Female farmer lifts the whole village
It was an important step towards developing the small local community when Caroline Kyahira joined the Nyakabingo United Organic Farmer Family Learning Group (FFLG) in 2010.
When Caroline Kyahira joined the farming group, she was full of energy and ideas, and with the support of the organic farming group, the then 42-year-old mountain farmer was elected as a female councilor in the district. It made a huge difference - but it has taken several years of political work.
The village of Nyakabingo is located in the mountainous Kasese district in western Uganda. Before 2010, the citizens' voices as individuals were not heard by the authorities. They never received government services, such as agricultural advice. Uganda is divided into 111 districts, and the district headquarters, Mahango, was very far from their village, and no one could attend the district meetings and speak for the local community.
In particular, the village lacked a good access road, which made the transport of the mountain farmers' communal coffee to the market very difficult. Finally, they lacked access to clean water for both households and agriculture.
Results after a long, tough deed
When Caroline Kyahira had been elected to the district council, the group of organic farmers got together and held meetings with the local authorities.Through their newly elected councilwoman, the village's needs were brought to the district level, including their desire for a new sub-municipality, good roads and better water supply.
"Our advocacy finally paid off in 2019 because we presented our wishes as a community of organic farmers at the district meetings - and not as individuals.Our organic FFLG now hosts a sub-municipality of Nyakabingo, which was separated from Mahango Sub County, says Caroline Kyahira.
She says that the new administrative unit has made it possible for the village to be assigned a government farmer advisor and easily accessible advice.A new road has also been built to Nyakabingo where farmers can easily transport their coffee and other crops to the market in Kasese.
Higher prices and new types of crops
Progress has also been made when it comes to water supply.
"We have got running, clean water to process our organic coffee. It has improved the quality of the coffee, so that we can now get 2.2 US dollars instead of only 1.5 US dollars per kilo, which we previously got for the unprocessed coffee,” notes Caroline.
In addition to coffee, Caroline Kyahira – like her organic colleagues and fellow villagers – can now grow other crops such as cassava, bananas, beans and Irish potatoes on her rural mountain farm. This is related to the fact that she is now sure to get agricultural advice from the district, water for her crops during droughts and access to the market because transport is now easy as a result of the new road.
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Interview and text: Bihundira Gilbert, KOFLEC
Photos: Kule Jockus, Jocks Media and Sigrid Soelberg Vestergaard, Organic Denmark