Hope Development Initiative (HDI)

About us

The Hope Development Initiative (HDI) is a women farmers´ organization based in northern Uganda seeking to economically empower women affected by war.
In 2012, Dr. Agnes Atim Apea who had a vision of transforming her community established HDI in response to the post-conflict recovery in Northern Uganda. Identifying that food play a role in conflict, she believed that developing small-scale agriculture is the key to reducing rural poverty. In 2012, HDI started work with women smallholder farmers in the remote north of Uganda Empowered communities. First we focused on assisting extremely poor widows and their children. We helped them by providing seeds on credit after harvest they return the produce to HDI and given to another family.

Our Vision
Grow Communities: Transformed and prosperous communities

Our Mission
Help The Communities: To see farmers improve their harvests, pull them out and poverty, start producing surplus food for their neighbors. When farmers prosper, they eradicate poverty and hunger in their communities

What we do
• We are putting world-class expertise into farmers´ hands, making them productive, climate-smart and competitive.
• We provide the tools and expertise to enable smallholders in Northern Uganda to increase their harvests. We train them to be more commercial, adding value to surpluses by milling, drying, or turning their produce into products that fetch a higher price. With better food for their families and reliable incomes from their businesses, farmers can build for the future.

Activities:
• Distribution of seed and fertilizer: To be sure of a good quantity of yields, we encourage our farmers to apply fertilizers. Since they are smallholders who may not afford these costs, we provide the fertilizers free of charge. Plus the planting materials. At the end of the harvest, we can have more planting materials for redistribution to other farmers who join us.
• Agricultural techniques training: Modern methods of farming are another assurance of a better quality and quantity of yields. Through our partners, the farmers are equipped with first hand knowledge in modern agriculture. They are also able to transfer this knowledge to other fellow farmers.
• Financing for farm inputs: We consider our farmer´s financial situations. When we finance for the farm inputs, we increase food production and hence the wealth of the farmers.
• Agro-processing factory: We understand a farmer needs to get the best out of their hardwork. To maximize sales from what they produce, we further process the yields into market-ready products.
• Market facilitation: Here we take a broad systemic approach to analyze what key constraints face smallholder farmers. This allows us to upgrade the whole chain and linkages and makes it possible not only for farmers but all players to benefit.

Dr. Agnes Atim Apea is the Founder and Director of the Hope Development Initiative (HDI).

For other net participants we can offer an expert guidance through trained staff, give an expert opinion, procure expert information and establish new contacts in the field of our work.