Subsistance farming

Yesterday, Thursday 8 September 2016, I visited a remote rural farming community about 25km from Paidha (a busy border town in northwest Uganda at its border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo).  The area lies just north of the equator and is between 1,500m and 1,800m above sea level.  Although Paidha is only about 60km from Nebbi, as the journey was entirely along unmade roads it took just over two hours each way.  The roads were heavily track damaged due to the high volume of heavy lorries plying between the DRC and Uganda through the Paidha border crossing.

 

I travelled with Alfred and Alan from Caritas and our new intern and we met with representatives of farms from three villages who are being supported through a food security programme Caritas has been delivering in the area over the last five years.  The meeting was an opportunity for Alfred to explain the objective and targets for the next growing season (in the West Nile, there are two growing seasons linked to the region's two rainy seasons). 

 

 

The villages have embraced the programme with enthusiasm and have recognised the benefits for their families from the input and are keen to develop the farming skills further, including learning about new income-generating crops and basic marketing, including the benefits of the villages agreeing to grown the same crops to maximise their market position.  In addition, the programme includes sanitation, hygiene and health education.  Most of the villagers Caritas are working with have had little if any education and no access to even the most basic health care until about 5 years ago.  The meeting ended with Alfred asking the villages what "bonus" they wished to receive to recognise and reward their endeavours.  The rejected the offer of a piggery preferring onion and tomato seeds as both these crops bring a good source of income.  In addition, representatives from each village were selected to attend a two day training course at Andraa Agricultural College and it was agreed that Caritas would provide several sacks of cement for each village to build a protected spring and so improve the quality of the water they are drawing for drinking, cooking, etc. 

 

After the meeting we headed off to see the progress of one of the farmer's onion crops.  It was at this point that I realised just how steep the slopes these farmers are cultivating are.  I estimate that the slopes were between 30 and 45 degrees - pretty hairy!

 

 

The villagers income in now estimated to around 400,000 and 600,000 Uganda shillings per growing season.  This equates to between £200 and £250 per annum, based on the two growing seasons.