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Project

Digital agripreneurship innovation to enhance post-pandemic resilience among refugee women and youth in Nakivale refugee settlement, Uganda
 

Uganda
Project ID
109590
Total Funding
CAD 200,000.00
IDRC Officer
Martha Mutisi
Project Status
Active
Duration
24 months

Lead institution(s)

Project leader:
Jean Gabin Ntebutse
Canada

Summary

Refugees are typically exposed to high rates of poverty and food insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the multiple crises they have to endure. This is particularly true for women and youth.Read more

Refugees are typically exposed to high rates of poverty and food insecurity and the COVID-19 pandemic has only exacerbated the multiple crises they have to endure. This is particularly true for women and youth. In Nakavale refugee settlement in Uganda, for example, women and youth account for over 70% of the refugee population and face extreme poverty. Only one-quarter of youth between 15-24 are engaged in some form of economic activity, mainly crop and vegetable growing, but these were negatively affected during the COVID-19 crisis due to sickness, high prices for agricultural inputs and travel bans.

This project will assess the perceptions of refugee women and youth about the socioeconomic effects of COVID-19 and explore the barriers and motivators to their engagement in agripreneurship in the Nakivale refugee settlement. It will develop and implement a digital agripreneurship platform and determine its preliminary feasibility, acceptability and impact on economic and food security, agripreneurship knowledge, attitudes, and behaviour. This will be developed through focused group discussions with women, youth and community leaders. The goal of this educational and economic intervention is to enhance post-pandemic resilience among vulnerable refugee women and youth.

The project will use an interdisciplinary approach composed of face-to-face and digital learning, information support, mentoring and microcredit to enhance post-pandemic resilience. It will provide a more accessible, affordable and innovative means of enhancing economic security and increasing digital literacy among vulnerable refugee women and youth. Since it will use mobile phone-based digital learning tools, it will also allow for scaling and benefit people in other refugee settlements.