Opportunity Africa is transforming lives of impoverished Ugandan Christians with a new farming initiative that combats food insecurity.
Barnabas Aid is working with church leaders in western Uganda to cut rising poverty and hunger among Christians by increasing crop yields. This programme is just one part of our Opportunity Africa initiative, which is designed to build long-term sustainability and food security for our brothers and sisters across the continent of Africa.
“This project will transform people’s lives,” said Bishop Nason Baluku as he surveyed the new plants standing tall in the parched Ugandan farmland.
“We strongly believe it is going to bring long-term food security to families who up to now have hardly managed to obtain even one full meal a day.”
Christian woman stands among the leaves of a flourishing cassava crop in Uganda
Barnabas Aid has funded the planting of 900 acres of cassava, the region’s staple food crop. This is a new, faster growing, disease-resistant variety of cassava. The crops were planted in the South Rwenzori Diocese of Kasese district, western Uganda, in April 2024.
The cassava project is a part of a ten-year vision of Bishop Nason and his team to build a sustainable future for our brothers and sisters in Kasese, which has suffered anti-Christian attacks from Islamists based in the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).
The aim of Bishop Nason’s plan is to help bring an end to rising poverty, hunger and malnutrition across the district. As well as planting this new variety of cassava, Barnabas Aid has also helped with other aspects of the initiative, such as the creation of goat-rearing enterprises. The hope is that together, these enterprises will enable Ugandan Christians become self-sufficient, ending hunger and providing ongoing income opportunities.
Like many parts of Africa, Christians in regions such as Karamoja in Uganda live by subsistence farming, and when drought and crop disease happen, families are left without food.
How drought and crop disease impact Christian communities
The overwhelming majority of households in Kasese rely on growing the versatile root vegetable cassava to sustain themselves. Yet yields have plunged in recent years because of prolonged periods of drought, outdated farming practices, and crop disease.
As a result, the price of the cassava vegetable, cassava flour and sombe (a sauce made from pounded cassava leaves) upon which so many families depend for their daily meals has soared, leading to increasing levels of hunger and malnutrition. Many families have gone for days without food.
To help combat the rising hunger, Barnabas Aid has funded provision of a new variety of cassava (called Coronus 1), which is hardier and can be grown in challenging conditions. Unlike the old cassava that took three years to mature, it is ready for harvest within eight months.
Nearly 14,000 Christian households benefit from new cassava variety
Barnabas funded the purchase of 5,400 sacks of stem cuttings of cassava that were distributed to 13,983 Christian households in ten of the diocese’s 14 parishes, where the conditions were assessed as most suitable for cultivation.
Every recipient was given training in good farming practices, including land preparation and best planting methods, as well as instruction on ways to avoid and control mosaic disease, which can wipe out cassava crops.
Pastor Alfred thanked Barnabas for supporting the project. “We expect to have cassava in plenty within the next year,” he said. “May God bless the hand that gives!”
Watch: Life-changing cassava
This video tells the story of Angela, a Christian woman whose difficult life has been changed for the better by the cassava-growing project. Watch now to see a first-hand account of the impact that this project has had on Christian families.
Mother-of-four Angela praises God for her new-found food security. She and her children went to bed hungry many times as her cassava crops failed because of lack of rain.
Angela is grateful to have been among the recipients of the new cassava variety. “My life is going to change,” she told Barnabas, “because I will be getting food and money and I will always be happy because I don’t have to beg for anything anymore.
“I thank God so much, and may He continue to bless Barnabas Aid to continue giving a hand to people like me.”
Angela, a Ugandan Christian and her children no longer go to bed hungry, thanks to the new cassava variety funded by Barnabas
Understanding the importance of cassava in sub-Saharan African farming communities
What is cassava?
Cassava is a root vegetable, with roots that look similar to sweet potatoes. The cassava root is a good source of carbohydrates, as well as key vitamins and minerals. However, cassava should never be eaten raw because it contains dangerous levels of cyanide. In Uganda it is usually boiled or baked, or made into flour. It can also be fermented before serving.
Its leaves are high in protein and are used to make soup or sombe.
What else is cassava used for?
Cassava is versatile. As well as being eaten, surplus crops can also be sold on for the starch to be used in food processing. The stems can be used as firewood and the skin can be used as animal feed or to make rope. Even the extracted cyanide can be sold for use by the pharmaceutical industry.
The Coronus 1 variety of cassava root is faster growing and provides better yields
Delight at results of first harvest: How new cassava crops are feeding Christian families
At first, many households were sceptical about the new crop variety, but excitement grew as the cassava flourished.
Mother-of-two Masika praised God for her first harvest of Coronus 1 cassava.
“Imagine after only a few months I am already able to feed my family with sombe and cassava flour as well!” she declared.
Masika’s crop yields from the previous cassava variety had been falling year by year. With prices rising at the local market, she had struggled to provide even a meal a day for her family.
“Therefore, it is with much happiness in my heart that I thank the diocese and Barnabas Aid for relieving me of this famine situation,” she said.
As part of the Barnabas-funded initiative, all participants are requested to provide two other Christian households with cassava stem cuttings and pass on the farming training they received. This means that the project is more sustainable and will bless others beyond the original recipients.
Camsongory John and his wife Margaret say that their first planting has been so successful that they have enough to give stem cuttings to at least ten other families.
The couple and their children converted to Christianity from Islam two years ago, which led them to be rejected by their Muslim relatives and community.
They have experienced the pains of hunger in the past yet, thanks to the new cassava variety, they now have hope of food security – and have money from the sale of surplus produce to pay their children’s school fees.
“I appreciate that the church and Barnabas assisted us,” said Camsongory. “We are very happy. Thank you very much.”
“Every home will have cassava”: Pastor’s hope for a thriving Christian community
In another part of the diocese, the results of the first planting have reversed the decade-long mindset among Christians that cassava would not grow in the parish.
Local minister Pastor Ezra said cassava plantations now line the main road to the DRC. He is confident that the 56 acres currently under cultivation in his area will shortly expand to cover hundreds of acres more.
“Very soon every home will have cassava,” he said joyfully. “Very soon the community will start exporting more cassava flour than we import.”
He added, “I continue to give thanks to our partners for supporting the diocese in their programme of food security.”
Make a donation to Opportunity Africa
The cassava project is just one of the many aspects of our Opportunity Africa initiative. Through this project, we can see how Opportunity Africa can help our African brothers and sisters grow in resilience and self-sufficiency. We hope we can continue providing long-term solutions to Christians in Africa, but this is only possible with the help of our supporters. Please consider giving to Opportunity Africa, using project reference code PR1700 on our donations page.
Donate now
Pray with us
We invite you to join us in prayer for Opportunity Africa and seek God’s blessing on farming initiatives and much more across the continent of Africa.
- We pray for our brothers and sisters who suffer in Uganda. We ask that the Lord remains close to them, giving them strength and hope in their time of struggle.
- We ask that the drought in Uganda will come to an end, that rains will come and nourish the crops so that everyone will have enough to eat.
- We pray that the cassava provided through Opportunity Africa will grow strong and healthy, providing both food and income to Christian families for many years to come.
- We thank the Lord that we have been able to help our brothers and sisters in their time of need. We thank Him for the churches who work so diligently to provide food and advocate for their congregations. We pray that God will bless this project with abundance, using it to help His people grow in physical and spiritual strength.
