How parenting support and a catalytic grant helped a young family build a resilient micro-farm—and a stronger home.
When we first met Yudaya, a 28-year-old wife and devoted mother of two young daughters, life was anything but easy. Both she and her husband were unemployed, bills were piling up, and opportunities felt out of reach. With limited income and growing needs, the young couple felt trapped in a cycle of worry and uncertainty.
Then they met Madina, a para social worker in their community, who invited them to join a local parenting group.
“The parenting sessions provided us with the much-needed knowledge on child care and family management as we were young parents,” Yudaya recalls. “They were instrumental as we embarked on our journey as parents.”
Those sessions offered practical parenting skills—and renewed confidence. Soon after, Yudaya received a household strengthening grant of UGX 800,000. It became the turning point her family needed.
Turning Support into Opportunity
With a shared dream of becoming self-reliant, the couple chose animal husbandry. They invested in two goats (adding to the two they already owned) and built a proper shelter. They also budgeted for feed and veterinary care, costs they had learned to plan for through coaching.
Not stopping there, they bought two pigs. Before long, one sow gave birth to four piglets. When their eldest daughter started school, they sold four pigs to pay for her scholastic needs and essential household expenses, rent, water, and food, without slipping back into crisis.
Growing the Farm, Growing the Future
Over time, their small farm flourished:
- Goats: from 4 to 13
- Pigs: from 2 to 7
With limited land at home, they struck a practical arrangement with their landlord to rear pigs on his property at no extra cost, maximising every available resource and keeping costs low.
Madina reflects on the wider change:
“The project has done so much for parents like Yudaya, who were once mired in financial hardship but are now on a path toward prosperity. The parenting sessions have also improved the well-being of children in the community, reducing cases of child abuse. ”Looking ahead, Yudaya hopes to buy land, expand her farm, and tap into government programmes like the Parish Development Model (PDM) to take her enterprise even further.
