#Successful

Project Overview
In 2022, the IDE programme initiated a women economic empowerment project anchored in the shea nut value chains in Northern Uganda. Women in the shea nut and sunflower value chains face numerous challenges associated with poor market access, lack of knowledge and skills on shea nut/sunflower value chain management, poor access to financial services, low access, and usage of digital solutions. This has led to low prices of shea nut/sunflower related products, low productivity and poor quality of shea nut
kernels and low digital uptake by women. This situation has further been exacerbated by high levels of gender associated with social norms, power relations and male dominance over decisions including low literacy levels among women. To address the economic needs of women, UNCDF is working in partnership with Nyowe Ventures Company limited to pilot a Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) project anchored in the shea nut value chains in Northern Uganda. The project includes four main focus
areas:
● Develop a database for the women in the target group that creates financial opportunities and digital products tailored specifically to their needs.
● Enhance skills in digital literacy and financial literacy
● Create market opportunities for the women in the target group
● Promote discussion of GBV and suggest ways to mitigate it.
In order to ensure sufficient results from the project, a baseline study was conducted and the results compiled into a report that includes data from the study, key qualitative findings and testimonials from some of the intended project implementers and beneficiaries.
In just 6 months since the start of the project, over 5,300 farmers (as of 8th June 2022) have been profiled and gotten some digital literacy training. We are also starting to see some positive impact already among some of the beneficiaries.
PS: In order to empower women in a staunchly patriarchal society, it was imperative to work with some men. Also, our target is to profile 100,000 shea farmers (80% women) in 24 months. Nobody gets left behind in the digital age.