A women’s group in Rubanda District has turned soap-making skills into a small-scale livestock enterprise, using profits from the business to buy 80 piglets for its members.
The Bakayara Tutekatekyere Nyensakare group in Kyokyezo Parish, Nyamweru Sub-county, bought one piglet for each of its 80 members using savings generated from making and selling bar soap.
The women said the enterprise was started after they acquired soap-making skills in 2023 from Rubanda District Woman MP Evelyne Ninsiima Kikafunda, before she was elected to Parliament.
The group’s chairperson, Annet Tumukunde, said the training had helped members reduce household expenses while creating an income-generating activity.
“We no longer buy soap from shops because we make our own. We also pack soap for our school-going children and sell the surplus in the village and across the sub-county,” she said.
Tumukunde said the business had enabled members to save and reinvest their earnings, adding that before the training, many women struggled to raise school fees and meet other household needs.
She said Kikafunda also provided the group with Shs300,000 as seed capital in 2023, which has since generated Shs700,000 in profit.
The women spoke on Friday during a ceremony in Kyokyezo Parish where they received a soap-making machine from the Common Ground Project, an initiative supported by Agriterra Uganda.
The machine is expected to increase the group’s production capacity and improve its earnings from the enterprise.
Francine Turyazayo, the LC5 Female Councilor for Hamuhambo Town Council and Bubaare Sub County, who represented Kikafunda at the function, commended the women for using the skills and capital seed they received to establish a sustainable income-generating activity.
She said the group’s progress demonstrates how women’s economic empowerment initiatives can translate into household and community-level enterprises.
“The progress of this group shows that the project is not just for show but is impacting the community,” Turyazayo said.
She urged the women to protect the soap-making machine and use it productively, saying Kikafunda was committed to supporting women’s groups to become economically self-reliant.
Aiden Amumpaire, a consultant field officer with Agriterra Uganda under the Common Ground Project, said the machine was expected to produce about 200 bars of soap monthly.
He challenged the beneficiaries to properly maintain the equipment and use it to expand their business.
The women said they intend to continue expanding soap production and investing profits in other income-generating activities, including piggery.
