Access to Rural Non-Farm Livelihoods - Natural Resources Institute

Lack of access to adequate transport is also a gender issue. Transport from Lwentulege south
along the Kyotera road is relatively good, but expensive when compared to the incomes of
the poorest, many of whom are women. Transport between Lwentulege and Kitambuza is by
foot or bicycle, with loads carried on the head or wheeled on bicycles. However, very few
women in the area know how to ride a bicycle 131 , let alone own one, in part due to cultural
norms, in part because the area is very hilly and riding a heavy ungeared bicycle is very
strenuous and difficult for most women to manage 132 . Thus women in particular are
constrained to moving their produce and products on their heads, often while also carrying a
baby, or to paying for transport.
5.5.5 Institutional weakness
There are relatively few local institutions with much impact on day to day life, and those that
exist are weak or do not function as they should. Inadequate security in more remote rural
areas is a constraint to continuing with businesses such as retail shops beyond a certain size,
which are forced to relocate to busier trading centres, ideally with Police Posts. Prevention of
theft is of paramount importance as confidence in the police’s ability to apprehend suspects
and the judicial system’s ability to subsequently convict the guilty is minimal.
LWF is one of few NGOs operating in the village, but some doubt has been expressed
regarding its ability to reach those most in need 133 . There are no MFIs based in the village,
but UGAFODE has given out some small loans in the past. However, their
extension/information service seems to have been inadequate, deterring potential clients, and
the selection process of recipients appears to require further refinement 134 .
Box 21. Jane Reeba, would-be second-hand clothes seller
Jane is 35 years old, and a widow. She cares for her own three children, as well as a nephew, the son
of her late brother, selling small quantities of beans and matooke to generate a little income. She also helps
her elderly mother-in-law, who lives in Kyaluyimuka. She would like to have a business as farming on her
own is very tiring, and feels that selling second-hand clothes is something that she could manage, although
caring for the children is a concern: “If the children are ill, I can not work. Perhaps if they were ill at home I
could… But not if they had to be admitted…”. She would buy the stock in Nyendo 135 , travelling there by taxi
– she used to go to Masaka often to visit relatives, as well as to take sick people to the hospital there, so
knows the place well. She thinks that second-hand clothes are more profitable than new clothes, but would be
prepared to adapt according to her customers’ demands. She would invest the profits in repairing and
improving their home, and in rearing animals for sale, and would be able to dress the family better. However,
she lacks capital, and fears that all of this is “just a dream” as she has no way of getting money.
Unfortunately though, without a business, there is no way she will be able to afford to send the children to
secondary school. She has a friend who got a loan and invested it in a new clothes business, which is going
well. However there is a lot of misinformation about credit, and Jane is confused – for example, she heard
from one person that if one works hard, one gets to keep the loan money, while someone else told her that if
she took out a loan, the MFI would then own the business, and/or that they would come to take away her land
no matter what. She is also concerned that should she get a loan members of her late husband’s family would
come to “disturb” her.
131 Including female extension officers, who reach nearby target communities on foot, and more distant ones
only when they can get a lift with their boss on his motorcycle.
132 In contrast to Kumi District, which is very flat, where many women ride bicycles.
133 “The LCs came and made a list of all the orphans for the NGO, but then I never received any help. The
Extension Worker picks the names of those who will be helped, but those names are only of her family
and relatives…”
Mrs Jane Reeba, a widow, who cares for her own three orphans as well as a nephew, the son of her late brother.
13/10/2000. See Box 21.
134 See Box 19.
135 A “suburb” of Masaka, and vibrant trading centre.
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