We are a Social Enterprise
Jobs for Women
Women have little to no job opportunities in our harvest areas in Northern Uganda. Many sell mangos (the mango season is only three months per year), practice subsistence farming or make papyrus mats enabling them to live on a meager income. By working for the Desert Date Co., they are able to earn significantly higher incomes. They use this additional income to pay for school fees, put new roofs on their houses, improve nutrition and visit health facilities that they were previously unable to afford.
Protecting the Trees
The Desert Date tree is being devastated by micro-charcoal businesses and the influx of refugees from South Sudan in Northern Uganda. This tree is also frequently cut down for building houses due to its termite resistance. In the areas where we are not harvesting, we can visibly see a reduction in the tree population.
Where we harvest our products, the women currently protect the trees as it now a vital source for their income, but deforestation is a growing threat.
Uganda loses about 100,000 Hectares of forest cover every year which is devastating to local agriculture. At the current rate of deforestation, it is predicted that Uganda will have NO FOREST by 2050.