Follow-up in Western Uganda and prospection Central Uganda for Eba project

In February, Han Heijnen - President of the IRHA - visited the Kasese district in Western Uganda to monitor a rainwater harvesting programme in schools, which was completed in 2022. Around 25 schools in the Rwenzori hills were supported in the construction of rainwater harvesting systems, using 5 and 10 cubic metre Calabash tanks in particular. A rapid assessment showed that the rainwater storage systems were highly functional and very useful.

For several months, the IRHA has been in contact with interesting ecosystem restoration, forestry and agroforestry initiatives in central Uganda. This visit was an opportunity to learn a little more and explore potential synergies with what IRHA is doing.

In terms of food sovereignty, the initiative aims to help small-scale, low-income farmers achieve a better return on their labour through an approach that promotes biodiversity and the planting of utility trees in combination with permaculture principles. Harvesting rainwater for nurseries and maintaining a moist, healthy soil cover have proved effective in greening the plot. The combination of crops leads to healthier soil and prevents soil erosion overall. The result is farmland less threatened by degradation, promoting natural pest control and reducing the risk of unstable crop yields.

This approach is combined with pure reforestation actions to maintain and improve soils, recreate carbon sinks, and enable the landscape to be re-structured on a larger scale.

A discussion with senior project managers showed good prospects for providing further evidence of effectiveness.