Namalu

Agricultural Extension Project

Background

Unlike the rest of Uganda, the people of Karamoja are traditional nomadic herdsmen.  No where better than here can the tension be seen between settled ‘modern’ peoples and the traditional nomads.  A wide range of tensions and more lately conflicts are erupting over land and water resources. Less and less can the Karamojong move easily to traditional grazing lands with large scale over grazing resulting. The people of Karamoja are between a rock and a hard place and it is hard to see how their ancient way of living in a balance with their resources can continue for long.

FOAG and Namalu

Given their background, the people here have little knowledge or culture of crop cultivation. For this reason the project targets farmers who are keen to establish their own holdings, to build a home, plant orchards and vegetables, as well as develop animal husbandry skills. The area has rich soils, but the availability of water is at a premium. This is an arid region of Uganda and drought is never far away from these people’s lives. However FOAG has been able to help with the provision of foot pumps, which have proved invaluable to holdings alongside watercourses. The programme to establish holdings for each farming family has been budgeted over a number of years and has taken place in two areas, Namalu and Irirri. The Namalu project began in 2000 and the Irirri project started in 2002.

 
Zacharia tending to one of the fruit tree grafts

The priority with each site was to make it secure from grazing animals with the planting of live hedges, and in the main Kay Apple was used as it has very large thorns and thrives in difficult conditions. Homesteads have been built together with storage for crops and there is a wide sharing of knowledge within the groups as they have regular meetings and workshops to establish good practice of husbandry. A nursery was established to provide hedging and fruit trees for the orchards. An extension of the scheme to give the farmers a principle activity with dairy cows, goats or poultry has been undertaken in Namalu by about 6 farmers, and the project in Iriri is due to be completed in 2008, where the same extension is happening. FOAG’s presence here is a really worthwhile focus to bring farming knowledge to a people living in an extremely difficult situation.

Project Update 2010

For some years FOAG has supported a number of successful demonstration farm plots around Namalu town.  The project targets farmers who are keen to establish their own holdings, to plant orchards and vegetables, as well as develop animal husbandry skills. The 2009 Monitoring Group were encouraged by what we saw of the demonstration plots particularly as many other farmers have adopting some of the approaches for themselves.

Moni  Anna is one of the excellent demonstration farmers. With FOAGs support Anna has planted a thick hedge around her field to stop wondering cattle and goats devastate her crops. Then she has grown a successful tree plantation to supply wood for cooking and building as she knows the community cannot continue to chop down the remaining trees in the region.  On top of that she has built a stall for a cross bred cow which is now in calf. Anna plans to sell the milk as a small income for her family.  People come from all over Annas parish to see what she has done and learn from her success.

The demonstration plots are not the Namalu Centres only success as it now provides an ever widening range of services to the community. Ox and donkey carts and yokes are made to order, there is a critically important subsidised animal health service, a seed micro finance scheme and a very important farmer training programme.

The Karamoja region is one of the poorest in Uganda and very prone to unpredictable rains.  Now operating as the Chekwii Initiative for Rural and Integrated Development, it is good to see the Namalu Centre standing on its own feet, but there is still much to be done in that region.

Project Coordinators: Iain Patton

Like the malaria he contracted while working in Kenya, Africa has got into Iains blood!  His passion is the need to find a better balance between social, economic and environmental pressures particularly as Africans are now finding themselves at the sharp end of climate change and resource depletion. In FOAG Iain is particularly interested in the agricultural, environmental and micro credit projects. His day job is running a national sustainability organisation for universities and colleges and he takes every opportunity to link institutions in the UK and Africa and Asia.

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Project Manager Zachariah Ikwol

A typical Karamojong Manyatta Homested

A very successful agroforestry plot near Iriri

Grateful onlookers by one of the FOAG donated cross bred cattle and stalls

Hand carving a Ox ploughing yoke, one of the skills taught at the Namalu centre The Namalu Centre   At least three mothers and children will be protected from mosquito bites   Village view at the foot of mount Kadam. A harsh but beautiful place

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