By: Jonathan Ngangura – Nakivale – Uganda (orginal article)

When Jonathan Ngangura first stepped into Nakivale, Uganda’s oldest and one of Africa’s largest refugee settlements, he didn’t just see the challenges—he saw fertile ground for innovation. With thousands of refugees from over a dozen countries living alongside host communities, Jonathan recognized that food security, livelihoods, and environmental resilience could be transformed if technology and community spirit worked hand in hand.

That seed of inspiration grew into the idea of the Nakivale Harvest Hub—a living model of AgriTech culture built on sustainocratic principles: shared responsibility, inclusivity, and co-creation for sustainable well-being.

The Vision: A Community that Farms Smarter, Together

Nakivale Harvest Hub isn’t just about growing crops—it’s about growing opportunity. It’s a place where refugees and locals can collaborate, innovate, and thrive through the power of digital agriculture and shared governance.

Core Pillars of the Hub:

1. Digital Agriculture Imagine farmers using mobile apps to check weather forecasts, drones to monitor crops, and IoT soil sensors that send instant alerts when watering is needed. The hub’s tech infrastructure connects farmers to markets, reduces waste, and increases yields.
2. Innovation Incubator A creative lab where refugees and host community members prototype new AgriTech solutions—from solar-powered irrigation pumps to compost-based biofertilizers. Young innovators can test their ideas, pitch to partners, and turn prototypes into businesses.
3. Farmer Training & Skill Building The hub offers training in both modern agricultural practices and business acumen—teaching farmers how to manage finances, market produce, and adopt sustainable methods that protect soil and water resources.
4. Community Engagement & Co-Creation Workshops, hackathons, and open-air forums bring people together to solve problems collectively. These aren’t just meetings—they’re collaborative design sessions where everyone, from youth to elders, has a voice.
5. Data-Driven Decision Making A shared data platform tracks crop health, production levels, and environmental conditions, allowing communities and policymakers to make informed choices about resources and investments.

The Sustainocratic Foundation

Jonathan’s vision is anchored in sustainocracy—a governance model where citizens, institutions, and businesses collaborate as equals to create value for shared well-being.

At Nakivale Harvest Hub, this means:

• Inclusivity – Refugees and host communities have equal access to resources, training, and markets.
• Participatory Governance – Decisions about farming priorities, resource allocation, and innovation projects are made with the community, not for them.
• Sustainability – Every innovation is evaluated for its environmental and social impact before being scaled.

Why This Matters

By blending technology, culture, and shared responsibility, Nakivale Harvest Hub aims to:

• Boost agricultural productivity and resilience to climate change.
• Create new livelihoods and reduce dependency on aid.
• Strengthen social cohesion between refugees and host communities.
• Spark innovation that can be replicated in other settlements and rural regions.

A Model for the Future

Jonathan doesn’t just want Nakivale Harvest Hub to succeed locally—he wants it to be a blueprint for other communities worldwide facing food security and displacement challenges. In his own words:

“This is not charity. This is empowerment. When we give people the tools, skills, and voice to shape their own future, they build solutions we could never imagine alone.”

The dream is clear: a thriving AgriTech culture where every harvest is not just food—but hope, dignity, and shared prosperity.

If you’re inspired by Jonathan’s vision, imagine what could happen if more communities embraced technology, sustainability, and cooperation as core values. The next agricultural revolution might not start in a high-tech lab—it might start in a place like Nakivale.

I can also prepare an impact roadmap showing how the hub could grow from pilot phase to regional model, with measurable milestones and stakeholder roles. That would make the concept more practical and attractive for partners or funders.

Future plans for Nakivale Harvest Hub include turning crop waste into biomass energy, producing organic fertilizers, and powering irrigation with renewables. This circular system reuses every byproduct, cuts deforestation, and boosts soil health—creating food, clean energy, and income, while making Nakivale a model for sustainable refugee and host community resilience.

Note: to fund the projects in Nakivale a combination is developed through partnerships with the local government, the development of certain innovative business generators for self funding, subsidies from international organizations and private sponsoring through donations. STIR tries to support the constant ad hoc demands due to poverty, climate related problems, sickness outbreaks, accidents, care and educational needs, etc. with the provision and development of a certain structural approach, deployment of a basic infrastructure and multidisciplinary priority driven communities.