ince its establishment, V.F.O has carried out several activities in agriculture promotion and development and capacity building. The organization started from scratch (there was little knowledge). This was the situation then:
• The methods of land preparation, planting and caring for the crops were not as they should be.
• Farmers used to plant seeds that had a very low germination percentage, as they used to eat the better seeds. The seeds that were left were insufficient and of low quality.
• The little money the farmers had had to be used to purchase seeds that were not of the best quality themselves.
• The planning of the farms was not well done and this too resulted in poor harvest and lack of sufficient food.
• There was no knowledge about the management of water to alleviate drought and climate change.
• The land, due to increased use of chemical fertilizer, was not productive enough as it had become polluted. The crops could not grow properly.
• These problems, among others, led to increased poverty and hunger. After the merger, we elected an office in place so as to take the organization to the desired levels. The leaders, headed by the Chairperson (Eliud Omutanyi), searched far and wide for information on better and safe ways of farming. It is through this that we discovered that the permaculture approach was the best and safest way of doing our agriculture. We then shifted to these methods of farming which proved very successful:
• We increased harvest in the first season of the trial.
• We learned intercropping which, too, has resulted in increased harvest and thus food security.
• The soils are also cared for with the use of compost and mulch.
• Water is stored in the soil with the help of swales
• Water-saturation of soils during the rainy seasons is alleviated thanks to raised beds.
• We have a healthier land and the production has increased significantly.
• Hunger is much less of an issue.
• We have a better understanding of nutrition and diversity in our crops and foods.
• We are relying more on indigenous plants.
• Farmers are now having more additional activities which include seed bulking and more information-finding on proper ways of farming.
• Classes are given and there are meetings where information and observation of results are shared.
• Trials are put together for observation and learning purposes and to determine the best methods for our region and climate. We are also doing more than improving our soils and ensuring food security in spite of climate change:
• We are using the table-banking method (pooling our moneys and borrowing from the pool) for projects such as the purchase of solar panels so our children have electricity to study by.
• We are pooling our moneys to purchase time in internet-access facilities for the purpose of research for better methods. When we started, there were 35 of us. Now that they have seen the results, many more are interested and at one meeting, after only 6 months of results, 200 more wanted to learn our methods. We are thinking of ways of passing along know-how so all can benefit, at this point through text messaging and this FaceBook site. We are hoping that, thanks to the better financial situation a better management of our land and capacities will have brought, more and more farmers can afford to access the internet and benefit from what will have been put on this site. Any contribution of knowledge that will further our goals is appreciated. Please be aware in any information you provide that our access to the internet is limited and costly (YouTube videos are unfortunately a luxury). While our focus is the Butere region, any farmers’ questions along the lines of our goals, namely improved standard of living, are welcome and we’ll do our best to answer. We will endeavor to create mini-lessons to help increase knowledge.
