Joice Akumu, (45) a farmer wears a beam of smile as she walks through her garden of maize in Rwamutunga, Bugambi, Kikuube district.
She is one of the project-affected persons in Kikuube district and among the first to benefit from the livelihood restoration program under the provision of Agriculture Support Services Project that is currently on going in the Albertine region.
Akumu received training in crop improvement services, which was her choice of enterprise among those that the project is fostering in the region. Others include; tree nursery management services, and livestock improvement.
Her Garden of maize flourishes to the admiration of locals, because of the flourishing leafy stalk of maize in her gardens. Hellen Kabanyoro, a crop specialist says,
“Akumu was one of the early adopters to the use of improved agronomic practices, which is evidently promising high yields than she is used too”.
“I am a maize farmer, who has used traditional methods over the years without getting good yields, after the first training on crop improvement, I was deeply convinced that I was among the first to adopt” Akumu says.
Julius Mungromo, a primary resident of the same area hailed Living Earth Uganda and the project for establishing demonstration farms in the village for farmers to access first hand practical learning between improved and traditional farming approaches where they are able to compare results and made independent choices.
“Whenever people reach this demo garden, they leave when they are convinced, and people like Akumu have disproved the sceptics” Mungromo notes.
While inspecting the progress of the project, Collins Opio, the Total Energies project manager called upon farmers to open up to the project implementers to facilitate a smooth learning experience. He affirmed Living Earth’s commitment towards restoring lives of Project affected persons in Hoima, Buliisa and Kikuube districts.
“It is our Ultimate target to see people’s livelihoods being uplifted, but also being sustained in the communities, I am particularly happy with the progress sofa and I look forward to seeing how these good practices will be sustained” says Opio.
Living Earth Uganda (LEU) was contracted by Total Energies EP Uganda B.V, the lead developer of the Tilenga project area, to implement the Provision of Agricultural Support Services project for the period thirty-six (36) month effective March 2022 to support farmers access and utilise good agronomical practices so as to improve their household income levels.
The project is being implemented in Tilenga Project RAPs 2 – 5 covering a total of 56 villages, 8 sub-counties administratively rearranged into 69 villages and 12 sub-counties. A total of 4,901 PAPs (3,990 households) will benefit from the project.