Climate change adoption for 100 farmers in Uganda

In the first report, Giving Hope Foundation indicated that the project of Climate change adoption for 100 farmers was first being implemented in phases in Kitoba sub-county, in Hoima district (northwestern Uganda).

Following a field visit by two board members, on March 10, 2022, Giving Hope Foundation hired one of Uganda’s leading experts in Bamboo cultivation called Andrew Kalema who is the CEO of Talent Agroforestry Farm and has over 12 years of experience in bamboo growing. The farmers learnt that there are more than 1,640 bamboo species in the world, Uganda has two indigenous species - the highland bamboo mostly found around Mt. Elgon and the lowland bamboo that is usually found in areas like Kitgum and Gulu districts. The farmers learnt about opportunities in bamboo growing including direct market demands, for example, bamboo leaves can be fed to animals like rabbits, goats and cows, and can be used as firewood, used in construction among others. He also explained to the farmers the different profitable avenues for bamboo value addition like making crafts, furniture, use in organic fertilisers and decorations. The farmers were practically trained on how to propagate, plant, grow and harvest bamboo. In total, 865 bamboo seedlings were distributed to the farmers, though our target is 1,200. 

On April 4, 2022: 20 gasifier stoves have now been deployed within the community. Mr Sembatya Muhammed aka Saddam demonstrated and trained the smallholder farmers on how to use the stoves including the advantages of using these stoves and showed the benefits of the stoves that indeed they cook faster, they emit little smoke that can endanger their lives and how to harvest charcoal from the firewood used in them. He informed the farmers that the charcoal could be used for further cooking in normal charcoal stoves. Alternatively, biochar i.e. could be crushed and buried in the ground to help the soils retain moisture and minerals for long and protect the living organisms in the soil which improves soil fertility as the soils are depleted as a result of poor maintenance. We still need to supply another 30 stoves for this pilot project.

On April 6, 2022: the farmers were trained in making biochar. Two biochar technologies were demonstrated: the RoCC and the Kon Tiki biochar kilns. The activity was carried out in a garden of one of the farmers. First, Saddam defined biochar with local examples, how it's made and its importance. Then he clearly illustrated how biochar is made, utilising woody materials that were available after last year’s harvest.

It is our hope that these interventions will help farmers save on the amount of fuel used for cooking, and reduce the frequency of collecting firewood, and the biochar will eventually lead to improved harvests and incomes for rural smallholder farmers for their local community development.

Note: Initial targets for the project have not yet been achieved because we raised half of the budget for the pilot project. Please share the news with your friends, family and networks who might wish to support 100 smallholder farmers in rural Uganda to adapt to climate change.
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Each year, nearly 3% of Uganda's forests (73.6kha) are cut down for fuel, agriculture and to make room for an increasing population.  Bulyango parish, located in Hoima district is a community that has experienced adverse deforestation. The area has experienced extreme environmental degradation mainly as a result of human activities which include;  wetland reclamation, massive deforestation for agriculture, timber, wood fuel, and poor farming practices among others. Due to these activities, chimpanzees that used to live uphill were displaced, so is river Waaki down the valley which has almost dried up. It is harder for smallholder farmers to produce enough food due to degraded soils and changing weather patterns.

This project which is being implemented in Bulyango Parish, Kitoba sub-county, Hoima (Uganda) focuses on mitigating the adverse effects of climate change that is being experienced by smallholder farmers. It aims at improving their standards of living by integrating better agricultural practices with environmental restoration, with future plans for value addition to bamboo as a means of ensuring sustainable development. The three areas of the project are 1) promoting gasifier cooking stoves that will save time and use less wood, 2) making biochar from agricultural wastes and 3)  bamboo growing.

• The project kicked off on 25/11/2021, we started by sensitising the smallholder farmers in the target area who are already organised into small groups called Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs). The project was explained to them in detail including how it will be implemented in phases and the future opportunities especially in creating various bamboo products that will diversify their incomes. In October, Giving Hope Foundation received the funds for the project. We decided to start with distributing gasifier stoves, later demonstrate the making of biochar and compost from agricultural wastes. Bamboo will be planted in March 2022 at the beginning of the rainy season.
• We identified the bamboo supplier who will also train the farmers in bamboo growing from seedling to harvest. We have scheduled a farm visit on 24 January 2022, to see practically how bamboo is grown. This will be followed by training for the farmers on 28, February 2022.
• We ordered 50 gasifier stoves and so far 10 have been delivered which we have not yet distributed because we are waiting for the suppliers to come and demonstrate to the recipients how to make and use them effectively.
• Biochar, farmers have started collecting and piling up solid agricultural residues especially from maize, beans and cassava which will be used for the training.
  

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• The clean fire of a gasifier stove