JACKSON NIYORUGIRA SEBIGUNDA

This project consists of: Capacity building of communities on sustainable techniques of crop production (urban farming and peri-urban farming), post-harvest management and food processing.  A manual is already produced for this purpose. This will enable all members of the community to develop skills and competencies to contribute to inclusive local development. This will increase access to healthy, affordable, fresh agricultural produce and provides communities with opportunities to learn about nutrition and growing food, increase income for farmers and helps producers find alternatives to buying food thus reducing the cost of living.

After training and workshops: soil-less farming (hydroponics, aquaponics) systems will be set on demo farms. Other urban farming techniques to be implemented are: organic fertilizers production (compost and vermicompost); Mushroom production, rooftop gardens, and backyard gardens, Bee keeping, fish breeding and aquaculture (fish ponds). We will set a community supported agriculture (CSA) service that makes members of the community self-sufficient in food production while significantly improving the safety, quality, and environmental footprint of food.

For countryside and peri-urban farming: land mapping using geographic information system and mapping tools will help map farmlands of communities and thus participate in the eradication of land disputes due to farmland boundaries.  On the other hand, for researchers in the community smart farming tools (sensors, satellite images drone images for crop monitoring) will be taught to them for future use in extension programs.