraying organic pesticides, agro-ecosystem analysis, crop spacing, among others. We recognised how important it is to save as many shares as possible since, upon share-out, we would have enough cash on hand to make larger investments. We currently save UGX 10,000 (2 GBP) weekly from the project Village Saving and Loans Association,” says Suzan.

Safati asserts that the coaching topics in sharing household responsibilities and conflict management and negotiation had a major impact on the household. “We reduced the unwarranted disagreements at home and started joint decision-making in both our farming and saving ventures. That is how we started our produce business–we began with ten bags of maize, purchasing each kilogramme at UGX 800, and after two and a half months, we sold off the produce at UGX 1,400 per kilogramme, accumulating to approximately UGX 1,900,000 (390 GBP),” says Safati.

The UGX 38,000 (8 GBP) monthly food stipend for nine months further increased food security in the household and enabled the couple to purchase seven hens, bringing the number of the local birds to twenty. They then sold the twenty local birds at UGX 400,000 (82 GBP) and added UGX 400,000 (82 GBP) from their farming endeavours in order to buy three goats at UGX 800,000 (164 GBP).

In April 2025, Suzan’s household received a one-time business cash grant of UGX one million (210 GBP), which they utilised to construct a poultry house and purchase 70 exotic birds for income diversification. With the profits from their existing ventures, the couple intends to build a store for produce, expand their livestock business from three to ten goats, and increase their poultry from 70 to 200 birds.

The Graduating to Economic Resilience project is an 18-month initiative funded by UKAid with the main objective to improve household economic status and self-efficacy for 2,100 extremely poor refugee and host community households and 12,600 individuals in the rural districts of Kyaka II and Kyangwali Refugee Settlements in Western Uganda in order to enhance self-reliance and resilience.