Mukono farmers take up agroecological agriculture

MUKONO: In a bid to save the environment and boost food security, a section of coffee farmers in Mukono district under the guidance of Eastern and South African Farmers Forum [ESAFF] Uganda have decided to adopt agroecological agriculture/ organic farming practices.

The coffee farmers believe organic farming will help them to ensure sustainable use of the ecosystem and boost food security as their activities take into account the environmental, social, and economical factors that positively contribute towards sustainable agricultural production.

James Miiro the chairperson Mwanyi Bugagga Coffee Demonstration Garden in Ntenjeru town council says, since the time of his father, they have been using synthetic fertilisers and pesticides, which according to him, have made their land infertile, thus giving them poor yields.

“My father did not get a lot of money from farming simply because he was using industrial fertilisers and pesticides. I now want to shift to the use of organic manure and pesticides,” Miro says.

The chairperson of ESAFF Uganda, Christopher Wali from Kisoga town council who is growing coffee, bananas, and vanilla on his four-acre farm has stopped the use of synthetic fertilisers, saying they have adverse effects on the soil, making the farmers get poor yields.

Instead, Wali says he uses fermented liquid organic fertiliser that he produces from organic liquid material acted upon by effective forest microorganisms, such as yeast, fungi, and bacteria.

“I mix fresh milk, fresh cow dung, molasses, activated mountain microorganisms, wood ash/maize bran, and clean water. When it is ready, I spray it on coffee and bananas. My coffee plants look healthy. I no longer have to buy industrial fertilisers,” Wali says.

Wali makes his own compost manure, made by adding layers of different organic materials in a heap. As it rots, the heap becomes compost. Wali said anthill soil, coffee dust, and charcoal dust are some of the materials he uses for making his compost manure.

Edward Mukiibi, the president of Slow Foods International Uganda, which is part of Slow Food International, founded in 1989 to prevent the disappearance of local food cultures and traditions, said more than 120 farmer groups of 30 members each, have all shifted from conventional farming to agroecological farming practices in Mukono, noting that it is the only sure way to fight hunger in the country.

He observed that soils in Mukono district are degraded by a horticulture where many chemicals have been used.

He said farmers are intercropping coffee, Banana fruit trees, and vanilla, as they shift to agroecological farming/ organic farming that they are sure will ensure that soils recover fertility.

For instance, he said, farmers have planted about 804 vanilla seeds, which according to him would yield about 400kilogrammes in a year.  A kilogramme is expected to be sold at Shs 50,000, saying they will earn about Shs 20 million from the sale of the expected yields.

“I am very optimistic that the investment we are making now will give us returns, we shall not buy chemicals and we have not bought chemicals for a long time,” Mukiibi said.

Mukiibi said agriculture in Uganda and the rest of the world is faced with climate change crises caused by the failure to protect the environment as farmers aim at feeding the ever-increasing number of humans.

He said poor countries are facing food insecurity due to the destruction of the environment with chemicals that reduce the fertility of the soil. “Currently, many people cannot afford food in the markets and this calls for a shift from conventional farming to agroecological practices.”

The global picture of agroecological farming

The value of the global organic produce market is estimated at US$ 15.6 billion as of 2016, with Uganda meeting less than 5 percent. According to the Ministry of Finance reports, organic agriculture in Uganda contributes approximately US$ 50mln, accounting for 17.1 percent of the value of agricultural exports which currently stand at US$ 291.2mln per annum.

https://thecooperator.news/desist-from-use-of-chemicals-farmers-urged/

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