By Eric Younger | Founder
Welcome,
With this quarter’s update I want to introduce you to one of our new local Ugandan NGOs, Bio Gardens. The Foundation for Community Development and Empowerment (FCDE) works with about 25 local organizations in each of its program sites. Local partners go through a two year process with FCDE that involves education, consulting and financial support with the intent of making the organizations stronger and more efficient.
FCDE's core work relates to the development and nurturing of local Ugandan NGOs. Bio Gardens represents part of a third cohort of NGOs that have partnered with FCDE. This third cohort brings our number of partners inthe Kasese District to 25 which is our target number of partners in a program locaion.
Bio Gardens is an indigenous organization with a purpose of bringing people together to conserve their land, water, air, animals and plants while developing sustainable ways to improve local livelihoods. Bio Gardens operates alongside the hills and the low lands of Mount Rwenzori.
Bio Gardens works to promote indigenous knowledge in the Rwenzori region by respecting the wisdom and teachings of our elders’. Our elders have knowledge and practice in agriculture and conservation that can positively impact communities when properly utilized. Bio Gardens utilizes a community-based approach for integrating indigenous knowledge in agriculture, health and conservation for the protection of Rwenzori Mountain’s eco-system.
Some of Bio Gardens programs include:
1. Improved health among the poor communities:
The organization promotes the use of herbal medicines and nutritional. Communities are mobilized to establish medicinal plant gardens in their households. They are trained in how to produce and use local herbs. The organization produces herbal medicines which it supplies to the poor community members at a subsidized cost. The organization also integrates herbal medicines into modern medical services in Uganda.
2. Environmental Conservation and Food Security:
Under this program, the organization mobilizes the community to use improved agronomic practices (organic farming) and to adopt new appropriate agriculture technologies to increase crop production. The organization promotes the use of traditional foods that have proven themselves to be nutritional as well as tolerant of local growing conditions. Communities are educated on environmental conservation, recycling and applying improved methods of farming and tree planting.
3. Savings and credit for the poor farmers:
The organization mobilizes farmers to save and use the savings as loans to agricultural inputs and for investment.
Bio Gardens, like all of our Ugandan partner organizations, receives our services free of charge. Your tax-exempt contributions allow us to continue to provide these services and to expand to additional locations in East Africa.
Thank you.
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