Sack Gardens

Shortly after beginning Project Have Hope in 2005, Karen Sparacio visited the Uganda Rural Development and Training Programme in Kampala to learn about sustainable agriculture techniques appropriate for Uganda’s Acholi Quarter.

In touring the grounds with the Uganda Rural Development Team (URDT), CEO Mwalimu Musheshe introduced Karen to the concept of sack gardening (so named for the method of planting vegetables in jute bags). Both Musheshe and Sparacio agreed that planting and managing sack gardens would be a potentially lucrative business for the women of the Acholi Quarter.

In January 2008, PHH partnered with the Uganda Rural Development Team to train 20 PHH members in this sack gardening technique.

With capital provided by PHH, the women are able to buy seeds in Kampala. Since then, 15 women have completed their training and each manage four gardens.

In the sack gardens, they typically grow spinach, onion, sukumawiki (a kind of green similar to cabbage), and occasionally carrots, nakati (a cross between a tomato and an eggplant), dodo (also known as amaranth), and okra.

When the gardens are fully planted, each woman earns an income equivalent to US$18 per week. Currently, the women sell the produce within the Acholi Quarter only, but plan to sell in surrounding markets once they have sufficient vegetables.