Creative Farmers

By Sara:

As part of my work, I have continued visiting the farmers we work with in Amuria, Katakwi, and Kaberamaido to see the work that they are doing and encourage and advise them in it.   I want to share some of the good things that they are doing.

One farmer in Katakwi built several different kinds of kitchen gardens right near his house and his family has been enjoying fresh vegetables from them.  He decided that he likes this one in the front of the picture best because it is easiest to build and maintain.  This is a keyhole garden like the one I built in my garden.

As part of disaster risk reduction training, some other people in Katakwi identified flooding as one of the biggest disasters that they frequently face.  They talked to old people in their villages and learned that people used to build raised houses so they could put their belongings in a dry place when it floods and even be able to sleep somewhere dry.  So they have started building some of these houses again.

In Kaberamaido, there are resource people who are teaching their neighbors about conservation agriculture and trying it out themselves.  Their neighbors have seen their example and are also trying these techniques out, including the man below (in the blue shirt), who planted jackbean with his cabbages to improve the soil and protect it from erosion.  He looks forward to making a good profit off of the cabbages when they are ready to be harvested.