Alfred Okello lives in Abripin, Ogwolo, Soroti district. He is a member of Ogwolo Mixed Farmer Field School (FFS). Although he only studied up to Primary Two, his impact in his community in farming far surpasses those with higher qualifications. 

Alfred as a role model farmer

The Ogwolo Mixed FFS, formed in 2016, is comprised of 30 members (18 women and 12 men) who came together to improve their livelihoods.

“We realized that for us to benefit from government and NGO programs, we had to be organized. Before the training, we didn’t know how to run a group. Now, we share knowledge, plant together, and support one another.” Alfred notes.

Under Sowing Diversity = Harvesting Security (SDHS) II project, implemented by PELUM, ESAFF with funding from SIDA through Oxfam, the project is empowering indigenous peoples and smallholder farmers to enjoy their rights as farmers and have the capacity to access, develop and use plant genetic resources to improve their food and nutrition security.

 Alfred and his FFS were supported to experiment both local and hybrid seeds. They also received training on good agronomic practices such as line planting, mulching and following weather forecasts to make planting decisions.

They also received start-up inputs including groundnuts and beans seeds, and also cassava stems to kick start their journey.

‘We were looking at qualities such as high yielding, quick maturing, drought-tolerant and pest and disease resistant.  While monitoring these activities, we were able to select seeds that suit our climate conditions and soils,’ he adds.

Through this experimentation, the group identified crop varieties most suitable for their local soils and decided to start cultivating them.

‘’We used to broadcast seeds which wasted a lot of seeds. Line planting allows us to cover more areas of land efficiently and when there are pests in the garden, they can easily be managed and removed from other crops. Line planting makes it easy to spray plants,’ he added.

The groups were also introduced to replanting and growing indigenous crops, such as spider plant, local variety of beans (Araka and green gram), cassava for food security, ground nuts)

From this training, Alfred picked up the inspiration to grow the neglected species. 

Venturing into growing neglected species for food and income security

Alfred chose to grow neglected and indigenous species including pigeon peas, Araka, Spider plant, and sesame (sim sim). This decision to grow indigenous crops has been a game changer for his family since both crops have high nutritional and economic value in his community.

Alfred said it rare to find indigenous crops such as Araka beans and the spider plant in the market – so as Ogwolo Mixed FFS, they decided to plant and promote them.

After the first harvest, the group shared the proceeds amongst members to multiply it in their own gardens and also saved some seeds at the community seed bank.

‘During the trial, Araka beans and spider plant grew well. Araka beans take a short time to mature, and it doesn’t require a lot of rainfall to mature. The beans get ready easily when we cook them, it takes few firewood.’’ He added.

Why he preferred spider plants, Alfred said that ‘It is not costly and labour intensive. You can harvest it twice or more. You can decide to first sell vegetables and then leave them to regenerate, dry and harvest them as seeds. When you leave them in the gardens, they can self-propagate and germinate again,’

“When I take spider plants to Soroti market, customers rush to buy them even before I get off my motorcycle. I sell all of them before, I even enter the market,” Alfred says proudly.

In just two seasons, Alfred has harvested 300kg of Araka beans, earning UGX 1.8 million, and UGX 1.2 million from the spider plants. With the proceeds, he invested in livestock, purchasing 20 goats and sheep. 

He later supplemented this through the Parish Development Model (PDM), a government program, which allowed him to acquire more goats. These have since multiplied to a total of 30.

‘’And because of your support and the work I do, I got spray pumps, yellow working attire from MAAIF and I use the spray on my goats, he adds.

Sustainability through local solutions

The community now saves and shares seeds through its seed bank. Alfred mentioned that this initiative has expanded beyond the local bank, with some samples being collected and sent to NARO’s National Genetic Crops Research Centre for further research.

Alfred’s farming journey has not only provided him with income stability but also allowed him to educate his children and access healthcare. He has become a role model in the Soroti and Teso regions.

The community now saves and shares seeds through its seed bank. Alfred says this initiative has expanded beyond the local community seed bank with some samples being collected and sent to NARO’s National Genetic Crops Research Centre for further research.

Alfred’s farming journey has brought income stability enabling him to educate his children, and access health care. He has become a role model in the community in Soroti and Teso region.

“Before, when my children fell sick, I would watch helplessly. Now I can afford treatment and even borrow with the confidence that the next harvest will sustain us.” He adds.

Alfred now cultivates a wide variety of crops including cassava, sesame (sim sim), pigeon peas, beans, groundnuts, sorghum, citrus, and rice.

Adopting organic farming 

Under the Cultivating Change Iin a warming World Project, Oxfam and partners have introduced and trained farmers on the importances of organic farming practices such as using organic fertilisers and pesticides.

These organic manure and pesticides are generated from the locally available materials such as red pepper, garlic, lime, and animal residue which are friendly to both the environment and human health.

He also integrates trees in his garden which provide shades for the crops. ‘’We used to clear off the land and cut the trees, but now we leave the trees and plant the crops alongside them” he adds.

The challenges

Even with this success, Alfred’s farming journey has not been smooth. According to him, some farm challenges are beyond their control.

For instance, the region is still faced with uncertainties with climate change. ‘’When the rain is delayed, it is very hard to mulch big gardens, It becomes hard to mulch more than an acre of different crops, since we have started growing bigger gardens,’’

In response to this challenge, Alfred and his fellow farmers are integrating local solutions to ensure that their homes have food.

"To minimize losses, we practice staggered planting. As soon as it rains, I plant a portion of the seeds. This way, if I lose some due to climate changes, I still have other seeds to replant," he adds.