VIDEO: COVID19: Using Old Shoes, Recycled Plastics for Kampala Ghetto Farming

Ugandan non-governmental organisation, Network for Active Citizens (NAC), has stepped up a campaign encouraging urban farming to boost food security as the Coronavirus effects bite.

According to NAC Team Leader, Peniel Rwendeire, while COVID 19 has hit the global economy, the most affected are people who live in ghetto communities.

“There is need for vulnerable households to have mitigation measures to negative effects of social, economic and climate change shocks,” said Rwendeire.

“It’s very important for every household to have a mini garden in their nearest location so as to access food at any time in case of any crisis,” he added.

So far, 30 gardens and 3 three green spaces have been set up in the Ghetto communities of Kyebando, Kinawataka and Katwe and a green resource centre in the heart of Kisaasi town where NAC headquarters are established.

In Kisaasi, NAC maintains an accessible rooftop garden.

Video: Network for Active Citizens (NAC) Peniel Rwendeire explains how urban farming is helping ghetto communities for food security amid the #COVID19 pandemic

Gepostet von ChimpReports am Montag, 6. April 2020

The localized small-scale urban agriculture is a source of local food production.

An urban garden can supplement the diets of the community it feeds with fresh produce and provide a tangible tie to food production.

Plantings in containers are used extensively in the Kisaasi roof top garden.

These also encourage environmentally responsible practices, eliminating tilling, reducing or eliminating pesticides, and weeding, and encouraging the recycling of wastes through composting.

Rhemma Nampala, a resident of Kisaasi, is one of neighbours who are benefiting from the rooftop garden.

Planting in old television sets prevents added stress to the roof’s waterproofing

“It is now 5 days and we have been accessing the garden to harvest vegetables like Sukuma wiki and Dodo,” she revealed.

Rwendeire said NAC is therefore teaching people urban farming as “one of the resilient communities approaches in urban setting.”

Uganda this past Saturday launched the distribution of food to the urban poor who were affected by the enforcement of government’s guidelines to prevent the spread of Coronavirus.

NAC has been promoting Ghetto Go Green, a climate change campaign that promotes youth led urban adaptation mechanisms in the Ghetto communities of Kampala city.

The campaign aims to attract, strengthen and sustain youth involvement in developing climate local solutions to climate change.

Plastics are used for growing vegetables

With funding from Dreamtown, a Danish organisation, NAC has been able to build capacity of youth in the ghetto communities to take action towards making their local communities more resilient towards the effects of climate.

“We have built capacity in urban farming and urban recycling and we have organised female youths to establish vegetable gardens as a source of domestic livelihood and source of micro income for their personal needs,” said Rwendeire.

The rapid urbanization of Kampala city (averagely 4% annually) has degraded the quality of key Kampala Capital City environmental assets and its capacity to promote biodiversity, public green spaces, decent green job opportunities especially for youth living in the Ghetto.

In 2014, it was estimated that 54% of Uganda’s urban population lived in slum areas (World Bank). Solving this matters since it will contribute to the desired vision of KCCA which is: a vibrant, attractive, and sustainable city.