June 18, 2024, Kampala Uganda. Members of the Canan Women’s Group weigh the mushrooms they harvested. (Photo Nathan Ijjo Tibaku/the IRC)   

That was the amount of money the Canan Women’s Group made from their first-ever mushroom harvest. The women had harvested 3.5 kilograms of fresh mushrooms. The group, dubbed Canan by the members had planted fifty-six mushroom gardens using cotton husks

The members are mostly women displaced by war in northern Uganda in the 90s and early 2000s. Most of them sought refuge in the highly crowded Kampala suburbs like Acholi Quarters; where open farmland does not exist, and buying fresh food from the market is a daily necessity.

In 2023, the Raising Gabdho Foundation (RGF), in partnership with the International Rescue Committee’s (IRC) Re:BUiLD program, registered and trained 55 Canan Women’s Group members in urban farming. Mushroom farming was a key component of the training. Through this partnership with Re:BUiLD, RGF is improving livelihoods and building the resilience of urban refugees and vulnerable hosts through climate-smart initiatives.

“Being in an urban area, it is not easy to get land for growing crops.” Everline Adero, the president of Canan said. “We were trained to utilize the small spaces we have to grow mushrooms; we can get food and sell some,” she added.

The group rents a two-room house to grow their mushrooms. Nine members have been appointed to oversee the nurturing of the crops.

“The nine people on the committee take turns managing the gardens, three people per day, and on the day of harvest, all members of the group come together to harvest the mushrooms,” said Steward Okello, Canan’s secretary.

Mushrooms are highly nutritious foods with a short maturity period and can yield a high profit if tended to well. It took Canan 18 days to realize their first harvest, and for the next three months, the group will be harvesting every week.

“Our babies will have nutritious food. We normally say, ‘If you cannot buy liver, buy mushrooms and make your babies soup’,” Everline commented.

The group hopes to obtain a bigger space to expand their mushroom gardens.

“We are monitoring our progress; should we succeed in increasing our yield, we shall get a bigger room. We are Canan; we are on a journey to our destiny,” Steward said, in a biblical tone.