Bridging the knowledge gap - Demo farm in Uganda
In cooperation with our local partner organization ARUWE, WECF builds in Uganda a demonstration farm in order to improve the education of local farmers, present sustainable technologies and increase the people's lifequality
03.05.2016 | WECF Project
| Countries: | Uganda |
| Donors: | Erbacher Stiftung |
| Partners: | ARUWE |
| Issues: | Agriculture, Biodiversity, Health, Climate, Sanitation |
| Duration: | 06/2016 - 05/2017 |
Background:
Despite the fact that the Government of Uganda has made some efforts to provide agriculture extension services to farmers, these services are not well regulated, are unevenly distributed and are not well financed since there is no policy governing them. Farmers that benefit from these services are very few yet Uganda is largely an agricultural dependent country. Farmers lack the necessary information, innovations and skills related to practices such as seed conservation, seed multiplication, farm planning, agribusiness yet these are vital to the growth of the agricultural sector and ultimately increase household revenue.
NGOs such as ARUWE have attempted to supplement government efforts in the sector, however, they do not have enough resources both human and financial to reach all farmers or even motivate more people to engage in farming. Farmers that ARUWE has worked with appreciate the extension services provided, however, ARUWE has very limited resources to reach majority of farmers. Many rural farmers have missed out on the necessary support they need.
About the project:
The proposed project builds on previous work accomplished by ARUWE and funded by Erbacher Stiftung in Kyankwanzi district. In cooperation with ARUWE WECF sets up a demonstration center in the district where farmers and the wider community will access comprehensive skills in aspects of farm planning, seed multiplication, seed security, integration of crop production and livestock rearing. The center will also demonstrate and disseminate information related to renewable energy and sanitation technologies such as bamboo biogas plants and eco-san toilets for manure production. Additionally, the center will offer training to schools, other organizations, governmental agencies and the private sector. It will also promote innovations, creativity as well as demonstrate technologies and provide learning to the community. Furthermore, the center will link into global knowledge that is available for adoption from the international community. ARUWE has a well located piece of land ready for this purpose. The land is located in a central place in the district for easy accessibility for all farmers.
Project goals:
1. To increase knowledge and skills in effective agricultural practices for increased agricultural production
based on organic principles including composting, using organic fertiliser and organic pest management
2. To disseminate knowledge and skills in establishment of sustainable and eco-friendly green technologies:
biogas technology: women can cook on biogas and save time to collect fire wood, they can use the effluent as soil conditioner and fertiliser
ecosan toilet: safe and hygienic toilet, toilet products can be used as fertiliser in the garden
rainwater harvesting: women and girls do not need to fetch water from the sources
energy efficient gasifyer stove: the stove saves fire wood and produces charcoal which can be used as a fuel or as addition for high quality soil production (Terra preta)
3. To support new innovative and creative approaches for rural community adoption (providing interactive and practical trainings as well as innovative community mobilisation actions)
Please contact for further information our water and sanitation expert Claudia Wendland (claudia.wendland@wecf.eu).
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