Gender and Youth

Women have always been at the heart of Uganda’s tea sector, yet for years their voices were missing where decisions were made. Through the RECLAIM Sustainability! Tea Project, women like Julian Nyabuhara have organised into associations and moved into specialty tea, now exporting directly to European buyers and shifting both income and influence in the value chain.

“It’s never over” is the philosophy that has carried Gadifele Phatshwane from a single vegetable plot to a farm, a catering service and a small jam-making business. Her story shows how skills and a lot of grit can turn a local farm into something much bigger.

Judith Munini spent over 30 years farming rain-fed crops in drought-prone Makueni County, Kenya, struggling with water scarcity, pests and unreliable income. With support from the Acting Now project, she adopted solar-powered drip irrigation, organic composting and dryland fruit farming. Today she runs a commercial tree nursery with over 20,000 seedlings and has trained more than 200 farmers.