Empower
Women
Our Approach
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Building a Commercial Mushroom Production Agriculture Center of Excellence
Our mission is to bridge the gender gap by empowering women with new trade skills. We are establishing a state-of-the-art Commercial Mushroom Production Agriculture Center of Excellence. This center will serve as a training hub, providing women with the knowledge and expertise they need to excel in mushroom cultivation. From the fundamentals to advanced techniques, we aim to equip women with the tools for economic independence and growth.
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Sustainable Impact through Community Reinvestment
As a Uganda nonprofit, The Boon Project ensures that all revenue generated from the Agriculture Center of Excellence, beyond operating costs, is reinvested back into the community. Our goal is to create a cycle of empowerment by providing micro loans to support other village women's savings groups in starting their own mushroom houses. Through this approach, we foster self-sustainability and amplify the positive impact across generations.
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Empowering Women, Ensuring Sustainability
Risk management and sustainability are at the core of our endeavor. We are committed to mitigating potential challenges through careful planning and strategic partnerships. By fostering safe trading relationships with likeminded buyers, both locally and internationally, we secure a market for our mushrooms when harvested. This not only ensures financial stability but also sustains the growth of the Women's Empowerment Program.
Closing the gender gap in agriculture would generate significant gains for the agriculture sector and society. If women had the same access to productive resources as men, they could increase yields on their farms by 20-30 percent. This could raise total agricultural output in developing countries by 2.5 – 4 percent, which could, in turn, reduce the number of hungry people worldwide by 12 – 17 percent.
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There is also a gap in women’s ability to own land, business, and/or be leaders within their communities. This is a common issue globally, and while some gender equity improvement needs are becoming recognized, evolvement is still lacking and/or very slow, and this is due to:
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Lack of access to education for women to learn how to make business and household decisions
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Lack of available time for women to learn as they not only manage the household, they also tend the crops and care for the children
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Culture does not allow women to have leadership or decision-making roles
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Lack of access to credit
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Lack of sense of self. There is no one empowering them.
With this, women are more susceptible and vulnerable to domestic abuse/violence, and if their husbands divorce them, they are forced to leave their homes, therefore homeless and left to other extreme circumstances like prostitution, continuing the cycle of poverty. Therefore, business ownership is critical to improving the quality of life and the sense of self and confidence in women in Bugiri.
Here are just a few of the many ways we will work to empower women in our communities:
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Bringing women into leadership roles immediately upon project initiation to be a part of strategic planning
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Forming women-only saving groups will contribute to a business goal they will own
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Creating 100% women-owned agricultural cooperatives (mushroom, coffee, hemp, cacao, and more)
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Providing technical training, advanced agriculture training, and certifications
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Providing access to micro-loans to start their own business in agriculture
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Teaching the women about developing a sustainability plan to ensure continuous income
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Educating her on how to save for her future and the future of her family
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Women's Empowerment Program - Mushroom COE
You have helped us launch our women's empowerment program, "Making Shroom For Her" mushroom cultivation program. Women do not have their own income or have been allowed to own their own businesses. Thanks to you, they will now!!!
The COE is a training center fully dedicated to women to learn about mushroom production, connect with other women, obtain a micro-loan for a new business in mushroom production, connect with new trade relationships, and so much more!
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The mushroom COE will generate revenue through the sale of mushrooms, generating its own profits to be re-invested back into the local community investing in more women's empowerment projects. A new approach to self-sustainability and poverty alleviation.
