CENTS FOR SEEDS

$40 changes everything.

One seed loan. One harvest. A year of school fees, savings, food for her family, and a lifetime of new opportunities.

Lilly’s story

Meet Cents for Seeds beneficiary Lilly, who turned her 30kg seed loan into ample food, a thriving small business, livestock, and a sustainable future for her and her family.

Seed loans: Impact in a circle.

HOW CENTS FOR SEEDS WORKS

Flowchart illustrating a cycle where women receive seed loans, plant and grow seeds, harvest five times the seeds planted, women return the original seed loan, seeds are relocked to the next woman, with training and tools provided by an organization.

1

You give $40

Your gift becomes a 30kg seed loan, distributed to one woman as she enters the program.

2

With comprehensive training and farming tools provided, the woman plants her seeds, looking forward to newfound food security for her family.

She plants

3

Yielding anywhere from 150-300kg of seeds, the woman can feed her family for a whole year and sell the surplus to generate an income.

She harvests

4

She returns her original 30kg seed loan ahead of the next season, and a new woman receives her seeds so she can begin her own life-changing journey.

It plants again

The Cents for Seeds cycle ensures our program is sustainable and that our impact is growing.

LEARN MORE ABOUT SEED LOANS

"Here, we love one another. We help one another. That is what we do in this community."

— Lilly Acheng, Cents for Seeds participant, Barr Acuga village

We have so much to celebrate.

Lilly’s village, Barr Acuga, were the very first to graduate from Cents for Seeds. They’ve continued on all these years later, collaborating on farming, saving, operating businesses, and enjoying sustainable livelihoods. Barr Acuga shows us what happens when women are empowered with sustainable solutions to poverty.

36,512

women impacted across northern Uganda

5-10x

typical yield for a woman in the program

1 YEAR

of food security from her first harvest alone

A woman carrying a large bag on her head, walking in a rural area with children following on a dirt path near houses and trees.

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 food, education, and health care.

A woman in a green dress is pouring seeds from a bag onto a mat on the ground during an outdoor market or gathering, with many people sitting and standing in the background under trees.

Why does it work?

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.

Through the eyes of our farmers

Stories from the field

Judita's Story

After years surviving a displacement camp, Judita couldn't afford to send her grandchildren to school. At 50, she was still fighting just to feed her family.

Then came one small seed loan, and everything changed.

In her first year with Cents for Seeds, Judita harvested 500kg of seeds. She bought bulls, a goat, paid every grandchild's school fees, and even celebrated her grandson's wedding.

In her own words: "It holds my hope."

Erin's Story

At 58, Erin was raising 10 children, and struggling to keep them fed, healthy, and in school. Every harvest felt like a battle she couldn't win.

Then Cents for Seeds changed everything.

With the funds from her first crop, Erin traded up from hens to goats to cows. Today, all 10 children are in school. She's covering healthcare, improving her home, and she even sent her daughter to tailoring training, so the next generation can build their own path.

Erin’s one seed loan has transformed her entire family.

Give $40.
Plant the seed for a sustainable livelihood. Change a life.

OTHER WAYS TO GIVE

Prefer to give another way?

You can donate via bank transfer (direct deposit) or cheque if that’s easier for you. Details can be found below.

  • Name: Love Mercy Overseas Aid Fund 
    BSB: 062 259 
    Acc#: 10377955 

    Don’t forget to include your last name in the bank reference and drop us a quick email at [email protected] to let us know you’ve donated. We’ll send you a receipt. 

  • To donate by cheque, post it to:  
    PO Box 702 
    Sutherland NSW 1499
     
    Be sure to include your return address and email so we can send you a receipt with our thanks. 

  • We’ve partnered with Safewill to make it super simple to create a legally binding will including a gift to Love Mercy. To learn more about leaving a gift in your will, read about our Eternal Village program here.

Other fundraising initiatives

Looking for other ways to contribute? Visit our Get Involved page to explore the different ways you can raise funds for Love Mercy Foundation. 

FIND OUT MORE