Documenting The Hunger Project's Training Approaches in Uganda

SIPA students assisted The Hunger Project (THP) global office and Uganda country team in documenting the organization’s unique rural development approach – the epicenter strategy – in training modules. Capturing this information was essential to ensuring the sustainability of the strategy and will enable THP to scale up the number of epicenters throughout Uganda and Africa in coordination with local and national governments.

In Uganda, the epicenter strategy has gained recognition by the national government. Recently, the Ugandan National Planning Association signed a Memorandum of Understanding with THP-Uganda pledging substantial financial support to replicate the epicenter strategy and programs in additional districts across the country. The SIPA team was requested to assist in documenting the essential training and workshop components of the epicenter strategy in order to facilitate the scaling up of THP’s work. With the exception of a few programs, THP’s training approaches and content had not been previously documented in Uganda. Instead, THP largely relied on its staff members and local trainers to pass along information orally to new hires and new communities – a practice that can hinder replication and lead to inconsistencies across different areas. The THP global office recognized that documentation of training practices was essential for ensuring the sustainability of the strategy and would enable THP – in coordination with local and national governments – to expand the number of epicenters throughout Uganda and Africa.