CENTS FOR SEEDS

$30 = 30kg

Cents for Seeds is changing the lives of families in Uganda by empowering women and enabling them to provide for their families.

For a small $30 donation, a woman is provided with a 30kg loan of seeds such as beans or sesame, as well as a hand held gardening tool, educational workshops, and access to savings groups.

Why does it work?

Women in Uganda are the caretakers for their families. Therefore, when you invest in women you are investing in their larger communities. Cents for Seeds offers women the opportunity to earn an income, income which then turns into into food, education, and health care.

Following biannual harvests, the women return the seeds for incoming groups of Cents for Seeds women. This means that the seed loan cycle is self-generating and sustainable and goes on to reach more communities.

Each woman’s harvest generates 150kg of seeds on average, enabling them to keep a minimum of 120kg each for ongoing food security and economic profitability even after they return their principal seed loan, plus interest.

Highlights of our impact so far

19,000

women participating in Cents for Seeds

2,551

women graduated and farming independently in 3 sub-counties

57

parishes in 3 districts of northern Uganda

The First Village Graduation

Village Savings & Loans Association

Part of the Cents for Seeds cycle is the women being allocated into Village Savings and Loans Association (VSLA) groups. The program teaches the participants the value of saving, and gives them the opportunity to work with women in their community. VSLA has proven to be effective with the results proving it is having an incredibly positive impact on the communities involved.

Lira House

Love Mercy Field Office and home to Love Mercy supported students.

Eunice Awoni - Barr

Eunice Awoni lives in Abolet village Eunice is 27 years old and has three children. She is the Cents for Seeds Chairperson for Barr village. She has participated in Cents for seeds since 2010. From the time Cents for seeds was introduced, her life changed. Eunice and her family are now able to afford food and even their health care has improved. They now have the means to maintain their own health and the children can now study. “Life before Cents for Seeds was very hard because everyone was staying in the Internally Displaced Peoples camps. We were given food from the Ugandan Government. However, in 2008 the Government stopped supplying food and we were told to return home to our ravaged land. Life from then on became ever more difficult. Now our life is better again”

Semi - Okwang

Semi is 35 years old and is a widow with 5 children. Cents for Seeds has helped her sell her crops to pay for things that her household needs, like soap, school fees, and other foods. As a mother, this project has helped Semi because in the past she didn’t have any knowledge about agricultural practices. Now she passes this valuable knowledge onto her children because they help her in the garden. “Before the program I had no where to run from my hardships. Now I can solve them myself."

Rose - Adwari

Rose is 43 years old and has had 8 children, however two of them died when they were very young due to illnesses. Rose has been in the Cents for Seeds program for three years, and last year was her most successful. The program is so important to Rose because it is helping her to save money and to use the rest of the seeds to feed her family. Two of her children have chronic illnesses which adds a burden to her expenses and her life. “The project is reducing my everyday expenses like food and is covering the costs of the rest, like my children’s medical bills. I only request that you continue to run the program so that we can continue to fight our challenges

Sophia Akite - Orum, Awake Village

Sophia has been in the program since the start in 2010. Life was not very easy before the program because there was not enough food and getting seeds was very difficult. Now she has a good harvest and there is food in the house. From her loan of 30kgs of beans, she harvested almost 300kgs! “Thank you so much to the people who support the project for helping us out of a really bad situation after we moved out of the camps. I just pray that you continue to support us”.

Sophia Odero - Otuke Town

Florence Odongo and George Odongo - Olilim

Florence is 38 years old. She has 8 children. Last year she received a loan of 30kgs of beans, and managed to harvests 360kgs! After she repaid her loan, she sold some of the excess for income to pay her children’s school fees then used some for school requirements. “Before the program life was hard, but now we have been able to save enough money to get married. We had a celebration and invited our friends from the program. Everyone brought some food to share and there was such an abundance of food there were left overs!”

Molly Opio - Ogor, Omwonyolee

Molly is 35 years old and she has 4 children. Last year Molly received a loan of 30kgs of beans and she harvested 135kgs. She sold her excess and bought a bull with her income which she uses to plow her field and also rents out to other participants. This project has helped Molly’s family so much as hey can afford food, clothes and school fees. “I have learned so much from this program. Now I know how to select good seeds and properly plant them. Thank you for supporting us."

GIVE NOW

Cents for Seeds : Two different perspectives

Rose Alunga, Barr village, Cents for Seeds member since 2011

“The project is reducing my everyday expenses like food and is covering the costs of the rest, like my children’s medical bills. I only request that you continue to run the program so that we can continue to fight our challenges.”

Natalie Lennon, Cents for Seeds Donor since March 2015

“I love supporting Cents for Seeds. I love to know that the $30 a month that I donate is giving a woman and her family a hand up, not a hand out, and will go on to benefit many others thanks to her hard work. I love the monthly stories that I get via email. I feel like I am making a real difference.”