About MYJ

Kotido District Local Government visiting Il Ngwesi Lodge and Group Ranch, Laikipia District, Kenya

Livestock (foreground) and wildlife (background) grazing at Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Laikipia District, Kenya

Pastoralists grazing their cattle on communal land

Wildlife waiting to drink from livestock troughs at a watering hole in the Lorian Swamp, Wajir South District, Kenya

Change in Land Tenure - Communal use of rangelands has been replaced with individual ownership of land through leasehold or freehold tenure

Adoption of agro-pastoralism - Crop production has helped the transition from nomadic to sedentary pastoralism

Local leaders from Amudat District visiting Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Laikipia District, Kenya

Livestock grazing in southern Karamoja (Napak District)

Ostriches in Bokora-Matheniko Wildlife Reserve

Kotido District Local Government visiting Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Laikipia District, Kenya 2

Pastoralists herding cattle in the Albertine Graben

Growth of the Regulated Formal Milk Market - A dairy processing plant in Kiruhura District

Expansion of Dairy Cooperatives - A milk collection centre in Kiruhura District Uganda

Hartebeest and Topi in Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve

MYJ proposes alternatives to traditional wildlife hunting in Pian Upe Wildlife Reserve

Pastoralists herds in the Albertine Graben

Fishing community on shores of Lake Albert

Improved Rangeland Management - Clearing bush and restoring pasture

MYJ and NRE meeting with pastoralists in the Lorian Swamp, Wajir South District, Kenya

Kotido District Local Government visiting Ol Pejeta Conservancy, Laikipia District, Kenya

Water Harvesting - A valley dam in Kiruhura District Uganda

Livestock Breeding - A farmers transition from Ankole cattle to Ankole-Friesian crossbreed cattle

Borana cattle at a watering hole in the Lorian Swamp - Wajir South District, Kenya

Livestock grazing in southern Karamoja (Napak District) 2

Wildlife outside protected areas in Garba Tula District Kenya

A herd of cattle in the Semliki Flats, Ntoroko District (Blue Mountains of Congo in the background)

Pre-export sheep feedlot in the Afar Region, Ethiopia

Maendeleo ya Jamii (MYJ) is a multi-disciplinary, not-for-profit organization incorporated in Uganda and the United States of America. The organization is appropriately named after the mission for which it was founded: “Maendeleo ya Jamii”, which is best translated from its Swahili origins as “Community Development”.

At MYJ, we strive to transform rural and urban communities drawing from international experiences and perspectives in a way that influences public policy and management. Our focus is on spheres critical to community development such as agriculture, public health, environment and natural resources, public management, information technology, and organizational development.

We have experience working with communities using partnership and rights-based approaches. This experience with communities includes: imparting entrepreneurial outlooks and skills; supporting the creation of community organisations for land and business management; supporting community-driven accountability in public service delivery and natural resource management; building the policy advocacy capacity of community organisations; establishing community enterprises and expanding community assets; creating community development funds; proposing sustainable benefit sharing mechanisms for natural resources; supporting the creation of unique community business models and plans; carrying out community training in business management; providing experiential learning; and facilitating the building of valuable community relationships with various partners.

Our research, support and advocacy efforts include working with urban and rural communities. We help organize urban communities to address specific local governance and livelihood issues in both relatively affluent and disadvantaged neighbourhoods. We also work with pastoralist, agro-pastoralist, and agricultural communities in tropical, arid and semi-arid rural environments.

In all the communities where we work, we believe in fostering close working relationships with cultural and local government leaders by soliciting and encouraging participation, thereby securing the necessary buy-in to successfully implement sustainable change.

MYJ is a growing repository for multi-disciplinary experience and continues to play an important role in studying, demonstrating and promoting community development through participatory and creative approaches.