Katosi Women Development Trust UK

 

In the 1990's, the women of Katosi were traditionally employed in fish processing, smoking and drying but lost their livelihoods and their families' staple food when:

• the polution of Lake Victoria in the early 1990s led to the poisoning of the fish stock

• world scaricity of fish drove global prices up with no benefit to the rural fishing communities, their staple food disappeared.

• local competition for any jobs increased and the women lost all chance of work.    

 

The men moved on to find work elsewhere and often took another wife. The women of Katosi with limited mobility, illiteracy, and families to support were pushed deeper into poverty.  

 

To add to their challenges, the occurence of HIV/AIDS in the fishing communities of Uganda stands at 28% compared with the national figure of 6.8%.  This is due in the main to the mobility of the fishermen of Lake Victoria but it is the women and children who in most cases have to cope alone.   

 

Recent reports show that Uganda has achieved its Millenium Development Goal (MDG) "to halve the proportion of people whose income is less thant 1$ per day".  But rural women, who make up  88% of the Ugandan rural population own less than 7% of the land are still experiencing abject poverty.  

 

Sadly this mean that women are not respected, not equal and not heard. 

 

Katosi Women Development Trust have been working with Ugandan rural women since 1996.  They have successfully empowered many women to lift themselves and their families out of poverty, gaining respect and economic independence.

 

Their dreams are the same as ours, their potential as great as ours and with a "starter for 10" they prove over and over again that can develop sustainable productive livelihoods and through that gain respect which leads to more equality and women's empowerment

 

Many more women and families could benefit but we need the funding to cut the waiting time.

 

Read Lydia's story