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Refuge and mangoes in Bidi Bidi, Uganda

Mangoes have proved a sweet respite from hunger for refugee children in Uganda, and Tearfund is doing more to support.

Written by Tarryn Pegna | 19 Jun 2025

A group of children walk along the road under a blue sky. Leafy trees are either side of the road.

Children carry bags of mangoes on their heads as they return from collecting mangoes in season, Yumbe District, Uganda. Credit: Tearfund

Some families have been here for close to ten years. When they came, it was a small settlement, with very few homes. Now, Bidi Bidi in the Yumbe district of Northern Uganda is home to more than 270,000 refugees.

Most of the inhabitants of the clusters of mud-brick houses that now make up one of the largest refugee settlements on earth came from South Sudan, fleeing the violence in their own country and bringing with them stories of indescribable horror.

In Uganda, refugees and asylum seekers are provided for in generous national legislation, which gives them access to the national health and education systems, the right to work and move freely throughout the country, a small plot of land to farm and, until recently, food and financial support from the government. And though many people here long to return home (home is always home, after all), while they wait and pray for peace, the settlement has, more and more, begun to resemble a sprawling city.

What there is, and what there isn’t

Across the five residential zones, there are varying degrees of infrastructure. In places, there are schools, churches, music and arts centres, permanent water systems and even some employment opportunities.

However, for most people in Bidi Bidi, the daily challenges are pressing and ever-present: poor sanitation and the health risks that come with that; unpredictable food supplies; difficulty accessing health clinics; extreme weather events; and a lack of income-generating activities or ways to get vocational training.

Among the refugee settlers in Bidi Bidi are people who were community leaders, lab technicians, business owners and health workers in South Sudan, yet here they have to find new ways to earn money and find food.

Many people here constantly face hunger as a looming reality. And a large number of these are children – some who were born in Bidi Bidi, along with those who came from across the border, fleeing the violence – many losing parents or whole families in severely traumatic events along the way.

Mango-picking: sweet joy for children

In 2018, the UNHCR reported that there were around 41,000 unaccompanied child refugees in Uganda, with nearly 3,000 younger than five.

With steadily dwindling food aid in Bidi Bidi, thousands of people who used to rely solely on food rations provided to them are struggling to find food each day.

In this context, the arrival of mango season feels like a joyous gift.

Yumbe District is renowned for its lush mango trees, and the fruit has become a surprising lifeline for many refugee children facing severe food shortages.

The villages bordering the refugee settlement abound with mango trees, so plentiful during the peak season that the host community often end up feeding the surplus to their poultry.

Now, from March to May, when the fruit is ripe on the trees, each morning children from Bidi Bidi gather in groups to walk long distances to pick mangoes to eat.

Some children climb the trees, shaking branches to release the ripe fruit for others to collect from the ground. The children return to the settlement in the evening, stomachs full, hands sticky, and carrying bags of mangoes on their heads to share with their families.

In the shade of a large mango tree, the ground is covered in ripe mangoes that have fallen. Several chickens are eating the mangoes.

Chickens eat surplus ripe mangoes that have fallen from the tree in Yumbe District, Uganda. Credit: Tearfund

More than just food, the mangoes provide a renewed sense of hope. However, the mango season is temporary and the host community in Yumbe is also facing food shortages.

With ongoing stress about sufficient provision, the mangoes have often been a source of conflict between the refugee and host communities. Host communities would often forbid children from picking or climbing the mango trees. Allegations arose that refugee children would take mangoes without permission and cause damage to crops and surrounding vegetation.

And this is where Tearfund’s local partner, Here Is Life (HIL), has had a vital role to play.

Here is Life

HIL has been working in the area as a dedicated advocate for refugee rights. Even before the reduction in food rations, HIL was actively working to foster peace between the refugee and host communities.

In 2021, HIL initiated a Transforming Communities (CCT) project, with a particular focus on community transformation through trauma healing, peacebuilding and advocacy.

As part of this project, HIL set up crucial community dialogues – meetings and conversations between key stakeholders, including local government, aid distribution organisations, the host community, and the refugees themselves.

These dialogue sessions have provided a safe space for people to voice their concerns and to start to understand each other better.

This played a significant role in reducing conflict in the community, and also in encouraging everyone involved to work together to find solutions and share resources.

The dialogue sessions helped restore dignity, build unity between refugees and host communities, and empower refugees to address their challenges.

Rebuilding hope through dialogue (and sharing mangoes)

‘The challenges of land use and stray animals in [a particular area of Bidi Bidi] are a matter of fact,’ says one refugee representative, ‘and the dialogue has been a good platform to discuss the matters when the refugees and host communities plus other stakeholders are here.

‘However, we shouldn’t wait for meetings such as this to handle problems affecting us. All the natural resources like trees, grass, water and land are not enough to serve the current population of refugees and the host community, but it requires unity and cooperation between the host and refugee community for there to be peace.’

The Community dialogues have helped to rebuild hope among refugees, particularly during this period of reduced food aid. The dialogues have improved relationships between refugees and the host community, with many community members showing empathy towards the children, some even offering water alongside the mangoes.

A group of women sit on the ground in the shade of a large tree surrounded by blue plastic buckets full of ripe mangoes to sell.

Women sell mangoes at the Bidi Bidi settlement in Uganda. Credit: Tearfund

The Bidi Bidi Refugee Settlement

Covering just under a hundred square miles of Yumbe District, Bidi Bidi stretches south from the border with South Sudan.

It is one of the largest refugee settlements in the world with a uniquely diverse population. People from different South Sudanese tribes – Bari, Nuer and Kuku – are spread across its five zones. Sometimes this close proximity causes increased tension, and conflicts and fights arise even in the settlement, making it an unsafe place for children at times.

A UNESCO study found ‘environmental risks, road accidents, severe corporal punishment, neglect, sexual violence, witnessing domestic violence, child labour and harmful traditional practices’ all to be common risks facing children in Bidibidi refugee settlement.

Uganda has the largest refugee population in Africa and the fifth largest in the world. The UNHCR reports that ‘by the end of December 2023, Uganda was hosting over 1.6 million refugees and asylum seekers. New arrivals have continued to enter the country, mainly from the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Sudan and South Sudan.’

Pray for Uganda

    • Thank God for the safe place that Uganda is providing for people fleeing violence in other countries. Pray for resources for Uganda and for political stability so that they may continue to be a safe haven for so many.
    • Pray for peace in the whole region and particularly in Sudan, South Sudan and the DRC so that refugees can return to their homes and start to rebuild their lives.
    • Pray for host communities and refugees in Uganda. Ask God for his provision, and also for good, open dialogues between people so that they may live together peacefully and find the best solutions for sharing space and resources. Ask God for comfort for those refugees who have experienced traumatic situations and lost loved ones, belongings and livelihoods as they fled.

Tearfund is a Christian charity

We partner with churches in more than 50 of the world’s poorest countries. We tackle poverty through sustainable development, responding to disasters and challenging injustice. We believe an end to extreme poverty is possible. Tearfund is also a member of the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC).

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Written by  Tarryn Pegna

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