Benefits from the Practice of Conservation Agriculture

UGANDA – Grace Atukunda is a 27-year-old farmer living in the Kabale District community of Nyakarindi, currently in her second season of practicing conservation agriculture. Thanks to the Foods Resource Bank-funded food security program….

“Before I learned about conservation agriculture from PAG, my yields were very low. But after learning and applying what I learned, my yields began to improve,” Grace explains. “During this past season we had too much rain, but practicing mulching has helped me control soil erosion, and I am able to see a big difference between the mulched and the non-mulched garden that I planted on the same day. I have finished harvesting my cabbages and have earned a total of UGX 410,000 (USD $117). The cabbages on the mulched garden were healthy looking and heavy, with each cabbage weighing an average of 5 kgs! The ones I harvested from my un-mulched garden were very small. If all my cabbages were un-mulched, I would have incurred a big loss – I think I would have earned maybe UGX 20,000 (USD $5.7) from the whole garden!”

When I visited her garden on August 1st this year, Grace had already acquired climbing-bean compost and mulched her garden; she is ready to plant beans for the next season. Grace is very grateful to PAG, World Renew’s implementing partner, for the trainings that have enabled her to improve her livelihood.