The meetings are the ongoing 120-member state 19th Non-Aligned Movement Summit which started on January 15 and will end on January 20, 2024 while the third 134-member state South [aka G77+China] Summit will commence on January 21 to 24.
Addressing a joint media conference at the Office of the Prime Minister recently, officials from the ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) and the National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NAGOMU) repeatedly said Uganda has the second-highest number of organic farmers in the world, after India.
Bob George Sunday, senior agricultural officer, Food Security and focal person, Organic Agriculture at MAAIF; and Chariton Namuwoza, the CEO of NOGAMU and president, African Organic Network, said between 2018 and 2021, Uganda registered a 91 per cent increase in number of certified organic farmers to 404,000; certification started in 1993.
Their statement defined organic farming as, “the production of food without the use of synthetic and harmful chemicals such as pesticides, fertilisers, livestock feed additives or genetically modified components. [It] relies on alternative farming methods including crop rotation, mechanical cultivation, use of animal and green manure, and integrated pest management”.
Namuwoza said scientists at Makerere University in collaboration with NOGAMU and other civil society organisations developed Kebera, a simple soil and foods tool for testing organic content which can be used by smallholder farmers and consumers, soon to be commercialised.
“This device will reduce transactional costs associated with third-party organic certification, as well as increasing trust among consumers of organic products that what they eat is truly organic,” the statement said.
Sunday said Uganda is one of few countries in Africa with a national organic agriculture policy (2019) and is now working on a national organic agriculture bill.
BENEFITS OF ORGANICS
The statement said organic agriculture and agroecology support national food security through increased yields and incomes, consistent production, guaranteeing soil fertility improvement over the long term, conserving and improving topsoil by enriching microbiological diversity and reducing erosion, water conservation, and control of pests and diseases.
Agroecology and organics benefit the environment, and can counter climate change. It reduces greenhouse gasses, improves soil carbon sequestration, increases resilience and contributes to better health.
The statement added that conversion to organic farming in subsistence agriculture can lead to 180 per cent increase in yields. In 2021, Uganda’s organic food exports stood at $174 million, accounting for 12 per cent of total agricultural exports.
MAAIF and NOGAMU officials called upon Uganda’s private sector to feed the expected guests on safe organic foods, pointing out that Hotel African had already committed to serve only organic foods to the 300 delegates it will be hosting.
They also appealed to the media to publicise the health, economic and ecological benefits of organic farming, and Uganda’s exemplary performance in that area.
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