Help Ugandan Women earn income with Mushrooms!

Summary

Our eco-friendly project gives women a source of income while putting to use agricultural residues that are filled with nutrients. We will train 100 women in rural communities of Uganda in mushroom cultivation. Our four-day training teaches how to cultivate mushrooms and provides each woman with all material for her first planting of 25 mushroom gardens producing 35/40 Kgs. Our teaching concentrates on 12 women who get a hand on experience enabling them to teach other women in the community.

$4,550 total goal $4,350 remaining

Challenge

Women constitute the highest labour force in Ugandan agriculture, yet are faced with gendered, social and geographical determinants for their employment. It is estimated that only 7% of them own and control the use of land. Men enjoy the ownership rights and ultimately control the proceeds from the land. Landless women can be economically empowered through engaging in mushroom production that requires a very small piece of land and local materials available at basically no cost .

Solution

Mushroom growing is unique as it can be done all year round with low capital investment, minimal space, and is a home based activity. It is a viable venture for women facing a problem of inequality in land acquisition and ownership. Cultivation can be done inside the house or in a small shed built with banana leaves and poles. Agricultural residues freely available can be used as substrate. Most importantly, women’s desire to provide for their families is the driving force of our project

Long-Term Impact

Mushroom production increases income, provides food security, and uplifts women’s status within the family and in their own community. Economic empowerment helps women develop personal and social capabilities: build self-confidence/a sense of achievement, improve leadership qualities, & increase problem solving and decision making capacity. Trained women multiply the return on our investment by training other women. Mushrooms provide protein, valuable minerals and vitamins, thus improving diets

What difference can be made with a one time donation?

$12 – Mushroom spawns and a sprayer for one woman

$20 – Tarp to cover one mushroom shed roof

$70 – Cost of trainer fee and transportation to one community

$100 –Trainer and materials for one community

$400 –Adopts one community to provide training, first planting material (spawns, sprayer, tarp) for ten women

Donate monthly

$10 – Sprayers for 24 women

$20 – Mushroom spawns for 20 women

$30 – Adopts a community to provide 10 women with training, spawns sprayer and tarp

$50- Training and materials for 6 communities

$110 – Training and materials for 10 communities

Help Ugandan Women earn income with Mushrooms!