Report on the Gulu Foundations for Farming Training 3-4 October 2019

Recent Events

Acknowledgement

The two day training on Foundations for Farming held at Christ Disciple Church was made possible through the sponsorship of Bright Hope World. We are indeed grateful to them for financial support and for inviting Thomas Lubari to conduct the training. Special thanks go to Thomas Lubari and Walter Okello for providing reading material on Foundations for Farming.

Jogen Uganda Aid Organization wish to acknowledge Christ Disciple Church for the conducive environment provided for the workshop as the participants were catered for, hence were relaxed in mind to absorb an intensive two days training.

Introduction

This workshop was held from 3rd-4th October in Northern Uganda, Lajwatwek village, Gulu-Omoro District.

40 participants attended this workshop. The workshop was facilitated by Thomas Lubari and also Walter Okello who later facilitated in the local language.

The training was originally scheduled for 16th September 2019 but due to a funeral happening in the area where the training was to take place it was adjourned to 3rd October 2019. 

The training was attended by farmers who also were among the leadership of the area politically such as the Woman Secretary in the Local Council III which is in administration of the area at a township level. 

Training

The main objective was to sensitize farmers on the Foundations for Farming way of farming and to sensitize farmers on crop spacing, fertilization, and mulching among others. Interactive and participatory training methods were applied in the two-day training workshop.  

The community attended the training with interest as the teachings were taught in the local dialect by Walter Okello who Thomas Lubari invited from Lira. Thomas trained Walter a couple of years back and he was actively involved among the farmers in Lira between 2014-2016.

Observations

All attendees actively participated in the whole discussion process even though this was the first time for them to attend such interactive training on Foundations for Farming.

Since the time was limited some of the key issues presented by Thomas and Walter could not be sufficiently digested in such a short time therefore follow-up training is needed.

More regular follow-up meetings for problem solving and experience sharing were emphasized. It was suggested there be regular meetings for reviews and planning the way forward. These regular meetings are essential especially at the implementation phase where the farmers would consult and exchange ideas with their facilitators.

Conclusion

The last day of the workshop was spent in discussing the way forward and a number of issues were discussed. The farmers asked for seeds as well as moral, technical, networking and organization support, not necessarily monetary support.

We encouraged them to work hard as groups to be able to tap opportunities that will help them improve on their livelihood. They should target crops of interest such as cereals and legumes which include maize, sorghum, millet and beans. There is a demand for these in the area of Gulu as they form the staple food of the place. With the hopes for the upcoming implementation of the Revitilation Peace Agreement which is expected soon, Gulu will be close to supply food to Juba which is a few kilometeres to the South Sudan border and being on the highway to South Sudan.

Overall it was felt that the collaboration between Jogen Uganda Aid Organization should be strengthened for mutual benefit to the farmers.