Uganda – Intensive farming is damaging the banks of the Mpanga River, but without farming, the families who live there have no income. However, there is another way, as farmers are learning from the environmental organisation JESE, which has been a partner of Join For Water in the Mpanga River basin for many years.
JESE, or Joint Efforts to Save the Environment, wants to restore the ecosystem of the Mpanga River without the families living along its banks losing their stable income. In the Kitagwenda district, the people are on board with the plan. They no longer practise intensive farming on the banks of the river but are focusing on other activities that provide them with a good income. Join For Water and its partner JESE are seeing the Mpanga slowly recover.
Beekeeping as a new source of income
JESE spearheaded the change by supporting farmers with alternative income-generating activities such as beekeeping and fruit farming.
Stanley Kwatirayo, a resident of the village of Kekubo in the Kanara sub-district, is one of the farmers. He abandoned farming on the riverbanks after receiving guidance from district natural resources officials. Now Stanley is a beekeeper and can support his family by selling honey.
Kwatirayo’s first harvest yielded 15 liters of honey, which he sold at Shs8, 000 per liter, earning Shs120, 000. His second harvest brought in 20 liters at Shs10, 000 per liter. “This initiative has made me realize that conservation and income can go hand in hand,” he says.
James Kawesi leads one of the apiary groups and says that beekeeping has also built unity among the farmers. They save as a group and can use that money for new investments.
