Why Northern Uganda?
Network for Africa works with local partners in Patongo, Agago District, in the north east of Uganda, home to the Acholi people and an area devastated by conflict for over two decades.
Patongo hosted tens of thousands of refugees and was regularly raided by the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) during a war that lasted for 22 bloody years.
Thousands were killed, millions were displaced, and the LRA abducted more than 50,000 children, forcing them to be soldiers, porters and sex slaves. Almost everyone was forced to abandon their farms to live in dismal and squalid refugee camps, where they have been for more than 20 years. The war stopped only recently and while many international NGOs have been and continue to be active in Gulu to the west, Patongo was largely neglected, as it was deemed to be too dangerous.
Slow Food is a global, grassroots-led organisation, with supporters in 150 countries, who are committed to enjoying the pleasure of good food while respecting their community and the environment. Slow Food was founded in 1989 to challenge the rise of fast food and fast life.
During war and genocide, women and girls often suffer disproportionately. But the women and girls of Patongo are resourceful and resilient, and work together to improve their prospects. They know that income-generating activities are a route out of poverty and will increase their status and opportunities.
In Patongo, almost one in three people under the age of 35 regularly feels suicidal. Network for Africa’s counselling courses equip and encourage people to talk about what has happened within their community, and reduces their sense of isolation and hopelessness.
Network for Africa works with local partners in Patongo, in the north east of Uganda, an area that was devastated by conflict for over two decades. Patongo hosted tens of thousands of refugees and was regularly raided by the brutal Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) during a war that lasted for 22 bloody years. The war reached into every hut and every family, with devastating results.
Once known as the ‘bread basket of Africa’, Uganda has abundant natural resources, fertile arable land and plenty of rain and sun. But during the war people fled their farms and spent years in squalid refugee camps, and farming died out. We are developing three agricultural projects in Patongo to rekindle these vital lost farming traditions.
Network for Africa’s groundbreaking counselling outreach programme alleviates the effects of post-traumatic stress disorder and its associated social and economic problems. 
Network for Africa works with local partners in Patongo, in the north east of Uganda, home to the Acholi people and an area devastated by conflict for over two decades. 
