(UGANDA) Violet Mukunde is a farming mother who has been the sole provider for her three children since she lost her husband in 2000. Violet lives with her children in the district of Kabale in Uganda. Kabale is a hilly, densely populated area where lots of farming has taken place over the past years. So much farming, in fact, that the soil has become depleted and plants can no longer thrive. Although Violet worked hard to try to get crops, in her rocky garden, it seemed the plants refused to grow.

Violet’s farming difficulties made it hard for her to earn a steady living and provide for her family. On top of meeting her family’s basic needs, she wanted desperately to find a way to pay for her daughter's tuition so she could attend university. She was a mother with dreams for herself and for her children, but struggling to find the means to make them a reality.

Then Violet joined a conservation agriculture program run by World Renew and its partner in Kabale—Pentecostal Assemblies of God (PAG)—and her dreams for a better future started to seem more attainable.

Violet is now happy to know she has enough food to feed her children, and shares some of her food with her mother as well. Violet also looks forward to using the money she earns from future harvests for her daughter’s education.

World Renew and PAG Kabale have been working together in Kabale for over 10 years on community development projects, including agricultural training to teach farmers new and better practices to help improve their crops.

One key method that farmers are trained in is conservation farming. This method involves not tilling the soil and keeping the soil covered at all times in order to prevent the precious top soil from washing away. World Renew and its local partners—in Uganda and in other countries involved in agricultural projects—call this type of agriculture “Farming God’s Way”.

Violet is one of over 200 farmers in Kabale that have been trained in “Farming God’s Way” in the past three years. When she attended the program, she learned about the basics of conservation agriculture, and practices such as crop rotation and the use of mulch. Violet then took her new skills home and put them to the test. Soon she began to see great results.

“When we learned about mulching, I came and tried it on my garden. I tried it on a small portion,” she said. “Surprisingly, in that first season, from that small portion of the garden I was able to harvest enough Irish potatoes. I sold some and got UGX 200,000 (about $55 USD). The second season I planted maize. We ate enough fresh maize, shared with the neighbors and still harvested 32kgs. This was unbelievable because this place is rocky and no crop could grow!”

Violet is now happy to know she has enough food to feed her children, and shares some of her food with her mother as well. Violet also looks forward to using the money she earns from future harvests for her daughter’s education.

“I have planted sweet potatoes and provided manure for them and they are doing well. I have now asked my daughter to join me in mulching so that we can plant more crops, sell them, and raise her tuition fees for university.”

Violet isn't the only one enjoying her new farming knowledge. Beatrice is another woman in the community who attended the program and then decided to do some experimenting using what she had learned.

Beatrice tried the new method of using mulch in part of her garden and left the other part as she normally would. She was amazed by the difference between the two sections that were planted on the same day! In the section with the mulch, she harvested four times what she normally would. In the old section, however, she did not have anything to harvest!

"I wish I had known this type of farming before,” shared Beatrice. “It controls weeds so it significantly reduces the amount of time spent on weeding, controls soil and wind erosion, retains water in the soil and generally the mulched garden looks good." 

Two of Beatrice's neighbors have noticed how well her garden is doing and decided to try the new methods as well. It just goes to show how a little boost can go a long way for those who receive it. Now Violet and Beatrice have a steady source of both food and income, and gardens they can be proud of!

By Madeleine Schaafsma, World Renew Co-op student
Photo Credit: Anthony and Sarah Sytsma