Seeds and Stories provides vocational training programs to local women in the Bigodi community. We develop our training curriculum in consultation with local women, focusing on subjects that the women would like to learn and teach.
Our training sessions are designed to provide participants with new skills and result in more income earning opportunities. As a result local women are able to experience higher rates of financial independence, freedom to make choices, and a strong sense of self-worth.
Our first training sessions covered an introduction to zero waste production, embroidery, reusable pad making, natural dyeing, eco-printing, natural beauty products, paper making and shoe making. We focused on encouraging the women to express their creativity.
As a result, our training sessions have already demonstrated a positive personal and professional impact. The women have reported a greater sense of joy, confidence, and fulfilment. Vocational training offers a unique space where local women have the opportunity to showcase their talent and craftsmanship, resulting in a deeper sense of pride.
Our goal is to offer regular training sessions with local and national experts in the fields of sustainability, conservation, circular fashion, women’s empowerment. Local women have also had the opportunity to travel and attend specialized training in Kampala and Fort Portal. Some of our training partners include the organisations TEXFAD, KAFRED, and BOFTA. All training programs promote skill sharing and the preservation of traditional crafts.
"It makes me feel very good. I think it is great all the experience that I am getting from the training." - Stella Mbabazi
“It makes me excited and I can lift my head high.” -Janerose Kanyunyuzi
Farming in Bigodi is failing to provide sufficient nutrition to the community and a decent livelihood to farmers, particularly women. For this reason, there is a need to grow resilient and equitable food systems that respond to their needs, respect the integrity of nature and care for future generations.
In conjunction with our organizational partner KAFRED and Bemeriki Bisimwa Dusabe (Rwamwanja Rural Foundation), Seeds and Stories is offering permaculture training to all members of the Bigodi community that wish to attend. The training will enable farmers in Bigodi to produce and feed their families with nutritious food and improve their health, while reducing women's workload, increasing their income, and enhancing their livelihoods. Permaculture has been proven to enrich soil, conserve water, increase biodiversity, help fight the climate crisis and regenerate the ecosystem.
To further promote permaculture in Bigodi and to have a bigger social and environmental impact, Seeds & Stories will design and implement a permaculture farm that will act as a live demonstration site. You can read more about our regenerative journey here.
We asked our group of women what other classes they would find beneficial to attend for their personal and professional growth: the answer was literacy classes. Due to systemic educational inequality many of the women that work with Seeds and Stories are unable to read and write in Uganda’s official language. Learning English can enable local women to access better economic opportunities, socialise with people outside their community, and better protect them against exploitation when selling and buying products.
The main beneficiaries of Seeds & Stories are rural women living in Bigodi who have no source of income and are struggling to provide for their families.
Regenerative development aims to have multiple benefits between local people and natural ecosystems. These projects generally focus on the areas of ecological health, socio-cultural vitality, economic value, and human development. The end goal is to create greater resilience, diversity, reciprocity, inclusive growth, justice, fairness, and empowerment.
The main craft is basket weaving, which is a tradition that is passed through generations from mother to daughter.
We are planning to transform a piece of degraded land into a permaculture farm. We also promote regenerative agriculture, rainwater harvesting, and re-establishing traditional agroforestry systems in conjunction with other local organisations.
Seeds and Stories is a non-profit social enterprise. This means that any remaining profit is reinvested into social and environmental community projects.
Permaculture is a whole-system design with a holistic approach to creating sustainable and regenerative socio-ecological systems based on cooperation and creating harmony with nature. Permaculture is an approach to land management and settlement design that adopts arrangements observed in flourishing natural ecosystems. Permaculture aims to design more equitable and fertile systems, as well as resilient and self-reliant landscapes. This is done in order to meet the needs of families and communities in an efficient and sustainable manner. In permaculture, we learn how to create regenerative systems to improve the world from how we found it and do so in perpetuity.