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https://reasonstobecheerful.world/uganda-epicenters-hunger-project-agriculture/>
"Bulbous green squashes larger than a young child are piled up on the floor of
Faridah Nakayiza’s lounge. Outside, a thick branch of freshly cut, bright
yellow bananas is balanced on the back of her bicycle. Over in her backyard, a
small oasis of tropical vegetation, a cluster of juicy papayas hangs from the
trees.
“Before I looked older, but now I look much younger,” says Nakayiza, a
44-year-old from the village of Bulugu in central Uganda. “It’s because I can
feed myself better, I can eat all kinds of nutrients. And I grow it all
myself.”
The upturn in Nakayiza’s fortunes began in 2018 when the mother of eight signed
up at a local facility known as an “epicenter.” These spaces, launched by
global nonprofit The Hunger Project, offer a range of ecological and
agricultural services to about a dozen nearby villages. They have been the
catalyst for empowering communities to feed themselves — with the aim of
finally putting an end to the scourge of world hunger.
At Uganda’s 12 epicenters, which each serve up to 15,000 people, community
members are taught how to set up and manage communal farms. They learn
regenerative agriculture practices such as composting, intercropping and drip
irrigation. These techniques have in turn helped promote biodiversity and
improve crop yields and soil fertility. Epicenters take a holistic approach to
fighting hunger: they usually include a bank, a nursery school, toilets, clean
water and a medical clinic.
Each is run by a leader elected by the villagers, and soon after taking the
post, they hold a workshop together to identify the community’s most pressing
issues – such as health care, access to water, or food insecurity — to inform
how the epicenter will be run. The leaders are supported by voluntary
“animators” who help mobilize the community. After five years, the epicenter
must become self-reliant — meaning it must run without external support. Ten
have already reached this benchmark."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
