Sustainable Agriculture Uganda Project #50988

Build A Farm! Feeding children and training youth

by Ecologia Youth Trust

Project Report | Jul 26, 2023
Organic Farming for a Greener Tomorrow: A Project

By Robyn Cooper | Associate Director

The Farmhouse at the organic farm

Organic Farming for a Greener Tomorrow: A Project Update

In early February 2022, Sky Is The Limit broke ground and began working on developing 8-acres of land into a productive organic farm – named ‘Mama Rose Organic Farm’ in memory of Sky Is The Limit’s beloved founder, Mama Rose.

The purpose of the organic farm project is to sustainably develop 8 acres of land, restoring land damaged from traditional farming, and reduce the effects of malnutrition for over 400 disadvantaged children aged 3-14 years at Sky Is The Limit School in Fort Portal, an extremely impoverished area of Uganda.

Fort Portal is one of the poorest regions of Uganda according to the Ugandan Ministry of Health, with high food insecurity caused by poverty, use of unsustainable agriculture methods, and inadequate food storage methods. The School currently delivers a School Meals Programme that is annually funded by Ecologia Youth Trust fundraising, however this programme is becoming increasingly difficult to fund. Development consultations with Sky Is The Limit highlighted a need to cultivate the 8 acre farmland to increase supplies for the school meals from 10% to 60% over 6 years.

Our organic farm development project at Sky Is The Limit aims to address the basic needs of over 400 children and 10 farm workers at Sky Is The Limit School by:

increasing food sovereignty to battle malnutrition in over 400 children, caused by poverty
Improving the health of 30 children living with HIV/Aids
Providing basic shelter and sanitation facilities for 11 farmworkers in the farmhouse
Providing training opportunities in organic farming to reduce dependence on food aid
Restoring the land's depleted resources caused by traditional farming methods

The farm team have been working incredibly hard, battling both Uganda’s rainy and dry seasons, however their progress to date has been exceptional! The farmhouse built is near completion, all 3 fish ponds are nearly ready to be filled with the next rains in August, and the plants are growing strong and healthy! They are currently growing plants such as green pepper, cabbage, eggplants, carrots, onions, cauliflower, Sakuma wiki, spinach, mushrooms, bananas, maize, beans sweet potato and cassava. These will provide the children at Sky Is The Limit with vital vitamins and minerals needed to stay healthy.

On top of the intensive learning and growing of plants, the farm is also delighted to introduce you to its newest member – a dairy calf! Its mum is currently providing 12 litres of milk a day, enough to supply both the calf and Sky Is The Limit School!

Matthew, 17

Mathew is one of the Trainees at Mama Rose Organic Farm. From the first time he started working on the farm, a lot has changed in his life. By the time he came to the farm, he was more used to traditional agricultural methods and using lots of inorganic chemicals but things have changed for the better. His knowledge was based on randomly digging holes without much thought to plant vegetables, but now he has learnt that you have to first make a nursery bed and that when planting out, the plants need space. He is now growing a range of vegetables at the farm, such as cabbages, onions, watermelon, carrots.

Another thing he has learnt is how to look after banana plants correctly, including how to mulch and thin the plants. Initially, he thought one would just dig and leave many suckers on the root stock but he has learnt that for each banana frond, you leave only 4 banana plants which makes the plant grow bigger and healthier. Mathew has also learnt that for some crops to grow well, they need to be grown on a mound so that the plant can get deep soils to fatten.

“The difference the farm has brought to my life is that I am more confident in the work I am doing. Now, many people in the community consult me regarding agricultural practices like growing bananas and mushrooms and also preparing nursery beds for vegetable growing”.

Arthur, 7

Arthur is a pupil at SITL 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 get breakfast porridge together and at times if am not able to get my meals, Travis helps me pick them up. 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.”

Ever since Arthur came to Sky Is The Limit, he believes he is a better person and he is working hard to become a doctor in the future. Above all he is grateful that Mama Rose Organic Farm is providing all these vegetables and he wishes to one day meet the good people who have enabled all this to happen.

We are still seeking funding for the farm, e.g. for securing a farm truck, to purchase more seeds and fruit trees, and to make sure each fish pond is filled with over 20,000 catfish! Donate today and you can make sure the Mama Rose Organic Farm will thrive for generations to come.

Spinach nursery bed at the farm

Preparing mushroom gardens with coconut husks

The first calf born at the Mama Rose Farm

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Feb 24, 2023
Introducing 'Mama Rose Organic Farm'

By Robyn Cooper | Associate Director

The team outside Micah Farm Institute

We’re so pleased to announce that our new organic farm development project at Sky Is The Limit starts this month in Uganda, a country with the most organic producers in Africa and whose president supports sustainable agriculture methods that regenerates the environment, increases the country’s wealth and protects the health of its people.

Named after ‘Mama Rose’, who was the founder of Sky Is The Limit School in Fort Portal, Uganda and an incredible woman who dedicated her life to helping children. Rose passed away on 9th December 2021 due to the Coronavirus.

Our partner Mama Rose Organic Farm project at Fort Portal aims to address the basic needs of the 397 children and 10 farm workers at Sky Is The Limit School by:

increasing food sovereignty to battle malnutrition in 397 children, caused by poverty (or however many children are at the school)
improving the health of 30 children living with HIV/Aids
providing basic sanitation and shelter for 10 farm workers in the planned farm house
providing free training in organic farming to upskill workers (we aim for 60% of workers to be women) and support knowledge sharing with wider communities
giving the children increased variety and access to highly nutritious daily meals to support their increased health and wellbeing.

The farm will restore and protect the land for future generations by:

training staff in organic farming methods will help restore the ecosystem for future generations, and promote organic farming in rural Uganda.
sing approaches that work with nature to produce bigger harvests, reduce deforestation and that keep regenerate the soil and make best use of water healthy

With organic practices and careful and adequate food storage and processing, it is likely that the Mama Rose Organic Farm at Sky Is The Limit School will harvest excess produce to sell at local markets. The income derived from their efforts will be re-invested in the farm and its staff.

Mama Rose Organic Farm Project at SITL will be divided into four stages:

Stage 1 – Begin farmhouse construction, fencing, ground preparation, 10 staff training, purchase laptop

Stage 2 – Complete construction, fencing, ground preparation, crop planting, purchase farm truck

Stage 3 – Fish pond improvements, crop planting

Stage 4 – Purchase livestock and feeding/water troughs

It is envisaged that the project will be operational by February 2024.

The project aligns with Uganda’s National Agricultural Policy and the United Nations‘ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Uganda’s National Agriculture policy is in line with the SDGs which commit Member States of the United Nations to globally:

end poverty in all its forms (SDG 1)
end hunger, achieve food security and improve nutrition as well as promote sustainable agriculture (SDG 2)
protect, restore, promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss (SDG 15).
Organic Agriculture has the capacity to achieve all of the three United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

On February 13th, the 10 farm workers (5 women and 5 men who live local to the 8-acre farm - began their training with the Micah Farm Institute, a dedicated training centre for organic farming practices in Fort Portal, accompanied by Christine, the farm manager, and Brian, the project supervisor.

It will take some time for the farm to be fully operational and meet the nutritional needs of the children. In the meantime, our School Meals programme continues. Since 2014, we have funded over half a million school meals to children at Sky Is The Limit School, which improves their ability to concentrate and provides them with the vital nutrition they need for healthy development. For some of them, it is their only meal of the day.

Planting the first tree in celebration!

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Oct 25, 2022
Supporting Young People During Crisis

By Robyn Cooper | Associate Director

Enjoying a hot school lunch

There’s no other way to say it, the cost of living crisis is hitting hard on a global scale.

In Africa, hundreds of millions of people are facing the greatest cost of living crisis experienced in recent years due to rising food and energy prices; rapid inflation and increasing debt. The poorest are being hit the hardest, with all this additional stress falling on to African people who already contend with food and water shortages.

In Fort Portal, Uganda - where we work with Sky Is The Limit School to provide a quality primary education to disadvantaged children - families are struggling more than ever to make ends meet. 35% of children are already living in poverty… their lives and livelihoods are becoming seriously compromised.

Prices for essential commodities such as food, cooking oil, and soap have increased sharply. The cost of 1kg of maize flour has increased by as much as 50% - the highest it has been since Uganda experienced its last food crisis in 2017. Families are reporting that they are more often spending an entire day without eating as they run out of food.

This is why our organic farm project has never been so important as it is now for the health and wellbeing of the children who attend Sky Is The Limit School. By donating today you can help turn 8-acres of land into a productive, organic farm to feed 397 children a nutritious meal every day.

Just £5 can supply 5 seed packets so that the children can eat a range of healthy vegetables.

Or, donate £20 and you can help make it possible for 397 children to eat fresh fish every week.

These school meals make such a difference to these children. It gives children, whose families are barely able to feed them 1 meal a day - have the energy to focus and do well in school, put on healthy weight, and reduce their symptoms of anaemia and starvation.

Not only will our organic farm provide a fruitful supply of food to feed 397 disadvantaged children who experience hunger every single day, but it will produce that food by using environmentally friendly techniques which will help to restore the land.

This project is a big undertaking: with £10,000 raised already we need to secure a further £40,000 to cultivate the land, buy seeds and livestock, and build a farmhouse to store all the harvested food and equipment.

Growing an organic farm is essential to our mission of helping Sky Is The Limit become a sustainable and environmentally friendly school that can help disadvantaged children for years to come.

Please donate today to build a prosperous and sustainable future, restore damaged land, and build a greener future for disadvantaged children.

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