The Issue
Uganda, the world’s fourth-largest refugee-hosting country, is home to over 1.5 million refugees. The majority of these come from South Sudan and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), driven by wars, violence, and persecution. At the same time, the country faces high poverty levels, with 8.3 million people living in poverty, 84% in rural areas, and food insecurity is a major concern, with the highest concern being in the West Nile region. Uganda’s refugee and host communities are grappling with high levels of malnutrition and food insecurity due to limited access to nutritious food and a lack of awareness about maximizing nutritional value. Factors contributing to this issue include high food prices, ineffective land and input utilization, changing humanitarian priorities due to funding gaps, and poor knowledge of good nutrition and agricultural practices.
In the last couple of years, high inflation has meant soaring food prices. This, combined with the fact that 90% of refugees rely on humanitarian food/cash aid, only exacerbates the situation. Inadequate knowledge of nutrition and agricultural practices contributes to malnutrition in refugee households – 91% of refugee households in the West Nile face food insecurity, particularly affecting women and children. This means that female-headed households, pregnant mothers, breastfeeding mothers, and school-age children are being most affected.
The Project
The project seeks to improve food security, nutrition, markets, and livelihoods in West Nile and Uganda by combining immediate nutrition assistance with long-term sustainable food production solutions. It will support 10,000 vulnerable refugees and host female-headed households, particularly pregnant and lactating mothers and their children, with cash for nutrition for the first six months of a year and transition into their own food production.
Kitchen gardens will be established and maintained on small patches of land, providing a platform for innovations in supplemental food production and improving livelihoods. Block farming, a joint venture production approach will be used to train producer groups in good agricultural practices and postharvest handling, enhancing access to land for farming. Documentation, research, and communications will inform evidence-based implementation, cross-sector learning, and replicable innovations to scale project approaches and engage the Danish population on nutrition and food security in refugee and host community settings.
The target locations for this project are the Rhino Camp, Imvepi, and Bidibidi settlements, which have approximately 40% of refugee households.
The Change
This project aims to improve the food security resilience of vulnerable refugee and host female-headed households in the West Nile region of northern Uganda. It aligns with Uganda’s Refugee Response Plan for 2022-2025, which focuses on increasing food security, promoting self-reliance, and integrating refugees into national systems.
The project is designed to build on the proven practical experiences of DCA and PALM Corps as well as their in-depth knowledge and understanding of the current dynamics of food security, nutrition, markets, and livelihood assets and capacities within West Nile and Uganda more broadly.
The Results
In 2025, the project achieved a number of key results:
- A total of 2,500 vulnerable households received cash assistance, enabling families to purchase recommended baskets of nutritious food and meet immediate household dietary needs.
- To complement the cash transfers, 2,480 participants were trained in financial literacy. The training focused on budgeting, saving, goal setting, and mobile money rights.
- A total of 202 care groups were established and operationalised across Bidibidi, Imvepi, and Rhino Camp settlements. These groups were led by 187 trained Lead Mothers and 15 Male Champions.
- Increased screenings identified 78 cases of malnutrition, all of whom received counselling and referrals to health facilities. By December 2025, 63 of the identified cases had improved to green nutritional status.
- A total of 2,485 women, including 1,760 refugee women and 725 host community women participated in Maternal, Infant, Young Child and Adolescent Nutrition trainings
- A total of 2,458 participants were trained in sustainable farming practices across the three refugee settlements
- A total of 2,510 households and 10 institutions received vegetable seeds and agricultural tools to establish household and institutional gardens. The project also supported 2,486 households with the distribution of 38,864 assorted tree seedlings.
- A total of 1,363 households participated in block farming activities. The project distributed 19.4 tonnes of assorted seeds and 2,141 bags of cassava cuttings and supported land preparation through tractor tillage services and Cash-for-Work (CfW) arrangements. As a result 1,332.17 acres of land were opened and 1,319.35 acres were planted.
- The intervention also strengthened household farming skills, with 1,239 participants trained in climate-smart agriculture and agroecological farming practices.
- In addition, the Cash-for-Work component created temporary employment opportunities for 3,977 youth who collectively earned 290,196 DKK
The Partner
PALM Corps is an indigenous Ugandan NGO delivering services to vulnerable communities through the thematic areas of livelihoods, public health, education and environment. The organization envisions a world where the poorest and most vulnerable communities live a dignified, healthy, peaceful and productive life while taking care of the environment.
Our Work
DCA Uganda primarily works in three thematic areas:
Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus:
The Humanitarian-Development-Peace Nexus programme supports refugees, displaced persons, and refugee hosting communities to access immediate lifesaving assistance and to participate in long-term, development interventions for self-reliance and sustainable livelihoods.
Build Resilience:
DCA Uganda supports marginalized women, men, and youths with increased access to land and other natural resources in a climate and environmentally responsible way.
Fighting Extreme Inequality:
DCA Uganda works with partners to ensure that marginalized persons participate in and influence decision-making processes and hold duty-bearers accountable in upholding human rights and in securing equitable and sustainable development.
About the project
Title: Enhancing food security and nutritional outcomes for vulnerable women and children in West Nile, Northern Uganda
Period: January 2024 – December 2027
National partner: PALM Corps
Amount: DKK 40,000,000
Number of people reached (expected): 100,000 persons (60,000 female)
Donor: Novo Nordisk Foundation
