Build A Farm! Feeding children and training youth

Fort Portal is one of the poorest regions of Uganda according to the Ugandan Ministry of Health, with high food insecurity caused by increasing poverty, use of unsustainable agriculture methods, and inadequate food storage. This leaves many children malnourished and unable to fight illness or focus in school which impacts their education. Sky Is The Limit tackles hunger by giving daily school meals to its 400 pupils, but was unable to grow enough food sustainably on its 8-acre farm.

 Our organic farm development project at Sky Is The Limit addressed the basic needs of the 400 children and 11 farm workers at Sky Is The Limit School by:increasing food sovereignty to battle malnutrition in 397 children, caused by poverty

1. improving the health of 30 children living with HIV/Aids
2. providing basic sanitation facilities for 10 farmworkers in the farmhouse
3. providing training in organic farming, reducing dependence on food aid
4. restoring the land's depleted resources caused by traditional farming methods

This project is part of a larger development scheme towards sustainability and the effects of climate change. Funding was secured separately through the Big Give Green Match Fund, a grant from the Instutution of Mechanical Engineers, and individual donations through GlobalGiving to cover the project. 

Mama Rose Organic Farm partnered with Micah Farm Institute, a Ministry of Education approved Agricultural institution located in Ibonde Parish, 6 Miles from Fort Portal. Micah Farm Institute created a unique organic training package specifically for the team, where they were able to participate in on-the-job training at the farm, with 2 morning theory lessons each week. Overall the course took 8 months. As of September 2023,  5 women and 6 men are now accredited in organic farming practices.

Some farm workers have been able to pass on the skills they have learnt to fellow community members, especially in areas of ground preparation, mushroom growing, the tending of banana plantations, and setting up nursery beds for various vegetables.

Through the training and guidance from Micah Farm institute, new skills and practices such as soil conservation, soil testing to establish soil nutrient content, mulching, intercropping, and crop rotation have been learnt and are being practiced.

A farm house with three spacious bedrooms, a living room and kitchen has been constructed on the farm. There is space in each bedroom for 4-5 people, with men and women in separate rooms. The building of this farm house was imperative, as while the farm workers live locally to the farm, many have to walk for approximately 30 minutes along unsafe roads and dirt tracks. With the team now living on the farm, work now begins at 7am which allows for extended breaks to be had during midday when the temperature is at its highest. There is also a well ventilated storage room for the equipment. The room also supports food storage with raised shelving which inhibits pests.

Here is what some of the beneficiaries have to say about their experience:

Beatrice, 28 Trainee

Beatrice is grateful and happy that she was chosen as one of the trainees at Mama Rose Organic Farm. 

Beatrice says, “I have learnt how to plant banana suckers, how to mulch, the importance of plant spacing. Initially I would cut off almost all the banana leaves from the stem but I have learnt that not all the leaves should be cut off. I also love growing mushrooms as they are not often found in local markets. I am confident that I can teach other community members how to grow healthy plants.”

Right now the difference the farm project has brought to her life is that she is able to take good care of her own banana plantation. This has helped her to fight hunger in her home because she can now be sure of a good harvest. Because she now uses organic farming practises at home as well, she can improve yields and quality of the harvests to improve health and earn money from selling food. Within the community, she is exemplary because many people come to her seeking advice and knowledge regarding different growing practices such as mushroom growing, banana cultivation, setting up nursery beds etc. She happily shares her knowledge with her community so that others can benefit from better food yields as food security is so low. “Initially, I did not know the processes of how to grow vegetables but now that I have been getting lessons about vegetable growing, it has become much easier to grow and have a constant supply for my home and also sell the surplus”.

Arthur, 7 pupil at Sky Is The Limit

Arthur is a pupil at Sky Is The Limit, in Primary two. He is the class prefect and he tries as much as possible to guide and advise his class mates and friends. Ever since he joined Sky Is The Limit, he has found it amazing. He says,

 “I really like it. I have made new friends and one of them is Travis, we usually go to the dining hall and get our meals together. We also play football during tea and lunch breaks. 

We also have lunch at school and the meals have become more delicious.  Most of the time it is because we have a variety of vegetables added, these include cabbages, carrots, Sukuma Wiki and we also had mushrooms! I believe these will also help me to learn and be strong. I like the porridge that we drink at Sky, now that it has the added milk, its so delicious and tasty. I like reading and enjoy literacy, mathematics and English and the food helps me to learn.”

Anna, 28 Deputy Head at Sky Is The Limit School

Anna is the Deputy Head Teacher at Sky is The Limit School, and has been there for two years now. She also teaches Form 2. She says, “I love to see the children’s faces peeking out of the windows when we get our weekly delivery of milk, cabbages, sukuma wiki and other fruit and vegetables from the farm”. She – like the rest of the staff at the school - is grateful to see the children’s diets improve greatly, and this has been reflected in their educational achievements. It’s also helping the school to grow, with more interest from parents who want to see their child enrolled in the school so that they can benefit from the school lunch programme.

We are so grateful to our funders and donors for your support for a great project! It is making a huge difference to so many children in Uganda. 

The Mama Rose Farm project started in February 2023. Our aims are to sustainably develop 8 acres of land to restore land damaged from traditional farming, and reduce effects of malnutrition for over 400 disadvantaged children aged 3-14 years at Sky Is The Limit School and Noah’s Ark both based in Fort Portal, an extremely impoverished area of Uganda.

We are training 10 farm staff in organic farm practices to decrease dependency on food aid, building a farmhouse for safe food and equipment storage. We support the basic needs of the school community to improve their health by increasing consumption of vegetables, meat and fish, which in turn will support their educational performance. Funding will be spent on training in organic farming, farm improvements, a farm truck to ease transportation of the produce. 

The recent report shows impressive progress. 

Increasing food sovereignty to battle malnutrition in over 400 children, caused by poverty.

Mama Rose organic farm is committed to battling Malnutrition among the children at Sky is the Limit school,  Noah’s Ark and at the Farm. Various vegetable gardens have been set up to meet this cause. Amongst the vegetable gardens we have grown are Green Pepper, cabbage, egg plants, carrots, onions, cull cull flower, Sukuma wiki, sour egg plants and purple egg plants. These specifically will provide the children with vital vitamins and minerals needed to fight off diseases and proper mental growth.

We have also planted beans on an average of 0.5 acres which we hope will be harvested in early January.

Bananas have also been planted and they occupy an area of 3/4 acre, we expect to get the first harvest around June 2024.

Approximately 3 acres of Maize Long 10 which is an improved variety was planted, we hope to harvest in February. This particular variety is high yielding and will provide the children with the much needed proteins and carbohydrates for their growth, strength and wellbeing.

Pond improvement.

There are currently 3 ponds that have been improved, The bigger one measures approximately 3800 square  feet and has been stalked with 4000 Tilapia Fish fingerings. The small pond measures approximately 1400 feet and has been stalked with 2000 cat fish.

We hope to stalk the third pond measuring 3300 square feet early next month. We hope by March/ April 2024, all these fish will have matured and supplied to the various branches of SITL fraternity.

Pasture improvement.

Aof land pproximately 1.5 acres has been opened up for pastures. With consultation we were advised to cultivate kikuyu grass, elephant grass(Sugar Napier Grass) and Mulato which enable high quality milk yields. 

We have equally competed animal husbandry in dairy cattle management, goat rearing, poultry management, rabbit rearing and aquaculture.

Improving the health of 30 children living with HIV/Aids.

The farm initially grew 40 gardens of Mushrooms and an addition of 40 more mushroom gardens was put in place, this was the first farm product to harvest back in April. This activity has been going on to date. Mushroom harvesting is ongoing and up to date, we have been able to supply Noah’s Ark 30kgs and 25Kgs  to the farm.

Providing basic shelter and sanitation facilities for 11 farmworkers in the farmhouse.

The house has 3 spacious bed rooms, a living room, a kitchen and store area. To increase the sanitation at the farm, a Ventilated Improved Pit latrine has been constructed with 2 door Inlets and a bathroom at the side.

The farm house will improve monitoring the workers' time keeping because they will be sleeping at the farm which will improve on production turnover, time management and cohesion and team work amongst the workers. At the moment the farm house front/ back doors have been fixed, all windows have been fixed and plastering has also completed. 

Painting and floor tiling will be the major activities left to work upon so that the house can be habitable by Christmas 2023.

Providing training opportunities in organic farming to reduce dependence on food aid.

Mama Rose Organic Farm partnered with Micah Farm Institute: which is a Ministry of Education approved Agricultural institution located in Ibonde Parish, 6 Miles along Fort Portal, Bundibugyo Road.

Micah farm institute has trained 10 farm workers in Organic Farming Practices both crop and animal husbandry, All the workers have gained basic skills and are able to carry out activities independently which has helped the trainees utilizing these skills to improve on nutrition for their families. 

Some farm workers like Harriet and Violet have been able to pass on the skills they have learnt to fellow community members especially in mushroom growing and tending of bananas, setting up nursery beds for various vegetables such as cabbages, Sukuma wiki, egg plants, carrots and cull flower.

Restoring the land's depleted resources caused by traditional farming methods.

Through the training and guidance from Micah Farm institute, new skills and practices such as soil conservation through soil testing to establish soil nutrient content, mulching, inter cropping, crop rotation have been learnt and are being practiced.

Against this background, there have been challenges that affect the normal operations of the farm with the main challenge being Unpredictable weather: rains and drought:

Due to global warming, there has become a lot of uncertainty in the traditional methods of cultivation that rely on the two seasons: the first season running from February to July and the second season running from August to January.

With the changes in the weather patterns Mama Rose Organic farm successfully applied to the Support Network of Mechanical Engineers to put in place an overhead irrigation system that will enable all year round production of crops to break the traditional cycle of seasons.

This will enable the farm to give a constant supply of foodstuffs to both Noah’s Ark and the school plus sell off the surplus to cater for the worker’s wages.

 We wish to thank all our GlobalGiving donors for helping us to start this important project. With your help, for many years to come, the children at Sky Is The Limit school will have fresh, nutritious daily meals that will benefit their ability to learn and to play. THANK YOU!