By Patrick Okino
Oxfam has advised farmers in the greater north to boost local food plant production, preserve and protect for nutrition purposes, food security, and medicinal values.
Concluding farmer-managed seed systems caravan organized by Oxfam and partner, Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Uganda in Apac municipality, Muhindo Jackson Rukara of Oxfam said the food plants are becoming extinct. Yet, it has been proven as the best.
He also asked them to get engaged in seed multiplication of the plant and offer to other farmers to boost the production.
“When we attach importance to the plants, people will start looking for them and start growing their own,” Rukara told farmers during the farmer field school visit.
Rukara who is the resilience and climate change coordinator with Oxfam, said it is in line with Oxfam’s vision aiming at eliminating inequality, food insecurity, and poverty levels in the country.
“We are striving to see a country free of poverty and inequality and we thought that the seed programme is one of those programmes that will help people come out of poverty,” he added on Thursday.
Identified high nutrients plants according to Rukara include malakwang, carrots, simsim, pumpkin, groundnuts, leafy green vegetables, cauliflower, sweet potato, yam, onion, and garlic among others.
Oxfam and its partners, PELUM Uganda, and Eastern and Southern Africa Small Farmers` Forum including other partners conducted a farmer-managed seed systems caravan in Teso, Lango, Acholi, and West Nile sub-regions for five days.
Farmer-managed seed systems (FMSS) arrangement is the Oxfam initiative to ensure food security and improved nutrition among the farming community according to Rukara.
It is of diverse activities to maintain, enhance, use, and share genetic materials outside the formal breeding and commercial production system.
Christopher Ocen, the farmer school facilitator of Awinyo in Apac municipality said most of the indigenous food plants such as green beans and others were getting extinct, yet they are disease resistant, drought tolerant, and had high food values.
He said through farmer field school they have restored, adopted, and improved and the bean is returning to its original trade and characteristics.
Molly Ajok, of Waribucing farmer field school in Omoro district, said the plants played a vital role when COVID-19 broke out in the country and most people who were using didn’t suffer a lot.
She said people were using the plants but abandoned them because of their character, challenges in preparing, tests, and accessibility of their seeds.
“We want to address the bottleneck why people are running away from it, yet it has high food nutrients and can cure many diseases,” she said.
Joel Oyela, the chairperson of Apurpetur farmer field school, said each member has picked interest in growing the plants and will soon start selling to other communities.
