Social entrepreneurship in Uganda: exploring a different approach in development

How to contribute to economic development in fragile regions in Africa? That was the main question Hans and Jeannette Joosse - impact investors and directors of the MWH Foundation - asked themselves before they started investing in agriculture and farmer entrepreneurship in Pader District in Northern Uganda in 2007. After two decades of havoc and terror (1986–2006), caused by the violent conflict between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Ugandan army, the north of Uganda was one of Africa’s most deprived and fragile areas in terms of infrastructure, social fabric, and livelihood opportunities for its inhabitants. MWH’s proposition is that the promotion of economic development should be part of rehabilitation efforts in fragile, post-conflict regions from the outset. This booklet tells the story of MWH’s approach to rehabilitation and economy recovery and how this has been explored and applied to promote agriculture and agricultural entrepreneurship among local farmers in Pader district. It makes MWH’s approach and experiences in Northern Uganda visible to practitioners and policymakers who are interested and involved in promoting rehabilitation and economic development in fragile areas. Secondly, it is designed to initiate exchange and discussion on how and to what extent an entrepreneurial approach can contribute to making farming not only possible in Northern Uganda but also profitable, and what role private actors can play in this process.