On January 31, U.S. Ambassador to Uganda Deborah Malac and USAID/Uganda Mission Director Mark Meassick visited southern Karamoja to meet with community members supported by the USAID-funded, ACDI/VOCA-implemented Resilience through Wealth, Agriculture, and Nutrition (RWANU) project.
As part of her visit, Ambassador Malac attended a training session for beekeepers facilitated by the RWANU project and Golden Bees, a Ugandan honey company.
Through distribution of honey processing equipment and training, RWANU is helping beekeepers improve the quality of honey and linking producers to private-sector buyers. Ambassador Malac thanked RWANU and Golden Bees for their commitment to working with the people of southern Karamoja and encouraged beekeepers to continue their work hard.
Ambassador Malac also met with government officials, women, and youth leaders to discuss challenges and opportunities for development in southern Karamoja. Local government officials acknowledged how RWANU’s contributions to health care, agriculture, and livelihoods have helped maintain regional peace and reduce malnutrition.
Since 2013, the RWANU project has worked with over 200,000 beneficiaries in southern Karamoja to promote diversified livelihood strategies, improve linkages to market opportunities and private sector services, reduce dependency, and build long-term food security through increased household resiliency to shocks, while also supporting improved nutrition in vulnerable households through the “First 1,000 Days” approach.
