Women fighting Climate Change through Agroecology

In August 2025, we established organic agriculture demonstration gardens with the aim to enhance soil health and agricultural sustainability, provide practical training on sustainable farming to local smallholder farmers of Kitoba-Hoima, improve food security and foster community collaboration. The initiative is supported by Rich Earth Institute and Earth Raising Foundation. We set up 4 demonstration gardens in 4 different places; Bujwahya, Kyakataba, Kiraira, and Mbaraara.

Key activities include site preparation, input acquisition, planting a variety of crops (beans and maize), and conducting farmer training sessions.

Land preparation. The following activities were done under land preparation,

• Bush clearing. This was done locally by use of hand slashers and hoes. 
• Land cultivation. This was done in two ways; primary and secondary cultivation. Primary cultivation was done by use of hand hoes and forked hoes. It involved deep uprooting of weeds and small trees to ensure clean gardens however land was left into ploughs. Then secondary cultivation was done later after 2 weeks where tillage was cultivated into tilth to make soils suitable for crop planting. 

Demarcation of gardens.  The gardens were raised into manageable plots in all the 4 sites/gardens. Each site consists of 21 plots of 4 meters by 2 meters and 3 lines of blocks. Spacing between plots is 0.5 meters and 1 meter between blocks.

Planting and Management: Organic seeds for maize and beans were acquired and planted following recommended procedures and spacing requirements. Activities included watering, weeding, pest management, and thinning. We applied 7 treatments; control, biochar, urine, compost, biochar+urine, biochar+compost and compost+urine and each treatment were applied in 3 plots in each garden.

Outcomes

• Established Garden: A fully functional demonstration garden was established, showcasing 2 types of crops.
• Skill Acquisition: Participants gained practical skills in various agronomy stages, from seedbed preparation to plantation. Our plants are still in the gardens but our participants will still be involved in harvesting and post-harvest management of the yields.

Future Plans

After 2 seasons, we will compile a report for results and provide training to small holder farmers in organic farming for sustainable agriculture.

Women fighting Climate Change through Agroecology is a project that empowers women-led groups to fight climate change through agroecology-sustainable farming methods that restore soil health, conserve biodiversity, and adapt to a changing climate. Combined with practical solutions such as land planning, agroforestry, and energy-saving stoves, women become decision-makers and agents of community resilience.

In first season of 2025, we gave out over a tone of bean seeds to women with the aim of equipping and empower women that they may become self-reliant, food secure and make income from the sale of some harvests.

We are thrilled to provide an update from women that received seeds in March 2025. The seeds germinated well and the crops took a period of two and half months to manure. The crops were planted in mid-march and harvested in early June 2025.

During that period, our staff conducted support and supervision to check on the health of the crops as well as offer advise on pests and disease control, maintenance of garden health and post-harvest handling.

Meet Atenyi who received the seeds in March 2025. She received 40 kilograms of beans and got harvests of 310 kilograms of beans.

“I’m so grateful to the project team who gave me quality bean seeds and trained us in better farming techniques. I gained more than what I planted; I kept 35kilograms of my harvest that I will plant next season, kept 50 kilograms for home consumption and sold out the remaining to meet basic needs of my family.”

We are grateful to our donor for the financial support and request more people to join us in empowering women in fighting climate change through agroecology.