Beefing Up Agriculture in Northern Uganda
You don't need to be a farmer to see that the lush hillsides of northern Uganda are fertile land, where dark soil gives rise to thick stands of dense green forest.
But a 20-year war in Uganda's north, pitting government forces against rebels of the Lord's Resistance Army who used this very bush for cover, left many here stripped of farming tools, displaced, and surviving only by planting small crops for subsistence. Seeing the need that existed, Catholic Relief Services, working with local partner Caritas Uganda, set out to help local farmers recover.
A Team Effort
Taking advantage of ongoing peace talks that have quieted the hills here since 2006, CRS launched an oxen project aimed at providing the startup equipment — and muscle — needed for local farmers to get back on their feet. It was an idea that had a ready audience in the farming communities of Uganda.
"We were already working in an [informal] group providing labor to each other," explains Francis Ojok. Francis is chairman of the Atek Ki Lwak ("Better to Work as a Group") farmers' group, one of the 270 groups [that] CRS is now supporting. "Caritas … said [that] they were going to be working with groups supplying oxen, so we formed officially."
The project, funded by the European Commission [humanitarian-aid department; i.e., ECHO], provides each group with two bulls and teaches the farmers improved farming techniques [in order] to help them capitalize on the oxen's labor. The farmers also learn how to care for the animals. These are skills [that] many farmers used to possess, but lost when their cattle and other livestock were killed or left behind during the war.
"They taught us plowing techniques, how to connect the cart, and about identifying diseases and animal-health problems," Francis notes, adding that the Atek Ki Lwak group received four oxen due to its participation in the pilot project.
Plowing a Profit
Now, the 20 members of Atek Ki Lwak are making the best use of their animals and expanding the amount of land [that] they are using to grow crops. Group members use an oxen team to plow their own fields. Many farmers are just returning to their fields after being displaced — some for over 20 years — by the prolonged and violent campaign waged by the Lord's Resistance Army. The farmers' group also hires out the teams on occasion as specialized labor to other community residents, earning additional income for members.
With each job completed by the oxen teams, the farmers' groups increase their profits and savings. Members can then take small loans out against these savings and pay the loans back with interest. The loans enable farmers, who often have difficulty accessing capital, to start small businesses and further boost their incomes.
CRS is currently aiming to help 4,000 households through this project and similar agricultural programs. As these initiatives enable households to increase their productivity, the resulting increase in cash flow will also have an impact on the community at large, creating a ripple effect of growth that is desperately needed after two decades of conflict.
Francis Ojok and the members of Atek Ki Lwak are hoping [that] the war will officially end as a result of ongoing peace talks. But in the meantime, the CRS oxen project is helping them meet their basic needs.
"We cultivate more land, and grow more food," Francis explains, describing the positive impact [that] the oxen are having on members' lives.
David Snyder is a photojournalist who has traveled to more than 30 countries with CRS. Most recently, David visited country programs in South Africa and East Africa, including Uganda.
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