How circular regenerative agriculture is improving communities’ livelihoods in rural and urban Uganda

Good morning, listeners. In today’s program, we will discuss the benefits of circular and regenerative agriculture practices – in both rural and urban settings in Uganda. Farmers across the country are adopting these practices to boost soil fertility using inputs from around the farm. This is important because about 41% of Ugandan land is degraded, and experts say that this is caused by land fragmentation, over cultivation, poor soil conservation practices, over grazing in pastoral regions, and rapid population growth. As a result, farmers are harvesting low crop yields of our common staple foods like maize, beans, groundnuts, sweet potatoes, and cassava.

But there is hope. Our degraded lands can be restored to productivity by adopting various circular and regenerative farming practices to boost soil health. This includes practices such as minimally or zero tilled soils, using cover crops, crop rotations, composted manure, mulching, soil and water conservation, and well-managed grazing practices, among others.

In urban areas, circular and regenerative agriculture practices can be applied in home gardens to boost output, which can lead to more fruits and vegetables for families to eat. Vertical gardens can increase the amount of space for growing food in tight urban spaces, and still benefit from composted manure, water management, crop rotation, and companion planting.

Today we will speak to two young social entrepreneurs spreading the word about circular and regenerative agriculture practices in rural and urban settings. Stay tuned.

SIG TUNE UP, THEN FADE OUT

With us in the studio is Myres Ndyabawe, a journalist turned social entrepreneur and the founder of Simbula Ventures. Based in Kamwenge, Simbula Ventures is training rural small-scale farmers on circular and regenerative agricultural practices. Mr. Ndyabawe, welcome, and tell us about Simbula Ventures and how you got started in this work.

I founded Simbula Ventures in 2021 after graduating with a journalism and communication’s degree from Makerere University. We are in Kamwenge district of Western Uganda, and operate on seven acres of land where we grow coffee, which we intercrop with bananas, plus beans, maize, and sugarcane. We also have a structure where we grow mushrooms using agricultural waste.

What made you choose to train subsistence farmers on circular and regenerative agriculture, as opposed to traditional farming practices?

I am passionate about environmental conservation and my interactions with people who practice circular and regenerative agriculture, and reading the literature and watching videos of how people use available material to improve soil health, fertility, and productivity, inspired me to opt for regenerative agriculture. I also grew up on a farm and saw how yields increased where we applied animal manure. Over time, I have realized our soils no longer performed like they used to. And prolonged droughts and unpredictable rain patterns pose a threat to our productivity, so we had to look for solutions. The other reason for me was the desire to transform my community by engaging them in developing solutions to challenges using things within their reach.

As Simbula Ventures, what circular and regenerative farming practices do you train subsistence farmers on?

We have been training farmers to repurpose organic agricultural waste and use it as mulch to keep the soils moist, add fertility, and improve soil health.

We also teach agroforestry, especially to those involved in coffee farming. Trees like ficus and albizia coriaria are planted to shade the coffee-banana intercrops. Albizia coriaria boosts soil fertility by fixing nitrogen into the soil. Both trees also have a robust root system that anchors the soil and prevents erosion especially when it rains.

We also train farmers to use agricultural waste such as maize cobs, husks, stalks, bean and millet straw to grow mushrooms as a way of improving household incomes and food security.

How do you address pests and diseases in coffee and other crops without using chemicals harmful to the environment? Like the black coffee twig borer?

We do routine inspection to identify affected branches that we prune off and remove from farms to make sure we minimize multiplication. We also do crop rotation in some parts of the farm to break pest and disease life cycles. And also, by adding organic manure to our soils, our plants become more resistant to pests and disease.

How do you ensure the water in the soil is protected, more so in dry seasons, when rains are scarce?

We train farmers in agroforestry, and to mulch using crop stalk from maize and sugarcane, and plant cover crops to protect the soil surface and keep the soil moist. We also train farmers to harvest and conserve rainwater by digging trenches especially on slopy land. We also use organic matter, like compost and manure, to increase the soil’s water holding capacity. We are also growing capacity to introduce simple irrigation solutions and water-efficient production systems. Irrigation is more effective with mulching to increase moisture retention.

How many subsistence farmers have you trained on circular and regenerative agricultural farming? And how many are youth and women?

We have so far trained one-hundred ninety-two (192) farmers on circular regenerative agricultural practices, and over seventy per cent (70%) of these have been youth and women. We plan to train another two hundred fifty (250) youth and women before 2026 ends.

These are commendable achievements, Mr. Ndyabawe. And what difference are you seeing for the farmers you train? By how much would you say yields and incomes have increased for farming communities that have adopted circular and regenerative farming practices?

There is great improvement. For farmers who have gone into it fully, they have doubled their crop yields from what they got doing traditional farming. They are also earning incomes from initially degraded lands with coffee. Some with coffee on small parcels of land are earning at least 1 million Ugandan shillings ($270 US) per year after applying manure, as we trained them on circular and regenerative practices. Those who ventured into vegetable, mushroom, and poultry farming are reporting an increase of about one-hundred fifty thousand (150,000) Ugandan shillings per month ($40 US).

Simbula Ventures also trains farmers on financial literacy. Why is that important?

We are mobilizing subsistence farming communities to enter the money economy by teaching them how to turn farming from a survival activity into a profitable enterprise. That is why we are training them on financial literacy, record keeping, and market engagement.

Mr. Ndyabawe, tell us why subsistence farmers, and youth in particular, should embrace circular and regenerative agricultural practices in their farming?

They should accept that the effects of climate change are a big threat to food security. And arable land is not growing, yet populations are growing and that means more mouths to feed. So, we should look at a way we can protect our environment if we want it to be productive. We have many young people, the largest population in Africa now are young people who are unemployed. So regenerative agriculture creates opportunities of employment. I would urge especially young people who have gone to school or are educated to go back to their communities and transform them. And teach them how to work on their farms without harming the environment, and to transform their communities into productive communities. The opportunities that circular and regenerative agriculture brings, besides addressing food insecurity, can boost their incomes. And at the end of the day, you’re creating impact by mitigating climate related issues and creating resilient farming communities.

Mr. Ndyabawe, can subsistence farmers interested in learning about circular and regenerative agriculture reach out to Simbula Ventures?

Yes! We first try to understand their interest and the activities they are interested in. We ensure they can access organic waste before the training can start. Then we also agree on a fee. After the training, we do follow-up to ensure they are progressing well. Our contacts are simbulaventures@gmail.com and our phone number is +256-789-038721.

Thank you, Mr. Ndyabawe, for the great insights on how rural farmers can adopt circular and regenerative agriculture on their farms.

SHORT MUSICAL INTERLUDE, THEN FADE UNDER HOST

Dear listeners, we will now discuss how circular and regenerative agriculture is being applied by urban communities living in Kampala in small spaces. To help us with that, is Lilian Nakigozi the founder of Women Gro Initiative Uganda, an organization that is training low-income urban communities in urban and peri-urban Kampala to grow vegetables to fight hunger, and earn incomes by selling the surplus produce. Ms. Nakigozi, welcome, and start by telling us about Women Gro Initiative Uganda and your organization’s mission.

We started in November 2018 with about 20 women in Katanga slum. We started with training and giving them a few inputs. The truth is, this did not start in an office or a strategy meeting. It basically started as part of my personal experiences as a child growing up in an urban slum.

I grew up in Katanga slum here in Kampala. I was raised by a single mother with my other eight siblings, so food was never guaranteed. Some days we survived on one meal a day that was maize porridge. Other days we didn’t eat at all, and we went to bed hungry. What struck me even then was that we were not alone. This was the reality for almost every family around us because we had no land to grow food. That’s when the seed of this idea was planted.

I consider myself lucky because I managed to go to school on bursaries and scholarships. After my university studies, I began asking myself what solutions could actually work for people living in small, crowded urban spaces. That’s when I discovered vertical gardening. It was practical, affordable, and it could work in homes. That is how Women Gro Initiative Uganda was born. That realization that in the smallest spaces, families can grow their own food, generate incomes, and improve their nutrition.

We have established about five thousand (5,000) vertical farms across different communities in Uganda, which have helped nearly twelve thousand (12,000) people to improve their household food production. These farms are designed to maximize limited space, while enabling households, especially those women lead, to grow nutritious food

Growing up, what moment shaped your view of how urban communities are impacted by food insecurity?

We lost my three-year-old baby sister to malnutrition and hunger when I was eight years old. That is something that no family ever forgets. And what made it more painful was that when we asked for help, no one could help us, because they were all struggling too. So that moment changed how I see food insecurity now. It’s not just about food existing. It’s about whether families can access it. It made me realize that hunger in slum areas is often invisible. Many people assume that cities have food, but many families cannot afford nutritious meals. It’s something deeply personal to me, and it’s about ensuring that no child has to go through what my sister went through, and that no mother feels helpless trying to feed her family. That’s how it has really shaped me, and it’s the very reason why I do this work today.

That is so touching and inspiring. Describe to us what a vertical farm is, or how it is made? And how much investment is needed for one?

When we started, the pilot, it cost us for one vertical unit, about three hundred dollars US ($300 US) because we were testing and refining it. Today, we’ve simplified because we work with low-income communities. So, a household or a woman can have a vertical garden for as low as thirty-five dollars ($35). But low-income families still cannot afford them.

So, with my team, we thought of vertical garden units for low-income communities made using locally-available materials, for example, plastic bottles, buckets, basins, and tires. We also make vertical garden units from shade nets. Affordability is key, because if a solution isn’t accessible, it cannot scale. Then we mix soil with organic fertilizers. So, we have redefined our model to ensure it fits within our communities’ income levels, so that it’s a model that can easily be scaled.

What kinds of foods are grown on vertical gardens?

On the vertical farms, we primarily grow nutrient-dense and fast-maturing crops such as leafy greens, including spinach, kale, lettuce, onions, sukuma wiki (collard greens), and herbs, spices, and other vegetables. These crops are selected for both household consumption and income generation. One ordinary vertical garden can accommodate up to 200 plants.

Tell us how circular and regenerative agricultural practices are included on vertical gardens.

We train communities in composting using household organic waste such as kitchen scraps like vegetable peelings, banana and eggplant peels, onion skins, leftover food, fruit waste. We also teach organic pest and disease management, as well as water conservation techniques, such as drip irrigation and mulching, and soil fertility improvement.

You train urban vertical farmers to use worms to make compost. Tell us about that please?

That is vermicomposting, using earthworms. This helps to break down the organic waste into rich fertilizers. So, you use green kitchen peelings of eggplants, potatoes. You mix the damp ingredients together in a container with a plastic lining or bedding, and add the earthworms so they help to break down that waste into organic waste, which is a very rich fertilizer. The vermicompost can be harvested in two to six months if it is dark with a soil-like look, and crumbly, earthy texture with no food scraps remaining.

Vermicomposting fertilizer helps to improve the soil quality, improve moisture retention, reduces costs of purchasing inputs, and increases crop yields. That is a great way to turn kitchen waste into something valuable, so that nothing goes to waste.

Ms. Nakigozi, tell us how the communities you work with control pests and diseases in vertical gardens.

For that, we are currently using natural ways. One of them is spraying the plants using rabbit urine. It helps with pest management and disease control. Then the other thing is to do companion planting. For example, we include onions in our vertical gardens, as they help to chase away some pests. Then we also do garlic. We squeeze garlic and chili and make liquid out of it that can be used for pest management. The other thing is applying ash on the soil. We encourage our farmers to do it naturally, rather than spraying using chemicals, because these methods are safe, affordable, and very effective.

How do you make the rabbit urine pesticide?

Under the rabbit hutch sheds, sloping sheets or roofing materials are placed and connected to a gutter. These harvest the urine from rabbits into containers like jerrycans. Then they dilute the urine so that it does not burn the crops and spray it on the crops as a biopesticide.

How much can an ordinary vertical farm produce?

Each vertical farm produces an average of twenty-five to thirty-five (25 to 35) kilograms of vegetables per month, depending on the management practices. This translates to approximately three hundred to four-hundred twenty (300 to 420) kilograms per farm annually.

How do vertical gardens help urban communities to be resilient to effects of climate change?

Of course, these vertical gardens build climate resilience in several ways. First, they use much less water compared to conventional farming. Secondly, they allow families to grow food all year round, so they are not affected by unpredictable weather changes. Thirdly, they reduce reliance on seasonal markets. With vertical units, you can plant your crops anytime. Where there is scarcity for some produce, you as a vertical gardener, you can produce for the market. The other thing is the use of compost manure. It helps to protect the environment from the application of toxic fertilizers.

By how much have the incomes of these vertical farming communities increased?

On average, household incomes, they have increased to between seventy to eighty per cent (70 to 80%). That’s actually a very big increase. We are now grouping them. So, within those groups, they are forming SACCOs (savings groups). And within those SACCOs, some are saving money. Through continuous saving, they are able to access loans. We also train them on basic agribusiness skills like record keeping, digital literacy, value addition, and market linkage.

That is wonderful progress, Ms. Nakigozi. Why is it important to involve women in vertical farming, especially among low-income urban communities?

Women are at the centre of our work and over eighty per cent (80%) of participants in our vertical farming program are women – about eight thousand (8,000) total. This is intentional, as women play a critical role in household nutrition and food provision across many African communities. Our approach integrates food production with income generation and environmental sustainability, ensuring that women and their families build long-term resilience while improving nutrition outcomes.

How can urban communities interested in learning about circular and regenerative farming in small spaces reach out to your organization Ms. Nakigozi?

They can reach out to Women Gro Initiative Uganda and our phone contacts are +256-752-610523 or +256-706303171 and our email is info@womengro.org.

Thank you, Ms. Nakigozi for the great work your non-profit organization Women Gro Initiative Uganda does in ensuring low-income urban communities can grow food in small spaces using vertical gardens, while integrating circular and regenerative agricultural practices.

In today’s program, we also learned from Mr. Ndyabawe the founder of Simbula Ventures, an organization training rural Ugandan farmers on circular and regenerative agricultural practices to regenerate their lands and boost their crop yields.

Dear listeners, thank you for your attention. We hope our program today on different approaches to circular and regenerative agriculture in different regions has been educative and informative. See you in the next program.

SIG TUNE UP, THEN FADE OUT