WASHINGTON, D.C., March 26, 2024 – Cadasta Foundation is pleased to announce it has partnered with the Trimble Foundation Fund and received a grant to advance women’s land rights in Uganda. The collaboration underscores a shared commitment to empower women and promote sustainable development through secure land tenure.

The project will build upon the success of Cadasta’s ongoing work in partnership with the Ugandan Ministry of Lands, Housing, and Urban Development and local partner Ujamaa Foundation, which has already resulted in the issuance of 5,576 Customary Certificates of Ownership (CCOs) across six districts. With support from the Trimble Foundation Fund, Cadasta will strengthen gender inclusion and community awareness efforts, ultimately increasing the number of women who receive land titles. 

Commenting on the grant, Sejal Kadakia, vice president in the Trimble Transportation division and board member of the Trimble Foundation, said, “The Trimble Foundation Fund is thrilled to support Cadasta’s efforts to advance women’s land rights in Uganda. This grant exemplifies our joint dedication to supporting initiatives that promote women’s economic empowerment.”

Recognizing and documenting land rights is particularly critical for rural Ugandans, as approximately 84 percent of land is held under customary tenure. A CCO is a cost-effective and a legally-recognized land document that provides evidence of ownership and control. This step is crucial in enhancing livelihoods, improving access to benefits and services, and strengthening tenure security for households. 

Cadasta’s approach prioritizes gender equity and economic empowerment in Uganda by ensuring that 60 percent of the CCOs are held by women or jointly with their spouses. Despite representing  50 percent of Uganda’s population and the majority of the agricultural workforce, women only own five percent of the land. Empowering women with secure tenure and legally recognized ownership can reduce vulnerability and gender-based violence and promote stability and economic empowerment.

“We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Trimble Foundation Fund for the generous support of our efforts to secure land rights for women in Uganda,” said Amy Coughenour Betancourt, president and CEO of Cadasta Foundation. “This grant will enable us to broaden our reach and make meaningful changes in the lives of women and communities in Uganda.” 

 

About Trimble Foundation Fund

Trimble Foundation Fund is a donor-advised fund that focuses charitable giving on the missions of supporting natural disaster and climate resilience, promoting female education and empowerment and advancing diversity, equity and inclusion. The Trimble Foundation Fund is aligned to the company’s commitment towards building a more sustainable future. For more information on the Trimble Foundation Fund, visit: foundation.trimble.com.

 

About Trimble 

Dedicated to the world’s tomorrow, Trimble is a technology company delivering solutions that enable our customers to work in new ways to measure, build, grow and move goods for a better quality of life. Core technologies in positioning, modeling, connectivity and data analytics connect the digital and physical worlds to improve productivity, quality, safety, transparency and sustainability. From purpose-built products and enterprise lifecycle solutions to industry cloud services, Trimble is transforming critical industries such as construction, geospatial, agriculture and transportation to power an interconnected world of work. For more information about Trimble (NASDAQ: TRMB), visit: www.trimble.com.

 

About Cadasta Foundation:

Founded in 2015, Cadasta develops and promotes the use of simple digital tools and technology to help partners efficiently document, analyze, store, and share critical land and resource rights information. By creating an accessible digital record of land, property, and resource rights, we help empower individuals, communities, organizations, governments, and businesses with the information they need to make data-driven decisions and put vulnerable communities and their needs on the map.

 

For media inquiries, please contact:

Madaleine Weber, Senior Communications Advisor, Cadasta Foundation, mweber@cadasta.org