From 8kg food rations to 1,000kg harvests: A refugee’s journey to self-reliance
In Uganda’s Bidibidi refugee settlement, people struggle to survive on the dwindling food rations they receive. Defying the odds of a harsh climate, refugees are growing their own food to break dependency on humanitarian assistance.
By Didas Kisembo
When Emmanuel arrived in Uganda’s Bidibidi refugee settlement from South Sudan eight years ago, he had little more than the hope of safety. “My life back in South Sudan was very difficult. There were killings, and it wasn’t easy at all,” he recalls, voice steady despite the painful memories.
However, life in Bidibidi marked yet another chapter of hardship. Even in the relative safety of Uganda’s largest refugee settlement, limited food assistance and a lack of income made feeding his family a daily struggle. “The food rations I was receiving were too little to sustain my family — only about eight kilograms, which was very small,” he explains.
Emmanuel’s experience reflects a broader crisis affecting nearly 200,000 refugees in Bidibidi, where traditional humanitarian aid is no longer enough to meet long-term needs. Uganda, home to 1.9 million refugees, with 52 percent from South Sudan, is grappling with a worsening hunger crisis. Due to funding shortfalls in 2025, the World Food Programme (WFP) has been forced to reduce food assistance from 1.6 million refugees in Uganda to just 663,000, with many now receiving only 22% of their food rations — the lowest level in East Africa.
In 2024, WFP continued to scale its groundbreaking Self-Reliance Model (SRM) across five refugee settlements in Uganda, including Bidibidi, to shift refugee livelihoods from aid dependency to self-sufficiency. This initiative targeted 51,000 people with market-oriented livelihood skills and agricultural training.
Working alongside WFP, World Vision Uganda supported community members through an enterprise selection process that allowed them to choose livelihood paths tailored to their needs. Households pursued diverse options, including cassava farming, small businesses, and vocational skills training.
Emmanuel was organised into a group of 30 farmers; each allocated one of the 187 acres leased from the host community through support from the project. The group was then trained in good cassava agronomic practices, including line planting, proper crop spacing, mulching techniques for water management, and crucial post-harvest handling skills.
The choice of cassava wasn’t accidental. In Bidibidi’s challenging climate, drought is common, and soils are rocky, gravelly, and widely deemed unfit for farming. Cassava was purposefully chosen for its ability to withstand environmental uncertainties. Land preparation required extra effort and tools, such as forked hoes. This transformation was only possible through social and behavioural change, which shifted mindsets and enabled effective use of the available land.
“The type of cassava we’re planting is very resistant to drought,” Emmanuel reflects.
For Emmanuel, this represented a complete change in farming methods. “In South Sudan, I was also a farmer, but the way we planted cassava there was different from how we do it here. There, we used to plant it like sweet potatoes, but here we measure distances properly.”
From the sessions, Emmanuel mastered cassava post-harvest management, encompassing cutting stems, proper planting techniques, processing, and preservation. “After harvesting, you first remove the cover, then put the cassava through a machine that chops it into pieces. Then you spread it on a mat to dry. After drying, you collect it in bags and store it in a dry place so that it won’t be disturbed by termites and other pests.”
The results are remarkable. Emmanuel now harvests approximately 16 bags per acre, equivalent to about 1,120 kilograms of cassava, a significant improvement to his family’s livelihood. “It has changed my life. I’ve become self-reliant. I can sell part of the food and pay school fees. Some I can eat at home to meet our needs.”
Emmanuel’s success has rippled through the community. “Community members can come to me for cassava stems to plant in their gardens. When I harvest large quantities, I can take them to market and sell them, so the community also benefits,” he explains.
To ensure the sustainability of the Self-Reliance Model impact for farmers like Emmanuel, who depend on land as a critical yet limited resource, the Ugandan government negotiates land leases with host communities on behalf of refugees. WFP supports this initiative, and some refugees have progressed to independently leasing land using income from previous harvests, ensuring the model’s continued viability.
In learning to grow cassava that thrives despite challenging conditions, Emmanuel has cultivated something even more valuable: hope, rooted in self-determination.
In 2024, WFP’s Self-Reliance Model reached over 57,000 refugees across Uganda, with 60 percent of participants being women. The model integrates cash-based transfers to meet immediate needs while enabling refugees to invest in livelihoods that foster long-term self-sufficiency. The initiative also built the digital and financial literacy skills of 85,000 refugees transitioning from in-kind assistance.
Watch Emmanuel’s story here: WFP Uganda pioneers refugee self-reliance through farming
WFP Uganda’s self-reliance initiatives are supported by the Governments of Austria, Germany, Ireland, Norway, the United Kingdom and the European Union, whose contributions continue to empower refugees to transition from food assistance towards food security and self-reliance.
