Vulnerable Households

CSRL makes efforts to reach out and assist individuals and groups that may otherwise have been overlooked. These individuals and groups may include families living with HIV/AIDS, the extremely poor or malnourished, elderly persons, and any other marginalized person or group that the program has the capacity to support.

Activities are undertaken in order to increase food security, nutrition, income, and livelihoods of persons living in marginalized groups. This is done through agricultural training, facilitating access to available services, and other guidance and support that the program is able to offer.

CSRL Program Activities 2007

Objectives:
  1. To enable vulnerable households and marginal groups to access services to significantly and sustainably increase food and nutrition security and incomes
  2. To facilitate the social and economic integration of affected households

Approach:
  1. Identify needs and capabilities of vulnerable households and groups
  2. Modify training curriculum and support for agriculture, food and nutrition security
  3. Guide households and groups in selecting agricultural enterprises for promotion
  4. Train them on management of selected enterprises

Resources:
  • Primary — VEDCO staff, training materials and sessions, inputs; RDEs and CNHWs
  • Secondary — Faculty and students from Makerere University and Iowa State University

Activities:
  • 2004 — Assisting 2 groups of people infected and affected by HIV/AIDS, one group of people with disabilities, and two groups of elderly people
  • 2005 — Assisted groups in setting up various crop enterprises
  • 2006 — One group of people infects and affected by HIV/AIDS assisted to set up a goat rearing enterprise in addition to the crop enterprises, one special needs household assisted to establish multiplication garden and income generating activity
  • 2007 — A second special needs household assisted to establish a garden; two youth groups identified and assisted to establish gardens; one youth received seeds and pesticides on loan to establish a horticulture enterprise

Outcomes:
  • 2004 — Namasagali and Butansi HIV/AIDS groups set up multiplication gardens for their group members
  • 2005 — Group members shared planting materials and established individual gardens
  • 2006 — M1 family became food secure but unfortunately was affected by floods at the end of the year; Namasagali HIV/AIDS group began sharing kids from the breeding stock (goats), members bring their local goats to breed with the improved buck at a small fee
  • 2007 — Identified nutritional and management problems common to many pig herds

Lessons Learned:
  1. Sustainable changes achievable for special needs households if members are active
  2. HIV/AIDS scourge has negatively impacts on factors of production, especially labor

Challenges & Questions:
  1. Assisting households that have been affected by HIV/AIDS is which reduced labor capacity remains a major constraint in agricultural production
  2. Vulnerable households and marginal groups generate long lists of requests that typically exceed the amount of budget allocated

Even the smallest contributions of time and resources can make a world of difference for vulnerable individuals and families. Today you have the opportunity to make that difference in someone's life. Please learn about contributing to the well-being of others through CSRL programs.