Okere City is a community where rural development, future aspirations, and cultural connections are consciously uplifted... a place to take a deliberate pause to think about a reimagined and thriving African countryside. We believe that by creating such a space. we can improve rural livelihoods and conditions and inspire a radical rural transformation beyond the borders of our village. We are more than a rural development project. We are both an experience and an experience of reimagining traditional traditional rural development in Africa. More to our work and partnership with the people people of Okere, we are also a destination for artists, researchers, activists, writers, thinkers, and dreamers who believe in the potential of the African countryside.
OKERE COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT PROJECT
(Okere City)
OVERVIEW
Okere Community Development Project (Okere City) is a community development and social enterprise providing a collaborative and holistic ecosystem to promote integrated rural development in Okere parish, Adwari sub-county, Otuke District, Northern Uganda. Okere City project seeks to be an enabler for the rural community in the parish to be more imaginative, cooperative, creative, innovative and enterprising as pre-requisites to make them more successful and be champions of rural poverty reduction. Okere City project is registered as a community based organization (CBO) by Otuke District Local Government. Okere City’s initiatives are driven by actual community needs and the implementation of project activities are led by community members. Overall, Okere City strives to be a community organization and social enterprise that creates multiple opportunities for agrarian reforms and rural transformation in Okere Parish by encouraging open and forward thinking, mobilizing, organizing and training the rural population through a series of innovative projects, activities and techniques so that they are able to develop practical solutions to the day to day challenges they face.
Founder
OJOK OKELLO
“Our inspiration is that in years to come, our rural transformative journey will be a lesson to the whole world because we took a leap of faith, risked a lot and invested in our people because from the beginning, we knew it was the only way out of the poverty trap that enmeshed us. And that when we look back at that time with our wrinkled faces, we shall rejoice and be glad well knowing that we did all that was within our means to empower our people to exploit as many opportunities as possible and realize their fullest potential on the road to economic and social freedom.”
STRATEGIC GOALS & OBJECTIVES
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Our 2020-2030 Strategic plan is to enable us to lay a formidable foundation for building a futuristic and thriving African village in Okere. We are going to achieve this bold ambition by investing in five key programmatic areas, namely;
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Championing Local Economic Development (LED)
From 2020 to 2030, our priority is to build and sustain a robust local economy that enables rural dwellers in Okere to have access to dignified jobs and better services and products. We hope to achieve this through;
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Improving access to market information through both digital and physical market information systems.
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Providing opportunities for market linkages to better buyers of agricultural products for the farmers in Okere.
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Creating platforms to add value to agricultural products e.g. establishing bulking centers and/or small warehouses, grain silos, as well as setting up agricultural processing facilities.
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Increasing access to financial services through the establishment of a village bank and the formation of a Village Saving and Loan Association (VSLAs) and ensuring the effective and efficient functionalization of it.
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Creating and promoting Smart-tech agricultural opportunities, such as irrigation systems.
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Establishment of social businesses that serve and provide employment opportunities to the rural population in Okere.
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Investing in Shea butter processing, marketing, distribution, and local sales/exports.
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2. Strengthening Community Education
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Formal learning: Supporting Early Childhood Development (ECD), primary, secondary, and tertiary educational programs.
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Informal learning: Running Functional Adult Literacy (FAL) programs.
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Experiential learning: Facilitating the rural community in Okere to go for exposure visits, and field trips to various parts of the country for learning.
3. Facilitating Environmental Management
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Champion the planting of trees, particularly shea and neem trees, and bamboo.
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Carrying out massive community sensitization and awareness campaigns against the destruction of indigenous trees like Shea trees.
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Training the local authorities, particularly LC1 councils and clan leaders on environmental management and supporting them to enact and enforce local laws as custodians.
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Supporting the local law enforcement agencies, particularly the local police station to enforce laws against the destruction of Shea trees.
4. Ensuring Public Health Service Delivery
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Promoting better access to various medical facilities and health services.
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Running sensitization campaigns to improve nutrition and better sanitation practices.
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Drilling and servicing community boreholes to provide access to safe and healthy water for drinking and household use.
5. Supporting Sports, Arts, and Culture
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Establishment of various community sports training grounds for different sporting activities. This will include tennis courts, basketball courts, volleyball courts, and a football pitch among others.
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Offering training and coaching lessons to the talented children and youth in Okere.
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Training local coaches.
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Organizing sports tournaments.
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Collaborating with different artists.
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Holding various artistic residency programs.
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Organizing community cultural festivals
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Facilitating community theatrical productions
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Promoting heritage activities.
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Organizing cultural and social exposure trips.
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Participating in relevant theatrical productions, music, and dance competitions.
