The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) has unveiled its Livelihoods Support Project, a new initiative aimed at recruiting workers in Uganda’s informal sector who currently fall outside social security coverage.
Speaking at the project’s launch in Otuke district, NSSF Managing Director Patrick Ayota revealed that the initiative is set to help the Fund achieve its goal of enrolling at least 50% of Uganda’s working population by 2035.
He noted that the livelihoods project targets the informal sector, particularly those engaged in small-scale agriculture, which makes up a significant part of the workforce but remains largely excluded from formal savings schemes.
“The Fund recognises that we must onboard the informal sector into the social security net, particularly those involved in small-scale agriculture, if we are to achieve the desired coverage of up to 15 million Ugandans,” Ayota stated.
Ayota highlighted that Uganda’s grassroots informal sector, which includes approximately 4 million workers, many of whom do not currently save formally, will be a key focus.
“The NSSF Livelihoods Support Project is a vehicle through which we can bring the unserved and underserved segments into the formal savings space by enhancing both their capacity and willingness to save,” he added.
The project is currently being piloted in four districts across Uganda: Otuke in Northern Uganda, Kayunga in Central Uganda, and Sheema and Mitooma in Western Uganda.
To date, over 10,780 new members have already registered and begun saving with the Fund.
Dr. David Ogong, the new NSSF Board Chairperson, who represented the Minister of Gender, Labour, and Social Development, praised the initiative, calling it an innovative approach to enrolling informal sector workers.
He pointed out that recent legal reforms have empowered the NSSF to extend its reach to more Ugandans.
“The recent changes in the law were premised on the fact that every working Ugandan has a right to social security and protection. The Fund is now empowered to broaden its reach, and I encourage Ugandans to embrace this opportunity to protect themselves against life’s uncertainties,” Dr. Ogong said.
He also noted that Uganda faces similar challenges to other countries in bringing informal sector workers into social security systems.
Globally, about 55% of workers in the informal economy lack access to social protection, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
In Uganda, over 80% of the workforce falls within the informal sector and is not covered by social security.
“This project marks an important milestone in NSSF’s journey to extend social security coverage to millions of underserved segments of Uganda’s workforce,” Ogong remarked.
The NSSF Livelihoods Support Project will focus on working with existing groups, referred to as the “Livelihood Community,” to provide access to skills training, productive assets for value addition, better markets, and higher-income opportunities.
The project aims to enhance the savings culture within these communities while improving their economic prospects.
Over the next year, the Fund will collect data to evaluate the pilot’s success and use the lessons learned to develop a policy framework for scaling the initiative across the country.
