DRIVE Project team - PALM Corps

Two New Projects, One Vision: Education and Sustainable Farming

Over the past decade, PALM Corps has consistently put its vision into practice by placing communities at the heart of every initiative to achieve sustainable development. By collaborating closely with communities and stakeholders in the design process, we’ve ensured that these communities fully embrace and own the projects, creating a solid foundation for their success in each location.

Figure 1: PALM Corps’ Areas of Operation in Uganda

Mid-way this August, we’re happy to announce the launch of two vital projects that aim to uplift vulnerable communities and ensure a brighter future for everyone involved. The Stromme Foundation project focuses on providing marginalized children and out-of-school adolescents with quality education and lifelong learning opportunities. Meanwhile, the Developing Sustainable, Resilient, and Inclusive Local Food Systems in the West Nile Region of Uganda (DRIVE) project, in partnership with ZOA seeks to bring together technically experienced approaches and partners to address the key challenges of smallholder farmers in the West Nile region of Uganda improving their productivity, production, resilience, and participation in markets, particularly women and youth, through climate-smart practices and sustainable land and water management.

Both projects are aligned with our vision of “a world where the poorest and most vulnerable communities live dignified, healthy, peaceful, and productive lives while caring for the environment.” The launch events were an opportunity to share these initiatives with our team and stakeholders, ensuring that our approach remains focused on the needs of the communities we serve.

Project 1: Stromme Foundation’s New Framework (2024-2030)

Building on the success of our previous efforts, this new phase of the Stromme Foundation project is set to make an even greater impact. From 2021 to 2023, we achieved:

Figure 2: A quick over view of the previous framework

Now, with a renewed focus, the project is divided into two main goals:

  • Quality Education & Lifelong Learning: Ensuring that marginalized children and out-of-school adolescents have access to education that can change their lives.
  • Improved Livelihoods & Resilience: Contribute to the idea that poor and vulnerable communities have improved livelihoods and resilience through enhanced income generation.

Figure 3: Stromme Foundation Program Advisor – Akao Jolly  giving an opening remark during the inception meeting in Obongi district headquarters

The project will support 4 nursery schools and 4 primary schools across 3 sub-counties in Obongi District, targeting both host and refugee communities. At the launch event, local leaders emphasized the need for community collaboration to ensure the project’s success. We also provided district officials with updated project files to help monitor the quality of our efforts.

Figure 4: MEAL Manager PALM Corps – Matenga Ivan  handing over project document files to the RDC – Obongi District

Project 2: DRIVE Project

The DRIVE project brings together technically experienced approaches and partners to address the key challenges of smallholder farmers in the West Nile region of Uganda improving their productivity, production, resilience, and participation in markets. This project will directly benefit 12,690 smallholder farmers—with a focus on women and youth, including 50% South Sudanese refugees.

Figure 5: PALM Corps and ZOA team during the DRIVE project Launch and planning workshop

To build a stronger food supply chain, we’re also targeting:

  • 10 processors
  • 15 aggregators
  • 150 marketing groups
  • 111 communities will benefit from the Participatory Integrated Plan (PIP) approach, which we introduced to our team during the project launch. This hands-on approach ensures that the voices of the farmers and community members are central to the project, helping us tailor our efforts to their needs.

Over the course of a 5-day event, our teams worked together to unpack the project activities, introduce the PIP Approach, align policies, and finalize our plans, setting us up for a successful rollout. We’re confident that the DRIVE project will lead to significant improvements in productivity, market access, and resilience for the smallholder farmers in West Nile.

Conclusion:

The launch of these two projects is more than just an announcement—it’s a commitment to creating lasting, positive change in the communities we serve. By working hand in hand with local leaders, stakeholders, and the people at the heart of these projects, we’re laying the groundwork for a brighter future. We’re excited to see the impact of these initiatives and will continue to share updates as we move forward.

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