The community of Anaka in Northern Uganda is just one of the places where “food security”–or the ability to have access to sufficient, safe, nutritious food to maintain a healthy and active life—is being improved thanks to World Renew programs. For Silvia, a 44-year-old mother of seven, these programs have been a pathway to a more hopeful future.

Like a number of people in her community, Silvia has lived a difficult life, including time spent in a camp for displaced persons. Before she became a participant in World Renew’s agriculture programs, she and her family were surviving on one meal a day. She was selling vegetables at a very small scale, and doing some small farming around their home, but this  produced very little for her family to live on. Three of her children dropped out of school due to Silvia’s inability to pay their fees. Without the necessary training in farming and business, Silvia had little hope for being able to improve her income on her own.

In 2011, Silvia was among those selected to participate in an Acholi Agricultural Livelihood and Rehabilitation Project (AALRP) with one of World Renew’s Ugandan partners. Through this project, she received seeds and tools and was trained on improved farming techniques and income generation activities. She was also able to participate in a field trip to observe and learn from other farmers and then apply what she had learned to her own farm.

Silvia has been able to send her children back to school again—and was even able to buy them the school books and materials they needed for their studies

As Silvia began to use these new skills and tools, life greatly improved for her and her family. From the groundnuts that she received and planted in ¾ of an acre, she managed to harvest seven bags of unshelled groundnuts. She then sold five of these bags at a market, and earned enough to buy a piglet. When that piglet is grown, she’ll be able to sell it for an additional profit. With her new stable income, Silvia has been able to send her children back to school again—and was even able to buy them the school books and materials they needed for their studies!

In addition to participating in this agriculture program, Silvia also became a member of a local Village Savings and Loan (VSL) group. VSL programs help people improve their incomes by using the resources, initiative, accountability and social support that are already present in their communities. Instead of waiting for money from outside organizations or banks, members save a little bit of their own earnings every week. They deposit these savings into a group fund and then provide each other with small loans. These loans can be a true blessing when a family needs cash to pay for unexpected medical bills. They are also useful for investing in a small business venture to increase the family income. Because the loans are repaid at a modest interest rate back to the group, all group members receive a return on their investment.

Before Silvia received agricultural training through World Renew, she did not earn enough income to participate in a VSL group. She didn’t have anything left over to contribute each week. That has all changed. Today, she is a thriving member of a local VSL group and uses her loans to improve her farm.

Now Silvia has a stable and diversified source of income—and she and her family can afford to eat not one, but two meals a day. And that meal makes all the difference!

For more information, about World Renew's work in community development, click here.