In Northern Uganda, Noela Victoria Ojara is helping shift how cassava and sweet potato, traditionally viewed as household food security crops, are positioned within markets and local food systems. Drawing from her early experiences farming with her grandmother, Noela recognised the untapped potential of women farmers as entrepreneurs and innovators capable of driving both economic growth and improved nutrition outcomes.

As the Founder and Managing Director of Divine Organic Foods, she has built an enterprise that strengthens root and tuber value chains while creating opportunities for women and youth, who make up 70% of participants in her initiatives.

Working across the Lango and Teso sub-regions, Noela mobilised women’s groups to engage in quality seed production, processing and marketing. This has opened new income streams, improved household nutrition and expanded women’s participation beyond primary production into higher-value market activities. Her work contributes to changing perceptions about women’s roles in agriculture and demonstrates the wider community benefits of inclusive value chain development.

In 2022, Noela was selected among 20 beneficiaries across Africa under the Value4Her programme. Through this support, she advanced a circular economy model within the sweet potato value chain in Lango, promoting zero waste through processing innovations and stronger linkages between farmers and market vendors. These efforts have supported increased consumption of nutrient-dense foods to help address iron and zinc deficiencies among women of reproductive age.

A strong advocate for gender-responsive agricultural reform, Noela continues to champion improved access to finance, training and markets for women agripreneurs. Her leadership has earned continental recognition, including being named a 2025 AWARD Gender Agrifood Systems Policy Fellow, a top five GAIN global nutrition entrepreneur and one of Africa’s Top 100 Women Agribusiness Leaders.

She was also recognised as runner-up for the GIZ 2024 African Woman of the Year award and as an African Women in Food Systems Ecosystem Enabler.

Alongside her advocacy work, Noela is pursuing a PhD in Agricultural Systems while advancing nutrition-sensitive innovations such as gluten-free cassava flour and the promotion of nutrient-dense crops including sweet potato, iron beans and indigenous leafy greens. Through climate-smart practices that convert processing waste into animal feed and organic fertiliser, she is supporting income diversification and building resilience to climate shocks.

Since 2017, Noela has reached more than 85,000 farmers across the Acholi, Lango, Teso, Sebei and West Nile regions through the supply of certified seed and agricultural inputs. She has mentored over 220 women to transition from informal trading into more structured enterprises that increase household incomes.

Today, her enterprise engages 2,500 smallholder farmers in northern Uganda who supply fresh and dried produce, while sourcing 70% of raw materials locally. Divine Organic Foods employs over 70 staff, 65% of them women, contributing to improved livelihoods, education outcomes and household nutrition.

For farmer group leader Lilly Agol in Kwania-Lango, this support has translated into practical change. Since 2022, her group has gained access to clean planting materials, reliable markets for cassava roots and high-iron beans, and exposure to improved production practices from Kenya and Rwanda. Their seed gardens have also undergone inspection for national vegetative seed certification by Uganda’s Ministry of Agriculture — a key milestone towards sustainability and formal market participation.

By strengthening women-led enterprises and inclusive value chains, Noela’s work illustrates how targeted support can accelerate progress towards resilient, nutrition-sensitive and market-oriented food systems across Uganda.