Environmental preservation through training, and practical application of land and soil management techniques, tree planting, and energy-saving methods.

• Water management and sanitation training
• Youth life skills training programme
• Agro-based micro-projects development
• Primary health care training

Enabling Rural Innovation (ERI)

Program Description
Enabling Rural Innovation – East Africa is a 3-year program, is a product of Horizont3000 working in partnership with Austrian Development Association. The program was purposed to support farmer groups transit from subsistence farming to agri-business through training. The approach therefore helps small-holder farmers to become empowered and self-reliant entrepreneurs, who work to attain a state of food security / food sovereignty and a sustainable household income.

Environment Awareness and Training Project

Background
It aims to address environmental issues in Budaka District, particularly the unsustainable use of natural resources especially trees and water, which directly or indirectly impact on the climatic conditions of the area. The project began in April 2014 as the initial phase with the purpose to train trainers in environmental control measures including tree planting and construction and use of fuel saving stoves in all 13 sub-counties of Budaka District. This will be followed by a four-year phase, which is anticipated to scale up the intervention at grass-root level as well as diversify services to include installation of domestic water points in three primary schools within the district as well as garbage management and treatment in Budaka Town Council.

Overall objectives
To develop the capacity of local community members and local partners for mitigating environmental challenges that characterize the rural areas in Uganda in general and Budaka District in particular.

Micro Credit Loans, Entrepreneurial / Savings And Credit Training

Background
Safe Neighbourhood Foundation (SNF) has been implementing the VSLA scheme since April 2014, It is a goup-based program which started with 12 groups, being beneficiaries of other SNF projects from 3 sub-counties.

Objectives
The purpose of VSLA is to promote the saving culture as well as create a credit and loan fund which group members would access at favourable terms. VSLA also encourages group members to initiate small scale / medium scale enterprises so as to enhance household incomes.

Poultry Project

Objectives are to provide an income generating opportunity to farmer groups and individual farmers through poultry rearing. The intended result is enhancement of household incomes, leading to improved living conditions.

Promotion of sustainable food security through training and demonstration in modern farming methods

The loss of soil fertility and biodiversity, along with the loss of indigenous seeds and knowledge, pose a mortal threat to survival of humanity. According to soil scientists, at current rates of soil destruction (i.e. decarbonization, erosion, desertification, chemical pollution), within 50 years we will not only suffer serious damage to public health due to a qualitatively degraded food supply characterized by diminished nutrition and loss of important trace minerals, but we will literally no longer have enough arable topsoil to feed ourselves.

Activities involve regenerative agriculture, which has the capacity to deal with issues such as food insecurity due to degraded soils, and the depletion of trees due to cooking on open stoves. The many Regenerative agriculture practices have the added benefit of drawing down carbon from the atmosphere and keeping it in the ground where it is needed.