New program to strengthen farmers' agroecology skills unveiled
Stakeholders during an engagement in Iganga district last week
What you need to know:
- The project, he said, will ensure an increased availability and use of locally adapted crops and varieties, including neglected and underutilized food plants.
A program aimed at enhancing farmers’ knowledge in agroecology in regards to increasing the availability and use of locally adapted crops and varieties, and improving access to market and income opportunities for small-scale food producers, have been unveiled.
The Rooted in Diversity (RiD): Partnerships for Food Security and Livelihoods program being implemented by Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Uganda in collaboration with Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers' Forum (ESAFF) Uganda and Oxfam Uganda is being implemented in the four districts of Serere Kalaki, Amuru and Iganga.
Speaking at the meeting in Kalaki district last week, Mr Erick Kizito, the Program Manager, Agro-ecological Sustainable Natural Resources Management at Pelum Uganda said that the project is intended to enhance local knowledge, skills, and capacities of small-scale food producers to improve food production and consumption in highly variable and poorly predictable agroecologies.
“The project will build and enhance functional networks of exchange and opportunities for joint learning among a wide range of actors – farmers, CSOs, researchers – bringing together diverse cultural backgrounds, context and knowledge on seed and food system issues; this ‘social diversity’ is key to improve food and nutrition security and more just, inclusive, gender transformative and sustainable income-generating activities,” he said.
The project, he said, will ensure an increased availability and use of locally adapted crops and varieties, including neglected and underutilized food plants.
A total of 80 farmers were last week inducted from the Namungalwe Bulumwaki integrated farmers’ cooperative society were last week inducted at Namungalwe sub-county, Bulumwaki Parish, Iganga District in the community engagement that was held by Pelum Uganda and Oxfam Uganda.
This particular cooperative is composed of 560 farmers which are grouped into seven clusters.
“Members in the cooperative do bulk production, storage, value addition and the groups have an incubator,” said the team leader.
In his welcome remarks at another meeting last week, Mr Chris Mike Okirya, the Kalaki Resident District Commissioner said that he desire to see the RiD project promoting local seed, tangible impact among small holder communities, improved and refined the seed drying local technologies, and also Improve the local market systems in the region.
In Kalaki District, the project which is being funded by Norway's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, will be implemented in two sub counties of Otuboi and Bululu.
This five-year project will also be implemented in the arid and semi-arid zones in Niger, and Malawi
Mr Jude Ssebuliba the Program Officer, at Agroecology Market Business Development, said, “By the end of the exercise smallholder farmer groups and gender inclusion to implement the project will be selected, be introduced to Participatory plant breeding aspects and but also involved key district officials from Kalaki and Iganga Districts.”
