About the Project
The project consisted of establishing a grinding mill, including purchase of equipment and constructing a space to house the mill.
Location
Okunguro Cell, Okunguro Parents Ward, Bukedea District, Uganda
Quick Project Stats
| Funding Date | March 2025 |
| Luena Investment | $1,500 |
| CBO Partner | Action for Development of Grassroots Communities (ADEGCO) |
| Village | Okunguro Cell |
| Country | Uganda |
| # of Children Impacted | 50 |
| Community Contribution | Community (In-kind): Plot of land for constructing of the mill house; water and food used during the construction of the mill house; installation of the mill ADEGCO ($229): Project launch and banner for visibility |
Community Needs Simple and Safe Access to Mills
In Okunguro Parents Ward, 99% of households grow cassava, 95% grow millet, 90% grow sorghum, and 85% grow sweet potatoes every year. The main staple food eaten daily by almost every family is “Atap”, which is made of a mixture of cassava, millet, sorghum, and sweet potato flour. This shows a high need for flour that is made from grinding the above dry foods.
Okunguro Parents Ward is made up of three villages (Okunguro, Sagam & Ogaala) and is one of the largest and densely populated places in the region that does not have any milling machine for grinding dry cassava, millet, sorghum and sweet potatoes. The nearest grinding mills are 15 km away in Bukedea Town, and these mills are sometimes overwhelmed with long queues to use them. The girls and women who are sent regularly to Bukedea to use these mills sometimes have to trek the 30 km round-trip on foot, and it may take them two to four hours to complete this task due to the distance and waiting in queues at the mills. In 2024, 3 cases of rape and sexual harassment were reported among girls on their way back home from the grinding mill in Bukedea.
In addition, 55% of families are often not able to buy scholastic materials (books, pens, pencils, erasers) for their children, and as a result, these children often do not attend school.
Local Grinding Mill Serves Community in Multiple Ways
The donation from Luena Foundation was used to constructing a house for the mill that is roofed with iron sheets and has a metal door and wooden window as well as to buy a complete Diesel Engine (20HP) O&G, with all needed accessories, and to transport it to the site. This donation was used as a seed fund to establish a mill, which now makes its own money to cover operational costs and to fund the purchase of scholastic materials for students in need.
This project was designed by the community and is achieving the following outcomes: meets the growing demand for milling services; ensures accessible and reliable grinding services for the community; value addition of dry cassava, sweet potatoes, millet and sorghum; time and money saved; reduced cases of rape and sexual harassment among girls and women; employment opportunity for the mill operator and mill mechanic; nutrition levels improved; and scholastic materials (books, pens, pencils, erasers) for needy school-going children, which reduces school dropout rates and improves academic performance.
Meet our Partner Community-Based Organization
Action for Development of Grassroots Communities (ADEGCO) is grassroots self-help, non-profit, community based organization. It was formed out of deep aspiration by a group of young, committed, active citizens to respond to the plights of the most vulnerable groups of people, especially women (disabled, widows and HIV/AIDs victims) and youth affected by unemployment, diseases, extreme poverty, gender and economic inequalities, climate change, lack of skills for self-reliance, and low income levels. We do this by co-creating, designing, and implementing innovative projects geared towards solving these pressing challenges and achieving personal and community development.
To learn more about our partner organization, click here.
