St. Jude Family Projects

Scenario

In August 2024, 35 people died in Uganda following a waste landslide that swept through dozens of homes in the capital city of Kampala (Reuters, 2024). Each year, the country produces about 220,000 tons of plastic waste, equivalent to 600 tons per day (Scott, 2024). It is also estimated that more than 91 percent of Ugandan households depend on improper waste management methods, such as burning or disposal in uncontrolled areas, often next to homes (UBOS, 2024).

The use of single-use plastic is still a serious problem in much of the African continent. Poverty conditions drive many families to live by the day, buying food on a daily basis and using plastic bags for transportation each time (Innocent, 2025). Non-compliance with bans on the use of such products, combined with local production and smuggling to neighboring countries, makes it difficult to contain the phenomenon (Innocent, 2025). With a rapidly growing population-an estimated 28 percent of the world’s population will be African by 2050 (ECA, 2024)-the demand for single-use plastics is likely to increase if sustainable alternatives are not adopted.

The consequences of improper waste management lead to social, economic and environmental impacts on a global scale: emissions from landfills amount to 20-40 million tons of methane (CH₄) annually (Jensen, 2006).

To address the waste crisis in Uganda and Africa, governments need to attract private investment to turn waste into energy resources by incentivizing innovative sustainable management solutions (Mwesigwa, 2024). In parallel, subsidies to household waste collection costs would reduce illegal disposal or uncontrolled burning (Mwesigwa, 2024).

Adopting policies inspired by cyclicality, in which value is regenerated through reuse and remanufacturing, can also generate stable and local employment, as relocation of production implies the involvement of territorial services and skills (Lemille, 2019).

A virtuous example of circular economy in Africa is the Reppie power plant in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: the continent’s first “waste-to-energy” plant, generating more than 25 percent of the city’s electricity (Peters, 2025).

Description

Founded in 1997 after severe food insecurity caused by the 6-year-long Ugandan Bush War, St. Jude’s Family Projects is now an agricultural education center dedicated to training young farmers from rural and disadvantaged areas. Registered as a nongovernmental organization under the Ministry of the Interior, the project operates in partnership with FAO, providing training to farmers and agricultural cooperatives.

The founders, Josephine and John, started with only 3.5 acres of land and a few animals (pigs and chickens). Today the center has a food processing plant, where yogurt and juice are made from food waste, and a training center that houses students and trainees.

The project promotes climate resilience practices such as rainwater harvesting,efficient irrigation, and the reuse of organic waste to regenerate soil. For example, animal feces is collected in a biogas tank to produce methane for cooking, while the solid residue is used as fertilizer.

Plastic is another pillar of innovation: St. Jude’s reuses plastic water bottles as irrigation systems, improving soil thermal regulation and reducing demand for new resources.

Organic farming practices are central to the educational programs, which include specific courses on mushroom cultivation, home gardens and food processing. It currently includes 11 institutes ranging from the School of Agribusiness Engineering to the School of Water Resources and Hydraulics to the School of Cosmetology and Fashion Design.

Overall, the work of St. Jude’s aims to educate and innovate through recycling, reuse, and valorization of waste materials, generating value in the agricultural, food, and creative sectors, and contributing to the area’s circular transition.

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