Mafigi Bakery
Culture for Impact is an annual recognition by the Museum for the United Nations - UN Live to celebrate cultural initiatives that unleash the power of popular culture to address major societal challenges and inspire positive change.
Together with, bakery owner, Muhizi Patrick Mafigi and, Head of Comms and Lead Curator, Annesofie Norn, we explore the story of Mafigi Bakery—a social enterprise changing lives at the Nakivale Refugee Settlement. The bakery engages youth, especially those with disabilities, by teaching baking and life skills to help them build brighter futures.
In 2024, they trained 100 young people and aim to double that in 2025. Through the power of food, Mafigi Bakery creates new opportunities, fosters independence, and brings hope.
Let’s discover what the bakery means to the people of Nakivale.
Annesofie Norn: What does it mean to you and the Mafigi Bakery to be highlighted on the 2024 Culture for Impact List?
Muhizi Patrick Mafigi: For our initiative to be highlighted on the 2024 Culture for Impact List is a great opportunity to showcase our stories and the impact we are creating in a refugee settlement through inclusiveness and resilience building for the marginalised, especially those living with disabilities on such global platform. It is also an opportunity to get more hands on a global scale to support our initiative to have more impact in our community.
The journey is long to achieve the goals we have set for the years to come. However, we are still facing resource challenges to create more positive impacts. Our initiative is a real and tangible story that we hope will inspire other people around the world to create more good impacts, to be more empathetic for marginalised people, especially those living with disabilities.
Annesofie Norn: What do you believe is the power of popular culture to change hearts and minds?
Muhizi Patrick Mafigi: I believe that popular culture can change hearts and minds by raising awareness of important issues, promoting unity, encouraging people to change, making people more empathetic, promoting diversity by breaking stereotypes, promoting inclusivity by showcasing stories from different backgrounds.
Popular culture provides a sense of community and a global belonging, allowing people to connect, to share interests and build supportive networks. Popular culture encourages creativity and innovation.
Annesofie Norn: What drew you towards using food as a platform to spark positive change/action?
Muhizi Patrick Mafigi: Food acts as the glue that momentarily holds people together to interact at gatherings, weddings, meetings, and even in restaurants and hotels. When we eat food, we see no race, tribe, ethnicity and even religion but rather on how we can share and satisfy ourselves as a people.
When people travel to other countries, they enjoy the dishes of other cultures without prejudice or discrimination since food is a connector.
Annesofie Norn: What is the impact of your initiative?
Muhizi Patrick Mafigi: Mafigi Bakery has created job opportunities for refugee youths especially those living with disabilities where many of them are marginalised in the community. We have trained them in baking, helping build resilience in the settlement.
Mafigi bakery is producing and selling fresh and good quality products within the Nakivale settlement. Previously, it wasn’t easy for refugees to get fresh products because most of the companies selling bread were sending it form places far from the settlement.
Since 2020, Mafigi bakery has created 50 jobs, and trained 800 youth—where 200 of them are living with disabilities.
Mafigi bakery has been able to link 80 youths living with disability to other organizations to get jobs and become self reliant for themselves, for their families and their communities in general.
Annesofie Norn: Can you share a couple of examples of when you experienced that your initiative made a real impact for someone?
“I reached Uganda in 2017 after fleeing from my home. I came with my whole family, my mom, my father, and my siblings. When I arrived in Uganda, my family and I faced many challenges because of poverty since we lacked job opportunities in Nakivale settlement. I really struggled until 2021 when I saw an advert from Mafigi Bakery looking for a person who can have at least skills in baking. I applied and after 3 days I received a call that changed my life. I got a job at Mafigi Bakery in the production department although I have an impairment with my ear, I am now able to cater to my basic needs and that of my family. I feel proud of myself because I am able to provide for my family. I am really so grateful to Mafigi Bakery for the life-changing opportunity.” Cedrick Angunda, 23, a refugee from DR Congo.
“I left Ethiopia with my husband and three children in 2022. Mafigi Bakery helped me to get baking skills for a period of 6 months, now I am an independent woman providing basic needs for my family. I shifted from Nakivale settlement and now I live in Kampala where I was linked through Mafigi Bakery to work in a bakery (Tiptop Bakery, located in Kampala). I really appreciate Mafigi’s Bakery for the support they brought into my life. May Allah bless the team.” Sarah Adem Ibrahim, 26, a refugee from Ethiopia
Annesofie Norn: What are you hoping that others can learn from your initiative, and what is your dream for the initiative?
Muhizi Patrick Mafigi: At Mafigi, we hope to build a non-discriminatory and inclusive community by creating a positive impact for minorities and building a resilient community by overcoming different life challenges.
Our dream with the Mafigi Bakery is to train 700 youths by 2025 among them those living with disabilities to create job opportunities for them. We aim to increase our sales capacity by 70% before 2025 ends by looking for new markets within and outside the settlement. This would require us to become energy sustainable as there are frequent power cuts which effect production and also training activities. We’re also aiming to build a space where activities can run smoothly, and where rules of safety and hygiene are maintained.
UN Live: Core to UN Live is building empathy and global belonging, how do you see your initiative building on that?
Muhizi Patrick Mafigi: Mafigi Bakery is promoting empathy in the settlement by including young refugees, especially those living with disabilities.
On global belonging, Mafigi Bakery is planning to start sharing videos and pictures on different platforms where youth, especially those living with disability will be able to share their stories and experiences.
UN Live: At its simplest, what is your message for the world?
Muhizi Patrick Mafigi: My message for the world: Let’s create an inclusive world where no one is left behind.
We are so glad to have gotten to collaborate with Mafigi Bakery and celebrate their work.
The selection criteria for the Culture for Impact list
The selection criteria prioritize innovative cultural initiatives addressing societal challenges and fostering change:
Culture Innovation: Initiatives that demonstrate a pioneering or significant application of popular culture to address societal challenges or promote positive change.
Genre Diversity: Inclusivity across a spectrum of cultural genres, showcasing a diverse range of creative expressions and innovative approaches.
Topic Versatility: Recognition of initiatives that address a wide array of topics and issues, demonstrating the versatility and adaptability of cultural genres.
Global Inclusivity: Emphasis on initiatives that contribute to cultural impact on a global scale, promoting inclusivity and representation from various regions around the world.
Dual Impact Approach: Acknowledgment of initiatives that have achieved significant reach while also recognizing the nuanced impact of smaller-scale efforts that contribute profoundly to cultural change.