15 Jan. 2014 Uganda
Resident group has been incorporated. This is the big step toward their self-reliance.
A group took commemorative photo with certificate of incorporation and a copy of constitution when they held a ceremony to celebrate it.
Incorporation of Resident Group
“Hunger Free Zone (HFZ) committees” are community based groups that have been responsible for creating hunger free zones where HFW has been active. In June 2012, HFZ committees were incorporated as community based organizations (CBOs) in four of such parishes.
Each HFZ committee in four parishes has been preparing for incorporation since October 2011. The committee executives believed that forming cooperatives and strengthening farm management capacity in the whole region is necessary to end hunger in their communities where most residents are farmers. However in order to register as cooperative, records of activities as company is required prior to registration in Uganda. Further, once incorporated, the committee are able to receive services such as agricultural extension, loans and grants from administration.
With HFW’s support, committees made concerted efforts to prepare the constitutions and application forms and finally achieved corporate registration. Ceremonies to celebrate incorporation were held in September 2012 with the participation of a staff from the HFW head office who was visiting Uganda. One of the chairmen of the HFZ committees expressed his determination in his speech saying, “Some community members were forced to sell their crops at the lowest price to middlemen since they couldn’t store the crops properly, and some of their crops went bad. However from now on, we will solve our problems with our own hands through receiving funding from local government and installing a storehouse etc, and work toward creating a hunger free zone.”
HFW Uganda has been active in the region for 11 years. This incorporation shall be an important turning point to realize a blueprint to create model communities free from hunger and spreads ripple effect. (Batte Fredrick, Country Director of Hunger Free World Uganda)
