Background and Early Life
My name is Josephine Akia Luyimbazi. I am currently the Country Coordinator for PELUM Uganda, one of the 14-country chapters within the PELUM Association. I’ve held this role since October 2021. Before that, I served as Head of Programs for PELUM Uganda, a position I took on in November 2013. So I’m not new to the organization—I’ve grown within it.
Prior to that, I worked with the National Organic Agriculture Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU) as the Head of Policy, Advocacy, and Strategic Working Relations. My work there focused on advocacy, including leading the development of the National Organic Agriculture Policy and working extensively on issues related to GMOs. These genetically modified organisms pose a serious threat to the food sovereignty movement across Africa.
Before NOGAMU, I worked with the Council for Economic Empowerment for Women of Africa (CEEWA-Uganda) as a Program Associate, managing three DFID—now UK Aid—funded projects. It was a women-led organization focused on gender in agriculture, economic empowerment, and increasing women’s voices in decision-making spaces. That was my very first job after campus.
Academically, I never attended nursery school. My father was a head teacher in Jinja District, and my mother, a nurse, had a rule that once the last born turned three, there would be no maids at home. As the last born, I started going to school with my father at age three. I sat in his Primary One class and was often roaming around the school, between classrooms, the staff room, and his office. Everyone knew me as the headmaster’s daughter. That environment helped me pick up English very early.
I was the only child who spent time in the staff room, and I was quite privileged in that way. For primary school, I attended Victoria Nile Primary School in Jinja, one of the best schools at the time. I later joined Namasagali College for my O-Level, a prestigious school led by Father Grimes, may his soul rest in peace. Located in Kamuli District in Eastern Uganda, it was a very formative space for me.
I completed my A-Level studies at Wailaka College, then joined Mbarara University of Science and Technology, where I pursued a Bachelor of Arts in Development Studies. After graduation, I went straight into my first job with CEEWA-Uganda. Follow the link for more details. https://youtu.be/PiFKW12Dftw
