As the leader of of a farmer’s group, 50-year-old potato farmer Fulumina Busiheiye has a lot to be proud about.

Despite this achievement, what Fulumina is most proud of is her daughter, Grace – who followed in her mother’s footsteps recently when she was elected to a class leadership role, in school.

The 20-year-old student dreams of one day becoming a nurse. But she is realistic and knows that money is tight. So tight in fact that the success of each harvest at home is what determines whether she will be able to remain in school from one year to the next.

“When I’m not in class I work on the farm to help my mother. If we get a good harvest, we can eat and I can carry on going back to school.”

Supported with training by Self Help Africa, Fulumina recently started a small enterprise that has allowed her to earn more from her potato.  By hand-processing her vegetables into crisps, she is getting more per kilogram than she would from bags of potatoes.

Her profits are still small and the margins still tight, but each extra Ugandan shilling improves Grace’s chances of being able to complete school.

Grace is extremely proud of her own mum’s achievements too: “She has done well, and I am so grateful to her. Without my mother I wouldn’t be in school. I probably wouldn’t have enough food.”