{"id":3109,"date":"2020-10-06T15:36:02","date_gmt":"2020-10-06T13:36:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/sg\/stories-insights\/joint-agroforestry-project-in-uganda\/"},"modified":"2023-05-23T17:42:02","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T15:42:02","slug":"joint-agroforestry-project-in-uganda","status":"publish","type":"stories-insight","link":"https:\/\/www.ldc.com\/sg\/en\/stories-insights\/joint-agroforestry-project-in-uganda\/","title":{"rendered":"Joint Agroforestry Project in Uganda"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Improving Coffee Farmers\u2019 Livelihoods While Preserving Vital Natural Resources.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uganda is the second-largest coffee producer in Africa.\nDeforestation and unsustainable agricultural practices have led to severe\ndegradation of ecosystems. Added to that, climate change and loss of fertile\nsoil have led to a decrease in coffee production. This affects some 500,000\nsmallholder farmers who depend on coffee for their livelihoods and produce the\nmajority of it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

LDC has\njoined forces with the Louis Dreyfus Foundation<\/em><\/a>, PUR\nProjet<\/em><\/a> and the Rwenzori\nFarmers\u2019 Cooperative Union <\/em>(RFCU) to support farmers in Uganda\u2019s Rwenzori\nregion, helping them to improve coffee yields sustainably, and to achieve\nlong-term food and income security, despite these challenges. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As part of this joint project, each participating organization\ncontributes funds, technical skills or local knowledge to create a solution that\nis tailored to the environment in Rwenzori and benefits farmers in a tangible\nand lasting way.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Samuel Banyenzaki, one of LDC\u2019s agronomists, works directly\nwith the farmers, training them in good agricultural practices (GAPs) to improve\nthe quality and quantity of coffee they harvest and, in turn, increase their income\nand profitability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Emmy Masereka, an agroforestry technician at the RFCU, passes on his knowledge and skills by teaching farmers planting, pruning and stumping techniques, and the right time to apply them. \u201cThe project teaches farmers about the importance of applying GAPs, like planting shade trees. They also learn that stumping trees rejuvenates them and produces bigger coffee beans than older trees, which allows farmers to sell more coffee at a higher price. They now realize that they can harvest good quality coffee on all their parcels,\u201d he comments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Meanwhile, LDC, the Louis Dreyfus Foundation<\/em> and PUR Projet<\/em> are working together to involve\nthe broader community and gain their support. By organizing interactive theatre\nplays, they raise the villagers\u2019 awareness of the importance of cooperatives,\nthe realities of climate change and how planting new trees to reforest can help\nprotect their surrounding ecosystem. In early 2020 alone, before the national\nlockdown due to Covid-19, over 18,000 people from 15 villages attended these\nplays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since it was launched in 2018, the project has planted a total 110,000 trees with 469 beneficiaries. The next milestone is to train another 1,600 farmers in agroforestry and GAPs, and to plant another 70,000 trees, in 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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