June 2021, Lokokoi, Karamoja, Uganda.

Stephen Lomugemoi, 30, in his maize field. Stephen provides for his five children through farming, an increasingly difficult task in an agricultural area with increasingly inconsistent rainfall. He says his harvests are vulnerable to dry spells and severe flooding, which can both destroy crops, and he struggles with food shortages for 2-3 months of every year.



Two years ago, Stephen and his neighbors participated in a Mercy Corps training to learn about drought-resistant crops and improved agricultural techniques, then started a farmer group to maintain a plot of maize together. The practices they’ve implemented have greatly improved the productivity of the land, and Stephen was motivated to diversify his personal farming to include beans, groundnuts, sweet potatoes, and tomatoes, which has benefitted his family. He says that before, he didn’t know what tomorrow would bring, but with the knowledge he received from Mercy Corps, he feels confident that his family will be food secure in the future.