Later, I spent time meeting some of the farmers and was keen to get my hands dirty. I imagined that my agricultural background, albeit from many years ago, combined with my enthusiastic attempts to grow tomatoes in my north London garden, might stand me in good stead. I was sorely mistaken.
Eric Majik[Missing Credit]
My attempts to weed a crop of green peppers were miserable. Before long, one of the women farmers kindly encouraged me to cease and desist. After only an hour, the Ugandan sun had sapped my energy. It was a humbling reminder of the daily challenges farmers face: exhausting work, increasingly unpredictable weather and the risk that disease, drought or a sudden storm could undo days of labour.
Yet what struck me most was not hardship, but pride and determination.
Since 2017, our TransFARMation programme has helped members of the Abayudaya community develop the skills and knowledge to build successful agricultural businesses. Expert agronomists teach participants how to select crops that are in demand, improve yields, protect plants from disease and source seeds resilient to climate change. Farmers also learn financial planning, so they can turn a harvest into a reliable livelihood.
The results are remarkable. We have supported 544 families to make a fresh start. Ninety-five per cent of participants complete the programme and go on to earn, on average, 15 times more than they could through manual labour. More than 92 per cent have achieved their ambitious income targets.
Behind every figure is a family. Nuusu David, a 27-year-old husband and father, once relied on irregular construction work that did not pay enough to feed his children. When his youngest son contracted malaria, he could not afford the necessary medicine.
After joining World Jewish Relief’s TransFARMation programme, Nuusu learnt how to grow and sell the right crops and manage his farm as a business. He now earns 15 times more than he did as a labourer. His children attend school, his family has built a home and he can pay for his son’s medication.
donpablomedia[Missing Credit]
“We now have a future,” he told us. “My children go to school, we are never hungry and I can pay for the medicine for my son.”
As we experience the High Holy Days, we reflect on the year behind us and the kind of future we want to help create. Jewish tradition teaches that the highest form of tzedakah is to enable someone to support themselves – through a job, a livelihood or a business. That principle is visible in every field I visited.
But hundreds more Jewish families are still waiting for the opportunity to join the programme. This Yom Tov, World Jewish Relief is asking the British Jewish community to help give Uganda’s Jews a fresh start. Your donation can provide training, seeds, tools and expert support, enabling another family to leave poverty behind with dignity.
At Kol Nidre, we stand together as a community and consider our obligations to others. Our connection to the Abayudaya reminds us that our Jewish family extends far beyond the places we know. By supporting them, we can turn solidarity into lasting security, hope and independence.
Please join us and help transform the future of Uganda’s Jewish community: worldjewishrelief.org/roshhashanah
Paul Anticoni OBE is chief executive of World Jewish Relief
worldjewishrelief.org
Registered charity 290767
