Meeting with PELUM

On Friday 6 October 2016, I attended a meeting Caritas Nebbi held with Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Association (http://pelumuganda.org/) is a regional network of over 220 civil society organizations in 12 countries in East, Central and Southern Africa working in the area of participatory ecological land use management. The Association works to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers and the sustainability of farming communities, by fostering ecological land use management. Country chapters include Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Botswana, South Africa, Swaziland and Ethiopia.

Since 1995, PELUM Uganda has been working to improve the livelihoods of small-scale farmers and the sustainability of rural communities, through the fostering of ecological land use management. PELUM work to:

• Share skills and knowledge about good practices and techniques, through a broad network of likeminded organisations;
• Undertake research and demonstration projects; and
• Advocate for policies that better support small-scale farmers.

PELUM’s vision is to empower communities sustainably through utilizing their natural resources.  This is achieved through a network of organisations promoting ecological land use management through capacity building, research and advocacy for improved community livelihoods.

PELUM’s work includes:

Agricultural Market Development - to promote smallholder farmers’ access to favourable agricultural markets for improved incomes; the programme includes working in the following areas: the provision of agricultural credit and market information, and training in areas of value addition for crops and produce and market linkages, and marketing models.

Sustainable Farming Systems - to promote sustainable farming systems among smallholder farmers for enhanced agricultural productivity; this is achieved through promoting sustainable seed systems for increased food security and seed management, saving, multiplication and use among smallholder farmers; climate change adaptation; promoting ecological land use practices that guarantee biodiversity conservation and well as production and productivity both for now and future generations; and promoting the role of indigenous knowledge on food and agriculture as well as local farmer innovations in agriculture.

Advocacy - to promote effective participation of member organizations in policy processes on issues that affect agricultural production and market access; this is achieved through promoting research and dissemination of policies for advocacy on issues affecting smallholder farmers including agriculture financing, land rights, trade, sustainable agriculture, climate change and market access; and creating platforms at local, national and regional levels for smallholder farmers to voice their concerns.

 

PELUM works closely with Caritas Nebbi and both organisations share knowledge and experience to build and develop their work and to deliver programmes which will ensure Ugandan farmers know which crops to plant where and when and how to manage those crops from planting to market to ensure the best return for themselves and their families.