The Inspiring Journey of Adong Eunice, a Farmer Field School Facilitator
In small home in Abolo B Village, Teboke Sub-County, Apac District northern Uganda, a table which belong to Adong Eunice, a small holder farmer is overflowing with groundnuts, guava, sesame, palm fruits, yams, pigeon pea leaves, and so much more.
This tells a story of transformation and a vision of what strong food systems look like when farmers are at the centre of food systems. For Adong Eunice, a mother of eight, that story is often written in the soil before she even plants a seed.
Having left school in Senior Two, she walked her fields believing her potential ended where her formal education stopped. Like many smallholder farmers in the area, she relied on traditional farming practices, but these practices alone could no longer withstand the changing climate
A table flowing with groundnuts, guava, sesame, palm fruits, yams, pigeon pea leaves from Adong's gardens
Her harvests were low, soil was exhausted, and the gap between her income and her children’s school fees often felt like an unbridgeable chasm. She was not only just farming for food but also for survival.
The turning point came when Eunice joined the Wiitur Farmer Field School under the Sowing Diversity = Harvesting Security project where she began to see farming differently.
The Farmer Field Schools were created under the SD=HS project, which was implemented by ESSAF Uganda, Participatory Ecological and Land Use Management (PELUM) Uganda and Oxfam in Uganda with the aim of ensuring that farmers enjoy their rights and have the capacity to access, develop and improve their food and nutrition.
SD=HS was implemented to ensure that small holder farmers have the capacity to access, develop and use plant genetic resources to improve their food and nutrition security under conditions of climate change.
The soil beneath her feet became a place of learning and experimentation through the Farmer Field School approach and Participatory Plant Breeding. She was trained in Participatory Plant Breeding, climate-smart agriculture, Farmer’s crop improvement and adaptation and farmer enterprise.
Despite having incomplete secondary education, she expressed interest in plant breeding, and she has since become an expert. She also plants local neglected and underutilized species (NUS), plants whose biodiversity is essential to environmentally resilient food systems.
She described the uses of each plant and food on the table and how this has diversified her family's diet and helped prevent and manage some illnesses at home.
“Preserving and promoting this kind of local food and ecological knowledge is a cornerstone of food systems that are truly strong and sustainable”
Her curiosity, determination, and willingness to learn quickly set her apart and she was selected as a Lead Facilitator under the Cultivating Change in a Warming World project implemented by Oxfam through ESAFF Uganda.
The student soon became the teacher, a woman who once feared her limited education now stood before other farmers as a resource person on agroecology and climate-resilient farming Trainer of Trainees.
“A breakthrough came with the multiplication of Mak Soy 4 Soybean Variety. When they received the new soybean variety for multiplying, she used this opportunity to apply the knowledge she had gained. Eunice achieved her first significant commercial harvest, earning about UGX 1,500,000. ”
Instead of spending the income, she invested it wisely, by purchasing goats, poultry, and pigs, whose manure now enriches her soil. She also acquired two pairs of oxen, enabling her to cultivate larger fields while generating additional income by hiring them out to neighboring farmers.
To further secure her family’s livelihood, she started selling second-hand clothes, ensuring that even during difficult seasons her children’s education would not be interrupted.
Through Oxfam’s Gender Action Learning System (GALS) methodology, she and her children began planning their future together using a Vision Road Journey.
Through Oxfam’s Gender Action Learning System (GALS) methodology, she and her children began planning their future together using a Vision Road Journey.
This process helped them clearly define their goals, share responsibilities, and work collectively toward improving their livelihoods. Eunice credits this approach with strengthening cooperation within her family and enabling them to steadily achieve the dreams they set for themselves.
Today, Eunice’s farm is more than a source of food, it is a living classroom. Farmers from neighboring villages visit to learn from her diversified farming system. From a recent harvest, she produced 14 bags and five basins of soybeans, improving both household nutrition and income.
“She is now widely recognized as a trusted facilitator and mentor, guiding other farmers in agroecological practices and climate resilience. For Eunice, the greatest harvest has not only been the crops or livestock she now owns, but the confidence and leadership she has gained. ”
With funding from SIDA, Oxfam in partnership with Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Uganda, Eastern and Southern Africa Small-scale Farmers’ Forum (ESAFF), and Community Integrated Development Initiatives (CIDI), is implementing a four-year project in Adjumani, Apac, Amuria, and Soroti districts, targeting rural women and their communities, particularly smallholder food producers, climate change activists, land rights advocates, and local government technical teams and land boards agents of change in building a fair, green, equal, and safe world.