Refugee-led · Youth-led · Women-led
This work did not begin in a conference room. It began with young people who knew that poverty, displacement and climate change do not arrive one at a time, and who wanted solutions that make sense in the whole of a person’s life.
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Denise Ayebare founded BetterLife International in Uganda in 2021, at nineteen, with USD 200 and a small team of young people. As a refugee-led team, we had grown up experiencing many of the challenges facing the communities we wanted to work alongside.
We knew the uncertainty of providing for a household when food, income and opportunity were difficult to secure. We had also seen the knowledge and determination within communities. Our commitment was to help people build on that ability, with practical support to grow food, earn, save and access markets.
We were tired of watching communities receive short-term help while the conditions keeping them vulnerable stayed the same. BetterLife was created to work differently.
That beginning has grown into an organisation that reached 112,430 people in 2025, with work in five African countries. The work continues through community members, staff, volunteers and partners who help shape it every day.
2021 founded in UgandaUSD 200 starting budget5 countries today
BetterLife is led by its founder and Executive Director, Denise Ayebare, with Ahabwe Samuel (Head of Finance) and Douglas Drake Onen (Chief Operations Officer), alongside country managers in Tanzania, South Sudan, DR Congo and Ghana.
Meet the full team and board
Each figure counts a different part of the work, so they should not be added together. The people we reach take part in different activities and receive different kinds of support.
22% to 92%Knowledge of climate-smart agriculture among the 72 women who completed structured training
35%Average reduction in household spending on vegetables, reported by participating households
We envision a world where every person, regardless of their background, has the opportunity to live a fulfilling and sustainable life.
To create a better life for everyone by promoting sustainable practices, empowering young people, supporting vulnerable groups, and fostering peace and equality in communities.
Our focus is food security and sustainable livelihoods. Alongside refugees, displaced people and host communities, we help families grow food, earn an income, save and reach markets, and build the climate resilience that keeps those gains in place.
When a woman tells us her harvest failed, seeds may appear to be the answer. Listen longer and the picture changes. She may have no water nearby. She may spend much of the day collecting firewood. She may lack money for inputs, access to a phone or a buyer for what she grows.
Giving her seeds alone leaves most of the problem untouched.
We take a systems approach because people live in systems. One programme may include a demonstration garden, a savings group, a digital tool and a buyer connection, shaped by the barriers people actually face.
Food sits at the centre. Select a connection to see how it shapes the harvest.
A harvest depends on water close enough to use. Our work includes water access and water-efficient production, and solar-powered irrigation in South Sudan.
Firewood collection takes hours. Clean energy, from biogas to solar, eases that load and can power farming itself.
When much of the day goes on water and firewood, little is left for farming, learning or earning.
People adopt what they can see working. We teach through demonstration sites, local-language facilitation and peer learning.
Without money for inputs, good knowledge stays unused. Savings groups and credit co-operatives help members plan and invest.
A phone and timely information change decisions. Soilla brings soil, crop, climate and price information closer to farmers.
For farmers producing for sale, access to buyers helps turn a harvest into income. Buyer connections and Agribusiness Connekt link producers to markets.
Office or base Field presence Programme country
Two BetterLife platforms help farmers make production decisions and reach buyers, always paired with field training.
Our digital agricultural advisory platform. Farmers use it for soil and crop guidance, climate information, market prices and agricultural services, and to find suppliers, experts and other producers.
How Soilla fits our programmes
Where Soilla supports production decisions, Agribusiness Connekt focuses on the business around the farm. It links farmers and small agricultural enterprises to buyers, finance, services and market information.
Explore Agribusiness Connekt
We work with organisations that bring resources, knowledge and reach while respecting the experience of the communities at the centre of the work.
Read our impact reports How each partner supports the work Become a partner
Choose the way you would like to be involved, and our team will take it from there.
Support community farming, school meals, households and enterprise, or build a programme with us.
Partner With UsOffer your time, skills or expertise to strengthen the work already under way.
Volunteer With UsInterview requests, panels and speaking invitations for our team.
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