In March 2021, Save the Children Uganda, with support from Save the Children Korea (SCK), initiated the “Nutrition and Livelihoods (Karamoja GOATS) project” in Moroto District. This project aimed to address the pressing issues of hunger and severe malnutrition in agropastoral households, specifically in the sub-counties of Rupa and Tapac.

The project’s focus is on empowering women in vulnerable communities by providing them with goats. The project has achieved significant progress, distributing 2,124 female gala goats to 1,062 women. This effort was designed to increase asset ownership at the household level and enhance children’s access to milk, ultimately combating malnutrition in these communities.

 One of the project’s successful beneficiaries, Loduk Regina, a 35-year-old mother of six. Regina received two gala goats, which have since kidded thrice, resulting in seven kids. She has passed on two kids to another beneficiary in her care group. Regina and her husband take excellent care of their goats, ensuring they are healthy and well-fed. The goats have significantly contributed to Regina’s family’s nutrition, providing two liters of milk daily, which is used to feed her children and make ghee and sour milk to supplement their meals.

Regina also sells some of the milk to buy additional food items. She was able to harvest about 10 cans (approximately 35kg) of sorghum despite the harsh hot weather conditions that saw people’s gardens dry up. “I run a family retail business with my husband, where we sell foodstuffs like sorghum, beans, and salt among others. I also sell homemade doughnuts (mandazi) to school children during the school term, firewood, and local brew,” she says.