CAMKWOKI GRASS ROOT INITIATIVE FOR DEVELOPMENT LIMITED
Plot 109/113 Balpe Market, Aloi Road, Lira City
Lira District P.o Box 268, Lira, Tel: +256-782-658-458/0755524343
E-mail: camkwoki@gmail.com/camkwoki@camkwoki.org
ORGANISATIONAL PROFILE
DESCRIPTION OF THE Organization
Camkwoki Grass Root Initiative for Development Limited was first registered as an indigenous NGO as Camkwoki Grass Root Initiative for Development and later transformed into a Company Limited by Guarantee in 2011, The organization was founded by Aroma Patrick during the emergency period, when the internally displaced persons began returning to their homes following the progress of peace talks in Juba in 2007 between the Government of the Republic of Uganda and the Lords Resistance Army. The organization was legally registered with Lira District Local Government and the National NGO Board—Ministry of Internal Affairs Kampala and incorporated as a Company Limited by Guarantee by the Registrar of Companies in 2011. This was also in response to the government’s policy of helping people form themselves into groups. Camkwoki is an NGO and operates as an NGO
Vision: “AN EMPOWERED COMMUNITY STRIVING FOR SELF-SUSTAINABILITY AND LIVING ABOVE THE POVERTY LINE”
MISSION: “THE EMPOWERMENT OF THE COMMUNITY THROUGH WELL-DESIGNED PROGRAMS FOR WEALTH CREATION AND PROSPERITY.”
Core Value
- Innovation: We move quickly and continuously to innovate our approach in response to the needs of our community.
- Youth Power: We believe in the limitless potential of young people. We are deeply connected with young people, their parents, and our community. We commit to allowing their voices to guide our work and to doing whatever it takes to help them thrive.
- Transparency and Accountability:We hold ourselves accountable to the highest level of ethical behavior and responsibility for our actions, while maintaining integrity in our performance.
- Teamwork and Partnerships: We value the transformative impact of collaboration, networking, and partnership. By working together, fostering open communication, furthering understanding, and implementing joint activities,
- Resilience: We know that adversity can build us up instead of tearing us down. The strength and wisdom borne out of struggle are very empowering. We celebrate our successes amidst challenging times
- Justice and Equity: We affirm the dignity and worth of each community member while recognizing and working to combat the structural forces that have harmed some groups while benefiting others.
- Gender equality and equity: we recognize the need for our work to reflect and promote respect for gender and diversity issues. We strive for equityand work toward solutions to eliminate structural and systemic inequalities that contribute to food insecurity
- Learning and Openness: We build spaces for engagement, reflection, and developing competencies in line with our work. As part of that growth process, we must acknowledge our missteps with humility and lean into our responsibility to learn and evolve.
Main aims and objectives
- To mobilize Community to engage in Commercial Agriculture
- To train farmers in farming as a business, impart business skills and help farmers come up with viable business plans
- To provide Community with technical assistance, farm inputs, equipment, loans and grants in order to boost their productive capacity
- To cater for HIV/AIDS patients and affected families in our communities in order to prolong their life span and boost their productive capacities
- To assist the survivors of the Northern conflict to regain their livelihoods
- To mobilize and organize the entire communities of youth, particularly school dropouts and the disadvantaged group, with the help of local leaders, to train them on self help income generating activities
- To undertake programs targeting orphans, widows and other vulnerable groups and also assist in the rehabilitation and resettlement of victims of war and violence in Lango Sub-region
- To promote human rights, justice and accountability
- To promote Clean and renewable Energy projects
- To engage on advocacy issues affecting Lango subregion and Uganda
- To improve education in Lango subregion through dialogue, workshops, stakeholder engagements, collaboration, etc
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The organization recognizes Beneficiaries farmer groups as;
- Project owners
- Project holders
- Project managers
- Project Human resources
- Project land lords
- Project beneficiaries
- Project networks
Track Record
Camkwoki identified, organized, established and trained eighty (80) farmer groups in Amac, Adekokwok, Ngetta and Barr subcounties in Lira District in Quality Protein Maize Production (QPM) from 2007 to 2012. Camkwoki supplied high-quality protein maize seeds (Ssalongo) and Longe Five purchased from certified seed companies to farmer groups who planted, harvested and marketed them.
Camkwoki trained farmers in value addition of QPM and other utilizations of QPM in Poultry Production, Processing and Marketing
Camkwoki NGO organized seventy-five farmer groups to engage in orange-fleshed sweet potato variety production in the above-mentioned subcounties from 2007 to 2012. The orange-fleshed project greatly benefited the farmers through the sale of vines and tubers. The farmers have been trained in the value addition of OFSP and are already making money from donats, chapatti, cakes and other OFSP products.
Camkwoki, on top of promoting orange flesh and QPM on a large scale, also distributed rice seeds, specifically Nerica 4, Soya beans and Simsism, to over two hundred groups in 2009 under the ICCO project. 128 farmer groups received more seeds in 2010 and now, as a sustainability strategy, Camkwoki is encouraging farmers to purchase improved seeds
Camkwoki also promoted animal traction in terms of training in the use of Oxen’s and distribution of Oxen’s and Ox-ploughs to the farmer groups under both FAO Farmer Field Schools and ICCO Projects between 2009 and 2011
Camkwoki implemented local poultry production projects with FAO in 2009 and continued with the same in 2020, 2021, and 2022. 2024 Camkwoki is focused on SASSO chicken and other local poultry birds, maize, onions and garlic. The FFS chooses their enterprises independent of camkwoki NGO value chains
Camkwoki established 28 farmer field schools in our project area and multiplied cassava variety MH/2961 in these field schools on top of other study and commercial enterprises that were promoted.
Camkwoki implemented the COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 livelihood recovery projects supported by AFAAS-African Forum for Agricultural Advisory Services between 2020-2022
Camkwoki, currently in 2024, on top of agricultural livelihood, is looking forward to advocacy and human rights projects, clean and renewable energy, climate change and education
Organisational Capacity
Camkwoki facilitates the empowerment of communities for the protection and promotion of rights and the enhancement of food and income security. We have been actively implementing food and income security, HIV/AIDS activities both internally and externally, and sexual and gender-based violence. We deliberately focus on women, youth and OVCs. HIV/AIDS, food and income security, environmental conservation and gender are key issues that Camkwoki mainstreams in all its programs. Camkwoki has a board of seven members. Camkwoki recruits’ staff on a project rolling basis, and the staff works hand in hand with Camkwoki-trained community-based trainers. The program management is led by the Executive Director and the Project Coordinator/Officer, who are accountable to the Board Committee but report to the Executive Director of Camkwoki for day-to-day management issues and performance appraisals. The program coordinator’s key responsibilities are to ensure that all program activities are implemented according to plan and to prepare the financial and narrative reports.
Areas of Operations
Camkwoki operates in Lango subregion, which comprises eight districts