The morning Irenge Gloire Mudezuka watched families line up for their reduced food rations at Nakivale Refugee Settlement, dust swirled around weathered shoes and the air carried the weight of uncertainty. Six years after fleeing the Democratic Republic of Congo, he stood in Uganda's oldest refugee settlement where over 171,000 people had sought safety. The familiar sounds of multiple languages mixed with children's voices, but underneath it all was a quieter desperation—the knowledge that these rations would barely last a week.
"We are taught to improve soil fertility by using organic inputs," a neighbor had told him earlier, gesturing toward plots where crops struggled in the depleted earth. With refugees receiving only five liters of water per day—a quarter of humanitarian standards—and food aid shrinking due to global funding shortages, Mudezuka saw not just hunger but a system failing at its foundations.
Walking back to his small plot in February 2021, past soil so compacted that many believed nothing could grow without chemical fertilizers, Mudezuka made a decision that would transform both the land and the community: he founded the Plethora Social Initiative to address what humanitarian aid couldn't—the capacity of refugees to feed themselves through regenerating the very soil beneath their feet.
Reading the Land: Adapting Regenerative Techniques for Refugee Realities
The challenges were stark: unfertile, eroded soil throughout Nakivale, limited knowledge of soil management among refugees, and insufficient access to agricultural inputs. Rather than waiting for external solutions, Mudezuka began by examining what was already available within the settlement itself.
When he encountered farmers who believed they couldn't grow crops without chemical fertilizers, Mudezuka saw an opportunity to demonstrate otherwise. His approach started with the humblest of creatures: worms. The "Regenerate Nakivale" initiative demonstrated soil enrichment using vermicompost as a natural fertilizer, producing rich castings that could restore life to depleted soil.
But Mudezuka faced a critical decision point early on: how to make these techniques work with the severe resource constraints refugees faced. When his first composting demonstrations struggled in the dry season, he adapted by combining vermicompost with strategic mulching techniques that helped control soil temperature and retain the precious little moisture available.
The science supported his approach: each 1% increase in soil organic matter helps soil hold approximately 20,000 gallons more water per acre—critical in a settlement where water access was severely limited. What made these techniques revolutionary in Nakivale wasn't just their effectiveness but their accessibility, using materials available within the settlement to create a self-sustaining system.
Knowledge Networks Take Root: Building Peer-to-Peer Learning Systems
For soil regeneration to scale beyond individual plots, Mudezuka needed a system to spread knowledge across Nakivale's diverse communities. He found it in small, structured peer learning groups that functioned much like the mycelial networks that connect and nourish plants underground.
"We are now working to address the most urgent issue in our communities: improving degraded soils to grow food," explains Sonny Bireke, a Congolese refugee who became part of the Nakivale Permaculture Refugee Network that emerged from Mudezuka's work.
The initiative organized groups of 3-4 participants for focused sessions, ensuring diverse composition to expose farmers to different perspectives and practices from their various home countries. These weren't traditional classes but collaborative problem-solving forums where farmers who had successfully implemented composting techniques became teachers, while those with traditional knowledge shared adaptation strategies that had sustained their ancestors through previous climate challenges.
This knowledge-sharing approach created a self-reinforcing system where success bred more success, with each harvest becoming a demonstration for others across the settlement's 79 villages.
Measuring Success in Soil and Lives: Quantifying Transformation
Four years after Mudezuka planted those first demonstration plots, the results are transforming both the landscape and lives across Nakivale. The initiative has empowered 150 local refugee farmers, leading to a 30-40% increase in crop yields and a 20-30% increase in income.
"The land welcomed them with open arms, providing them with food and shelter," reflects one community member, describing how families have watched their plots transform from barren ground to productive gardens.
Beyond individual farms, the project has educated over 550 refugee households and 150 Ugandan households in sustainable soil management techniques. This knowledge transfer has supported food security for over 300 refugee households, reducing dependence on the very food aid systems that had been failing.
The environmental impact is equally significant: 150 acres of degraded land restored through contour ditches and planting cover and fruit trees. Where once there was eroded, compacted soil, now there is visible evidence of reduced erosion and increased organic matter.
Redefining Refugee Resilience Through Soil Health
As climate change accelerates displacement globally, with Uganda alone hosting over 1.5 million refugees, Mudezuka's approach offers a blueprint for a different kind of response—one that centers refugee agency rather than dependency.
While Uganda's refugee policy emphasizes self-reliance through subsistence agriculture, the reality has been persistent dependency on humanitarian aid due to low resilience among refugee households. With youth unemployment in Nakivale between 64% and 70%, traditional aid models have struggled to create sustainable pathways forward.
Mudezuka's soil-centered approach challenges this paradigm by demonstrating that refugees can be leaders in their own adaptation journey. By rebuilding soil health, the initiative is simultaneously rebuilding community capacity and dignity—proving that the most effective climate solutions often grow from the ground up, rooted in the knowledge and resilience of the communities who need them most.
Things to follow up on...
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Global Regenerative Camps: The Regenerative Camps and Settlements project has piloted similar interventions in refugee and IDP camps worldwide since 2022, offering models for scaling Mudezuka's approach.
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Village Savings Networks: Over 25 Village Savings and Loan Associations have been empowered with irrigation systems through the initiative, creating financial infrastructure that supports agricultural investments.
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DRC Food Crisis: With 28 million people facing acute food insecurity in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Mudezuka's homeland context reveals why soil regeneration skills become essential survival knowledge for displaced populations.
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Soil Measurement Techniques: Accurate soil health assessment requires careful sampling methods to track organic matter improvements, with target levels varying from 2-4% for sandy soils to 5-10% for clay-rich soils.