Sustainable local community development in a grassroots holistic approach. Where I am staying doesn’t have electricity but they do have solar panels so I should be able to get some messages out during the week, as long as it doesn’t rain too much. You can follow my adventures onwww.giveitupforbrian/bloghttp://www.giveitupforbrian/blog My blog has enabled a feature so that I can send emails to a certain address and it will update my blog. They’ve told us we won’t be able to surf the Internet but will be able to get emails out if we are patient in the local town so I will have updates.

This volunteer site is in remote and beautiful southwest Uganda and encompasses a range of projects aiming to integrate the conservation of Bwindi Impenetrable National Park with the sustainable development of its local community. Bwindi is famously home to the rare mountain gorilla and although it’s a relatively successful conservation story considering the rise in gorilla families, the community have been somewhat forgotten.

Without genuine support of the local community, for a good reason, the rich forest ecosystem will have no future. Local people need sustainable development that consider their surroundings. On the other side of the coin, the Batwa and Bakiga tribes residing on the forest’s new boundaries also deserve to be part of its conservation, tourism-related opportunities, and the chance to understand the importance and immense benefits of protecting the forest for them and this planet.

This is a grassroots holistic approach to this challenge and contributes to long-term critical goals. Through your donations my group is donating a plant health expert along with a micro farming expert in indigenous, herb and vegetable gardens.

THANKS FOR YOUR HELP!! BRIAN

There are more details about Uganda’s farming opportunities below.

Uganda is endowed with agroclimatic conditions suitable for the cultivation of a wide range of African indigenous vegetables — current investigations have so far documented 34 species of traditional vegetables. However, few of these plants are domesticated, the majority being wild or volunteer plants. They are abundant in the rainy seasons but scarce during the dry season, except a few grown mainly for selling in trading centers and urban markets.

The area we I am in is Kigezi / Kisoro/ Kabale : Mountain systems but with larger annual crop acreage than other mountain systems; Sorghum is major staple; robusta and Arabica coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar. Western extension of banana/millet/cotton system, but now largely taken up by big ranching projects, cultivation, stock-raising, fishing.

Some of the traditional vegetables have been domesticated, while others are still growing and being harvested as wild or semi-wild plants. Domesticated vegetables are grown in small plots adjacent to human settlements, an age-old survival strategy. These vegetables demand minimal attention in their production. Under emergency situations, for example arising from civil disorder or natural calamity, the production of traditional vegetables is crucial for many families and communities since they come into production within a short time soon after the onset of rains. The leafy Amaranthus species, for example, can be harvested 3-4 weeks after planting (Rubaihayo 1994b). These vegetables make a substantial, though rarely appreciated, contribution to food security of the rural poor. As increasing numbers of resource-poor farmers (especially women) are being marginalized by ecological, social and demographic forces, the value of traditional vegetables should be emphasized and their cultivation for home consumption encouraged.

Amaranth is a landscape plant in the USA but,.. here in Uganda it’s a leafy vegetable! And 52% protein!

Thanks,

Brian