Mugisha is an agro-ecologist in the middle of degradation

Mugisha has managed to conserve over 30 varieties of beans on her farm.

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Mugisha showing the award she won from National Agriculture Research Organisation. Photos by Christopher Ahimbisibwe

“You are welcome to my farm,” Joy Mugisha says with a beaming smile. We are in Ngoma-Nungi, Kiziba ward, Kagango division in the new municipality of Sheema in Sheema district.

Mugisha’s house is sorrounded by over 100 acres of well utilised land that contains 20 acres of banana plantation, five acres of coffee trees (both robusta and clonal); 25 acres  of a cattle farm, 10-acre garden of beans and 10 acres of eucalyptus trees.

The 54-year-old Mugisha, an agro-ecologist, who only holds a certificate in agriculture (pest and disease), has made her home an island of conservation and productivity in the middle of the degraded hills of Kagango.

“I use my little knowledge of conservation and environment protection for improved productivity and sustainability”. 

She says that she started farming in 1986 and currently practises mixed farming.

High productivity and sustainability

Because of her research and best practices, she has seen her banana plantation improve in productivity

“When I planted my banana plantation 20 years ago, I used to harvest bunches of bananas weighing four kilogrammes, the yield improved to 10 and now I harvest bunches weighing between 35 to 40 kilogrammes” she says.

She plants over seven varieties of bananas including improved varieties and other local ones.

“I like local varieties because they are easy to manage. That is why I have more of them than improved varieties’.

“I plant trees because I know they are important in the rainfall cycle. I also get poles from the forest to support my climbing beans and also for fencing my farm. I remove all polythene bags in my farms to allow easy movement of water in the soil. These are some of the reasons why I won an award with the National Agriculture Research Organisation for best local practices’.

She says she practices super stem cutting, chopping banana suckers and mulching the plantation to get good and improved yields on her farm.

“In order to have high yields, I rear animals so that they can supply me with cheap and sustainable organic manure for use in my banana plantation and all other crops,” she says, adding that most farmers struggle buying manure and using synthetic manure, which degrades the soil.

Seed conservation

Probably what has made Mugisha stand out is her seed conservation efforts. She has managed to conserve over 30 varieties of beans on her farm.

Mugisha's bean varieties

 “I love to look at the varieties. They are beautiful, nutritious and a rare combination of qualities. I want to preserve them for posterity,” she says.

She has some of the most sought after local bean varieties, which are resistant to climatic conditions such as kasiriira, kanyarwanda, mahega, gantagasize, kishoga, kanyamunyu, kanyobwa, kiribwa ogwejegiire and kankurye-mbarukye.

 Farmer-to-farmer networks

Mugisha has become a centre of attraction for both local and national farmers who come to her farm to learn how she has managed to maintain high productivity, stability and sustainability. She has also formed a women’s association group called Kiziba Women’s Group who have constructed a seed bank for their produce.

Risk management

While soil erosion and sedimentation are wreaking havoc to agricultural yields in Uganda, Mugisha says that she has surrounded her farmland with trees which help against soil erosion and also act as wind-breakers.

She says that the greatest risks on her banana plantation and her coffee plantation is the banana wilt bacteria that affects her bananas. As a researcher she has tried to control such risks by cutting the affected plantations and also using acalacides that can kill the virus and also control the spread.  

She says farmers need to know the seasons so that they can reduce on the banana leaves. "The more leaves on a banana tree the more heavy it becomes  and the more easy it is to be felled by the wind and the reason for putting  plant support on each tree," she says.

Post-harvest handling

For sustainability purposes, Mugisha says that she has been able to use local technology such as a crushing machine, moisture meter to measure the amount of water in the harvested crops and use of a weighing scale to measure the weight of the banana bunches.

After harvesting, she sorts the seeds for easy marketing and conservation.

In the garden, every plant is marked according to the botanical name and class. This has helped her to know the different bean varieties.

Plans

Mugisha says that she wants to start a demonstration farm for farmers to teach people how to practise modern farming.

She wants to install an irrigation system which will help her during the dry season. With an irrigation system, I will be able to have continuous seasons throughout the year.

Invest in agriculture

Mugisha says she earns over sh4m monthly from her. "People should invest in agriculture and food production because it pays well," she says.

By Deusdedit Ruhangariyo

Roundup: FAO chief warns of soaring hunger in Africa

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva gives a speech during the official World Food Day ceremony in Rome, Italy, Oct. 14, 2016. (Xinhua/Jin Yu)

ENTEBBE, Uganda, Sept.4 (Xinhua) -- The head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization Jose Graziano da Silva has warned that there is increasing hunger in Africa due to factors including prolonged drought, floods and conflicts.

Graziano da Silva said this on Thursday while concluding a three day visit to Uganda where he held discussions with the government about advancing sustainable agriculture and strengthening collaboration and strategic partnership for a hunger-free country.

He told reporters here, 40 km south of the capital Kampala, that over the last three years hunger has increased in Africa and yet it is decreasing in other parts of the world.

He said the agency would in about two weeks announce new figures of the hunger situation.

Graziano da Silva was speaking after meeting Uganda's Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Vincent Bamulangaki Sempijja.

Sempijja said that although Uganda is not yet facing a food crisis, it faced a shock after it was invaded by the Fall Army Worms which destroyed crops, especially maize.

He said the attack came shortly after the country had undergone a prolonged dry spell which reduced production.

Sempijja added that the influx of South Sudan refugees into the country exerted more pressure on the food situation.

"We would be having a lot of food but we now have over 1.5 million refugees. This is a big challenge of top of challenges like drought," he said.

Since fighting broke out in South Sudan in late 2013, more than 1 million refugees have crossed into Uganda. Other refugees are from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi among others.

FAO earlier this year announced that in Africa, famine had broken out in Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan.

Last month, FAO and the World Food Programme in a food security report said the rising violence and displacement in the Democratic Republic of Congo was pushing the country to near famine levels.

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis said 7.7 million Congolese face acute hunger - a 30 percent increase over the last year.

Zimbabweans receive food ration from a World Food Programme (WFP) distribution center at rural Mupinga area in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe, Oct. 6, 2015. About 60 million people across Sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of acute hunger as food production situation is set to further worsen with the looming El Nino, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Monday. (Xinhua/Stringer)

To relieve the pressure on Uganda regarding the refugees, FAO said in the last several years it has implemented more than 3 million U.S. dollars' worth of projects to support the refugees in Uganda.

Some of the support includes providing them with locally-adapted and diversified seeds to grow quick-maturing, high-nutrientfoods as well as with kits for livestock treatment, poultry production and micro-irrigation.

During Graziano da Silva's visit to Uganda, he also signed a memorandum of understanding with the agriculture ministry. Key issues in the agreement include ensuring food security, creating jobs for women and youths through agriculture and adapting to climate change.

Africa's largest silent crisis

The influx into Uganda of South Sudanese people fleeing violence – one million since July last year – has become the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world.

It is Africa’s biggest human exodus since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Despite the sheer scale, it is largely a silent crisis not covered by many major media outlets. We must not ignore this emergency.

This week, I am in Uganda to meet some of those who have recently arrived – the majority of whom are women and children – and to reaffirm the support of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to the Government of Uganda in its refugee support efforts.

Those efforts are truly exceptional: Refugees are not only being provided with land to build shelter and grow crops but are also granted freedom of movement, the right to work, and access to health care and education.

In addition to South Sudanese, many people and families who have fled conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are benefitting from this.

It’s a unique approach that goes right to the heart of effective refugee protection, which must involve finding long-lasting solutions that enable people and families to live in safety, reestablish their livelihoods, and reclaim their lives.

FAO believes that agricultural support to build rural livelihoods is key in achieving this goal in Africa. This is why in recent years we have implemented USD 3.6 million-worth of projects to support South Sudanese refugees in Uganda, providing them with locally-adapted and diversified seeds to grow quick-maturing, high-nutrient foods as well as with kits for livestock treatment, poultry production and micro-irrigation.

Other projects have created new income opportunities and helped address home energy issues by teaching people how to convert waste into fuel that can be burned in energy efficient stoves.

And our flagship approach in Uganda – Farmer Field Schools and Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools – have been pivotal in helping integrate refugees into host communities, by allowing them to acquire new agricultural skills and know-how.

FAO is also working with Uganda’s national Resilience Measurement Unit to ensure that the Government can accurately assess refugees’ resilience dynamics, generating “knowledge for action” that can guide funding decisions and help to ensure that support reaches the most vulnerable.

Greater donor support is needed if we are to intensify these efforts to effectively respond to the scale of this crisis.

It is vital that funds be mobilized so that refugees can provide food for themselves sooner rather than relying on food aid, and so that refugees and their host communities can have a real opportunity to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty and build a sustainable future for themselves and their families.
By: JOSÃ GRAZIANO DA SILVA
The  Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. 
Copyright: Project Syndicate