PELUM, Member flags off the 6th National Agroecology Week of Action activities
Drake Nyamugabwa
Participatory Ecological Land Use Management (PELUM) Uganda to with Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fishers and members have kicked off several activities for the 6th National Agroecology Week of Action 2024 with a call to scale p agroecology in Uganda.
The Agroecology will be running from 21st -26th October 2024 at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
The agroecological movement in Uganda has been steadily growing, with increasing interest and participation from various stakeholders including farmers, traders, processors, policymakers, and consumers.
During a press conference held on 21st October 2024 at Hotel Africana Mr. Edgar Mukiibi The Deputy Board Chairman and Executive Director of Slow Food a member of PELUM said that various activities have been lined up for the week including; the 6th National Agroecology Actors' Symposium (NAAS) on 23rd October 2024, 14th Annual Indigenous and Traditional Food and Seed Festival among others aimed at discussing strategies on how to scale up agroecology under proper policies.
“We are representing other National Agroecology Actors and briefing the public on the forthcoming National Agroecology Week of Action. We shall have the 6th National Agroecology Actors' Symposium (NAAS) on 23rd October under the theme “Advancing Uganda's Food Systems Transformation through the National Agroecology Strategy”. We shall hold the 14th Annual Indigenous and Traditional Food and Seed Festival, there will be exhibitions from different member organizations showcasing their Indigenous/traditional/cultural food” he said
He said that during the week, stakeholders are also going to discuss the approval of the new agroecology Strategy whose journey has been on for some as a legal framework to regulate issues of agroecology in Uganda.
“The Strategy is the 1st legal framework to regulate agroecology issues in Uganda which will expand the existing agriculture policy which is limited to organic agriculture. Scaling up of Agroecology in Uganda is critical for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) most especially SDG 2 on Zero Hunger which requires a transition” he said
The Country Coordinator PELUM, Josephine Akia Luyimbazi said the Agroecology Week in Uganda is not in isolation but there have been various activities elsewhere in other African countries including Harare in Zimbabwe, Arusha in Tanzania, last week in Kenya adding that “Now is the time for all Ugandans to embrace indigenous food that is free from additives and readily available to all. Agroecology is about fairness through social inclusion and benefit sharing through food security”
The current strategy proposal includes challenges identified by stakeholders that need to be addressed including declining productivity, the provision of agroecology inputs, the lack of incentives to farmers, the minimal research, and the big social divide on benefits among others.
Agroecology is an integrated approach that simultaneously applies ecological and social concepts and principles to the design and management of food and agricultural systems. It seeks to optimize the interactions between plants, animals, humans and the environment while taking into consideration the social aspects that need to be addressed for a sustainable and fair food system.
