Coalition of the willing brings together different groups who have the keys to improve the local food systems in Fort Portal, Uganda.
Kabarole Research and Resource Center (KRC-Uganda) implements the Food Systems Lab (FSL) in Fort Portal City and Kabarole district funded by HIVOS under the HealthyFoodAfrica project. This project contributes to a conducive environment for sustainable food systems in Fort Portal City and Kabarole while applying a holistic approach. KRC-Uganda works closely with various stakeholders in the District and City to address challenges in the Food System such as the high stunting levels, food losses and waste, consumption of one type of staple food, sell of food produced, food safety issues, increased consumption of highly processed, carbonated, sugary, fatty, and fast foods with the growing population. There is urgent need for different actors to work together to achieve an entire food system’s goal. These actors include; the government, Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), National Non-Government Organizations (NGOs), International NGOs, Farmers, Business communities, Food vendors, Food processors, International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs), Media, Artists, Marginalized groups, Research institutions, Food suppliers, Food Distributors, Catering institutions, Consumers and the Coalition of the Willing.
Committed group to mobilize communities for improved diets
The Coalition of the Willing (CoW) is a group of various stakeholders committed to consumer advocacy within the food sector. Its membership involves representatives from the farmer groups, Chefs’ Alliance, Street Food Vendors’ associations, Food processors’ associations, Marketers, Orugali groups (promoters of nutritious safe and indigenous food), Food ambassadors, Academia, Media, Artists, and Civil Society Organizations (CSOs), among others. Functioning under the support of the Fort Portal Food Systems Lab, which is primarily convened by KRC-Uganda, the CoW is entrusted with mobilizing communities for Food systems and nutrition-focused initiatives. Its core mandate revolves around promoting the consumption of indigenous, nutritious, adequate and safe foods. Collaborating closely with KRC-Uganda, the coalition spearheads efforts to coordinate various food system actors, advocating for food safety measures aimed at influencing consumer behaviors and rights.
This consumer advocacy group meets on a quarterly basis to discuss how best they can build the capacity of each other, lobby for funding to improve food systems in the City and District. In one of the meetings, they reviewed the activities and significant milestones achieved by the Coalition of the Willing in the year 2023, disseminated the workplan and strategic initiatives for the year 2024, brainstormed mechanisms of addressing any emerging food system challenges requiring advocacy efforts and supported the transition of leadership within the Coalition of the Willing, ensuring continuity and effective governance. KRC- Uganda has been a supportive and reliable partner in terms of provision of capacity building and resources. The group now needs to step up in fundraising drives with different stakeholders to facilitate sustainability.
Orugali women demonstrate how to cook healthy indigenous food
One of the associations within the Coalition of the Willing that has picked up is the Orugali Women’s group; it promotes consumption of nutrient dense local and indigenous foods within the City and the district. This group carries out Orugali sessions (Food and cooking demonstrations to promote local indigenous, diverse, nutritious and healthy food) which are rotational in nature in various sub-counties and town councils. Currently, with the growing city population and urbanization, most people are resorting to consuming fast food which are in most cases unhealthy depending on where and how they are processed. Also, the high stunting levels in Kabarole and Fort Portal City have been linked to a monotonous diet. The Orugali activities have therefore come in handy to address these issues.
This year 2024, the Chef Alliance under the Coalition of the Willing is looking forward to recruiting more members into the various associations, conduct more frequent sensitizations on food safety and nutrition, develop and upload the indigenous food menus videos on YouTube and other social media platforms, exchange visits to expose our members for learning purposes and routine saving and resources mobilizations. The Orugali women group plan to purchase own utensils to facilitate the Orugali training as opposed to hiring and to have rotational Orugali sessions every month to increase awareness of importance of consuming healthy diets.
These groups are dedicated towards contributing to sustainable food systems in Fort Portal City and Kabarole district; all they need is support in terms of resources and capacity building to ensure they achieve their set goals.
Author: Eric Oteba