Terry Leahy and Karen Stewart (2015)
Below is the opening paragraphs for “A Permaculture Design for Eastern Uganda” by Terry Leahy.
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Uganda continues to experience high levels of poverty, with the World Bank (2013) estimating 24.5 per cent of the population live in poverty, and ongoing significant nutrition deficits among women and children (Shively & Hao 2012; Uganda Bureau of Statistics 2012). Within the country, Eastern Uganda remains a chronically impoverished area (Okidi & Mugambi 2002). Our aim is to design a smallholder farm for a family in Eastern Uganda in the Mbale/Moroto region. Thirty per cent of people in Moroto are food insecure (Shively & Hao 2012).
The design presented is intended to provide food security for a household through permaculture. For the purposes of this exercize we are going to assume that there are no cultural barriers to adoption of any part of this design. So we are going to feel completely free to make suggestions about what might be the ideal arrangement in terms of providing a sufficient variety of nutrients for excellent health, on the smallest possible plot, with the smallest possible investment of time. We are going to explain methods that will be sustainable for the indefinite future and do not depend upon a cash income that would be unrealistic for poor families in this region of the world.
The plot of land we are going to assign to the family of six (three adults, one teenager and two children) is approximately five hectares, following the calculations explained in “How Much Land Does a Family of Six Need?” This is considerably more than the amount of land that a family in Uganda is said to own, according to Shively and Hao (2012; see also Salami, Kamara & Brixiova 2010). Their view is that eighty per cent of smallholder families own an average of two hectares of land (Shively and Hao 2012:8). However it seems likely that such calculations are calculations of the cropping land owned by households. The figures given in an FAO report confirm this calculation. They state that the “arable and permanent cropland per agricultural inhabitant” in Uganda is 0.3 hectares (FAO 2012: 4). In other words, a family of seven people would own 2 hectares of arable and permanent cropland. Land used for other purposes is not included. On another page of the FAO report it gives the figures for different land uses in Uganda. If we take the total agricultural land area as including forests, then 47 per cent is arable land and permanent crops, 31 per cent is permanent pasture and 22 per cent is forest (FAO 2012: 12). On this reckoning, a two-hectare plot for crops would be supplemented with 2.25 hectares of grazing and forested land – usually owned communally. We are taking it that the amount of land needed to sustainably provide fuel wood for a family of six is in fact four hectares. The total amount of land we are assigning (five hectares) is a bit more substantial than the average total land available for agriculture for a household in Uganda, according to these FAO calculations (about 4.25 hectares).
While our design is presented as a completed unit, the time to establish a fully self-sufficient farm using permaculture principles is significant. It can take land up to five years to recover from the damage caused by artificial fertilisers and pesticides. This is the time it takes to leach toxins out of the soils, to add nitrogen (with legumes), organic matter (with mulch) and to grow soil micro-organisms and beneficial worms, insects and spiders. It would take a similar amount of time to well and truly establish the legume trees, shrubs and vines needed to provide mulch and to put nitrogen into soils. Fruit trees can take even longer to grow to fruiting. It also seems appropriate to approach changes like this slowly, introducing new technologies through a process of adult education, and local application, all of which also takes time. At any stage of this process, yields of food will have improved compared to an earlier context, with degraded soils and no cash to buy the recommended inputs.
The climate of this region is tropical. The annual rainfall is about 1200 mm, with peaks in April to May and July to August. As the region 1100-1200m above sea level, average temperatures are cooler than you might expect. Maximum daytime temperatures vary between 27˚C and 31˚C and minimum overnight temperatures vary between 16˚C and 18˚C (Climate-data 2014). The prevailing winds alternate between warm, moist south-easterly winds, which bring the rains, and dry north easterlies in November-February (Matete & BakamaNume 2010).
Although eastern Uganda is generally flat, the Mbale region is marked by hills and valleys. This means that erosion control is an important issue. The main soil type are ‘Andosols’ which are highly fertile. However they can be low on phosphorus available to plants (Nakileza 2010). Maintaining soil fertility is a problem across Uganda, with soil fertility mining rates among the highest in Sub-Saharan Africa. There is an estimated average annual nutrient depletion of 70 kg/hectare of nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) (Nkonya, Kaizzi & Pender 2005). This loss comes from soil erosion and from the removal of nutrients as plants grow and are removed, taking their nutrients with them. Our aim in this design is to increase the availability of plant nutrients and to maintain and replace nutrients in the soil.
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