Women Economic Empowerment Bugiri
Women Economic Empowerment, WEEB is a transformative and high impact, women in fisheries enterprise established to alleviate poverty, offer women paid labor organization located in Bugiri district.
The United Nations (UN) has handed over a Shs2.8b commercial cage fish farm to 1,400 women in Wakawaka Village, Bulidha Sub-county, Bugiri District.
The project was started in 2019 with funding from Standard Bank Group of Companies (South Africa), Swedish government, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), and Msingi East Africa.
Its implementation was based on research by the UN Women agency on gender gaps in agriculture production which found Bugiri District wanting.
During the handover on Tuesday, Dr Gladys Bwanika, the chief executive officer of Pearl Aquatics, the executing agency, said her initial study showed that 80 percent of the women, who were selected for the programme, were earning less than Shs50,000 per month, while 85 percent had never done any form of fishing.
“Our task was to empower women to make use of the abundant water in the district for their economic empowerment,” Dr Bwanika said, adding that she has managed to establish the farm which is fully operational.
“In the first year, the farm produced 114 tonnes of fish and is projected to produce 225 tonnes and 450 tonnes in the second and third year respectively,” she said.
