Where We Work

ViNA is focused on the African continent, the second-largest and most populous continent in the world after Asia. Despite abundant natural resources, Africa remains the world’s poorest and most underdeveloped part of the world. Within Africa, ViNA specifically targets rural villages in the country of Uganda, the pilot country.

88% of Uganda’s population lives in rural areas. Many programs have improved the poverty rate and social conditions in urban areas; however progress in rural regions has been very limited. More than two thirds of the country’s poor people are small farmers in rural areas who have no source of income.

ViNA seeks to help those villages that are outside the current scope of other assistance.

Africa Map, with Uganda highlighted		Uganda map, with Kibaale District highlighted

Why Uganda?

Many indicators illustrate the desperate need for assistance in Uganda. Conditions in rural villages are even more critical, yet accurate assessments are not readily available due to the remote location of these populations.

• The average life expectancy in Uganda is 52 years, and the average age is 15.
• 19% of the population is undernourished. Over 4.6 million Ugandans do not receive the minimum level of daily dietary energy.
• Approximately 16% of children less than five years of age are underweight.
• Only 49% of children who begin primary school reach Grade 5.
• 42% of the rural population is below Uganda’s national poverty line.
• There are over 2 million orphans in Uganda, 20% of all children, who have lost one or both parents to HIV/AIDs.

Causes of Rural Poverty in Uganda

Poverty has persisted in most rural areas of Uganda primarily due to the following conditions:

• Political Changes: Corruption by government officials and successive periods of political change, conflicts, and tribal and civil wars over the past 30 years have seriously affected society as a whole, and poor rural people in particular. Widespread human rights violations have accompanied much of this unrest.
• Lack of Basic Services: Many rural poor people have very limited or no access to such basis services as health care, water and sanitation infrastructure, electrical power, adequate housing structures, and technologies to help them increase their agricultural output. The technology, marketing, financial and other support services are often unattainable. Only about 10% of the rural population, and 5% of rural poor people, have access to savings and credit.
• Subsistence Farming: The majority of the rural poor are risk-averse and use farming approaches geared to satisfying the needs of their immediate family. Due to their isolation, they lack a business culture and are not exposed to other approaches that could enable them to produce more on the land they cultivate. Traditional methods of agriculture usually do not enable them to overcome poverty.
• Crop, Livestock and Pest Diseases: The incidence of crop, livestock and pest diseases are quite high, which often means reduced productivity. Without the introduction of modern, hardier animal and plant seed stocks and suitable technologies to minimize disease, farmers are extremely vulnerable.
• Lack of Education: Due to the effects of civil upheaval and poverty, illiteracy continues to affect Ugandans. Displaced or poor families cannot afford to send their children to school. Orphans with no means of support cannot afford school fees. With no technical/vocational schools, people lack the skills to obtain gainful employment and improve community conditions. Many youth are forced to leave their villages to seek employment in urban areas. Lack of centralized communication and planning further augments the isolation of rural populations.