Development Magazine
“Your voice to the World”
FOOD SECURITY, NUTRITION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
• Local Leaders Agree to put in place and implement
a Food Security and Nutrition Policy / Ordinance
• Households agree to establish Kitchen Gardens in Karago Town Council
• Food, Nutrition and the Environment: SET–FMM,
a community concept to address severe Malnutrition and Malaria
“Publishing Development Stories and Challenges
from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.”
Issue No. 03 January 2019
EDUCATION
• The woes of a Rural School in Kabarole; The sorry state of
Kaboyo S.S. - some of the students are running away to well
facilitated schools in the neighborhood
OPINION
• Rural Agricultural Development: The Role of effective
communication in Improving Agricultural Development
 CONTENTS
Editorial 01
Karago Food Talks 02
Food, Nutrition and the Environment 03
The BIG Interview - Elder Tom Mboijana 05
Education – The Woes of a Rural School in Kabarole 07
Opinion - Rural Agricultural Development 08
Fort-Portal Farmers’ Expo - Full Page Advertorial 11

2 My Village Development Magazine - “Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.”
Editorial
H
appy New Year 2019! Here at My Village
Development Magazine, pray that this New
Year treats you well and all your plans become
successful. We commit to bring you inspirational
stories that will help uplift your spirit and achieve your
2019 plans.

Once again, welcome to the 3rd special issue of My

Village Development Magazine. We continue to focus
on Food and Nutrition. Early this month of January,
Agahikaine Food Consumers Forum where CECO-
Uganda the publisher of this Magazine is a member
pitched camp in Karago Town Council and sensitized
BUSIINGE Christopher
over 100 people on Nutrition. We share with you some
of the reflections from this camp.

In this issue we also share with you a wonderful concept

called SET-FMM led by Elder Tom MBOIJANA in
Fort-Portal. We encourage you to read about it and
discover how you can regularly eat animal proteins
from fish, conserve the environmet and also fight
malaria in your home and community.

Read the BIG Interview with Elder Elder Tom

MBOIJANA explaining the concept of SET-FMM.
It is a must read if you’re interested in Fish farming
and conservation. We are sure that there is no such
other individual story that combines fish farming, and
sustainable Conservation across the Tooro region.

In this issue, we have also written about the situation

at Kabayo Senior Secondary School in Kabarole that
urgently needs your intervention. We bring you this
MUSINGUZI Francis
story because we believe that , as a community we
can do a lot to bring about the change we want. If
you’re one of those into giving a helping hand, please
read the story and also contact the school. Editorial Team

In the Opinion section, we bring you a reflection on BUSIINGE Christopher

how you can enhance agricultural development MUSINGUZI Francis
through effective tools of communication. The author
of this article hopes that it could redirect how current
resources under NAADS/OWC and The Ministry of
Agriculture could be redirected to improve extension
through effective information delivery.

Have a nice reading.

“Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.” - My Village Development Magazine 1
KARAGO Food Talks
• Local Leaders agree to put in place and implement
a Food Security and Nutrition Policy/Ordinance
• Households agree to establish Kitchen Gardens
in Karago Town Council.
Busiinge Christopher Amooti, in Karago
Participants during a Food Talk with households from Karago Town Council.
Early this month of January 2019, Agahikaine
Food Consumers Forum where CECO-Uganda is
a member held food talks in Karago town council
in Kabarole District. These food talks came at the
backdrop of overwhelming malnutrition levels in the
rural areas of Kabarole. The food talks targeted local
leaders, technocrats and affected households in
the Town Council. Althoug a town, there are many
undernourished children below the age of 5 in Karago
Town Council.
Whereas previous studies had shown that urban areas
were better off in dietary diversity, Karago Town council
is still way too behind.
The participants in the household food talk were
mostly women. This was done to help them realise the
problem of malnutrition and given them knowledge to
act on it as care givers. During the talks, one could tell
that something is really lacking despite plenty of food
that is exported from Karango every Tuesday to other
2 My Village Development Magazine - “Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.”
towns. We were there on Wednesday and we could
see that there was a lot rubbish created by the food
market on the previous day.
Just next to the venue where the food talks were being
held, there were loads of cabbages ready to be sent
off to other towns, yet the children in the room didn’t
show that they were being fed on these cabbages that
their mums grow. In fact, I got more worried as in to
why these children were wasting away amidst plenty?
I wondered if it was not about utter negligence of the
parents! Or they are just blind and they can’t tell that
a child is malnourished!! The household food talk
instead raised more questions that will require more
in-depth discussions with the parents.
There were 66 affected households in the room on
January 19th, and 35 local leaders selected from
LCI, II and III as well as technocrats on January 16
that included; the town clerk and the community
development officers of Karago Town Council. The
food talks were sponsored by Kabarole Research and
Resource centre.
A quick baseline survey of participants that took part in
the two food talks about the type of food that is eaten
each day, 41 of the 66 households said Matooke. They
said Matooke is easily available as it’s mostly grown.
This response was similar to the food talk held with
local leaders and technocrats on January 16th. The
other worrying thing is that Matooke was also being
fed to children under the age of 2 and yet it has about
1% protein content.
In both cases, that is; the leaders and households, they
added foods like; sweet potatoes, cassava, Posho,
yams, I. Potatoes and S. potatoes, pumpkins, rice and
millet was at the bottom of the list yet it is rich in Iron.
What was common among the two groups was that
they all mostly served carbohydrate and fewer foods
that were rich in proteins, Iron and vitamin A rich foods.
These minerals are very important for children under
the age of 5.
The leaders and the technocrats did better than the
households, I guess because of the extra income they
have. They provided beans, G.nuts, soya peas, meet,
fish, eggs, millet and vegetables but milk was glaringly
missing for both groups.
A quick transect walk near the meeting venue landed
us on a household that made some attempt to have a
kitchen garden but it only had Amaranthus- probably
because it is easy to grow. The rest of the households
in the neighborhood had none.
Our discussion and sharing of facts about food and
the consequences of poor dietary diversity to children
under the age of 5 throws every member in the talks
into reflection and for others in a worrying mood. At
the end of the session, we all agreed, that we should
all work hard to revert the situation of these children
before they are beyond 2 years (1000days) but also
agreed that those affected can be rehabilitated but
may be not for their brain.
In the end, leaders of Karago Town Council agreed to
put in place and implement a food security and nutrition
ordinance/policy while the households committed
to establishing Kitchen gardens to supplement their
meals with nutritious vegetables.
“Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.” -
Food, Nutrition and the
Environment
Sustainable Environment To Fight
Malnutrition and Malaria SET–
FMM, a community concept to
address severe malnutrition and
Malaria
By Our Reporter, Harukooto, Fort-Portal
Malnutrition is a slow killer among the under 5 children-
in fact for every 10 children born in developing countries
like Uganda, 3 die of severe malnutrition. On the other
hand Malaria kills quickly yet these two problems can
be avoided with a lot of ease.
In Fort-Portal, Uganda, Elder Tom MBOIJANA of
Isaazi Ly’Abantu Bakuru Ba Tooro came up with a
concept called SET-FMM. SET-FMM stands for,
Sustainable Environment to Fight Malnutrition and
Malaria. The concept emerges out of the concern
for high levels of Malnutrition and Malaria in Uganda,
particularly so in the Tooro region.
When you arrive at his home you might think that it is
a botanical garden. It is mostly green and surrounded
by all types of tree species including agro trees. There
are gardens where families and couples can enjoy a
nice picnic or hold a party and go on a boat ride on the
fish ponds. No wonder, the area is a favorite camping
site for tourists who come to visit Fort-Portal.
About 29 years ago, Elder MBOIJANA established
what he calls sustainable fish ponds on his land where
he practices fish farming and in-situ conservation and
also earns some income by selling some of the fish to
neighbors.
SET-FMM is not a radio station but a beautiful idea
to address both Malnutrition and Malaria challenges
in the region. He says that he picked this idea from a
health science book titled, “Science on the March”.
He read the book while at Nyakasura in the 60s. He
has since lived the idea on his home in Fort-Portal to
fight malnutrition and Malaria.
Fish is a rich source of essential proteins needed for
body building especially among children under the
age of 5. At the same time, the fish will feed on malaria
My Village Development Magazine 3
causing mosquitoes and their larvae and other water flies and insects. Indeed for the idea to have communal and
larger impact, it will require that many people get involved in fish farming and practice the concept of SET-FMM.

Elder MBOIJANA has planted avocado trees, and guavas around his canals that are a source of food to the fish.

According to Elder MBOIJANA, the idea works perfectly in areas where the topography has a wetland and where
there are shallow wells, which is a sign of water availability needed to establish fish ponds. Unfortunately, the
adaptation to this idea has rather been slow despite the fact that the old man being on radio since the first FM radio
station; VOT-Fm was established in 1996 explaining the concept to the general public. Only a few people seem to
have adapted it. He is however proud that the matter of Malnutrition has since been taken seriously by NGOs like
KRC, CECO-Uganda and local leaders in Kabarole.

This is in addition to the fish feeding on mosquitoes, mosquito larvae and other water flies. In the SET-FMM model
by Elder MBOIJANA, there is a strong aspect of sustainable conservation. He planted fruit and non fruit trees,
and established fish ponds. For 30 years, Elder MBOIJANA has nurtured 5 acres of an eco-forest reserve in the
middle of Fort-Portal town. The eco-system in the reserve is able to attract migrant birds like the Great Blue and
Ross’s Turacos as well as black and white Horn Bills from neighboring Semuliki and Kibale National Parks that
come to feed fruits in the eco-forest reserve.

Elder MBOIJANA standing next to one of the fish canals at Harukooto, Fort-Portal

Elder MBOIJANA recommends that leaders should encourage the local population to do fish farming as a source
of animal protein, but also fight Malaria.

4 My Village Development Magazine - “Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.”
The BIG Interview
Elder Tom MBOIJANA - in his own words talks about the concept of
SET-FFM
The Writer with Elder Tom MBOIJANA, just next to one of his fish canals at his home, Harukooto Fort-Portal.
Tell us about SET-FMM
It stands for Sustainable Environment to Fight Malaria
and Malnutrition. Any topography with a wetland
or where you can find shallow wells is ideal for fish
farming in the form of canals or fish ponds. The idea
is that, you are assured of animal protein from fish,
which is the main nutrient for body building. Apart
from getting the fish throughout your life, everything
remains the same, the swamp is not degraded and the
community is assured of sustainable supply of Protein.
Besides the nutritional part of the fish, the mosquitoes
will be attracted to breed in that water and will become
food to the fish. The fish will eat mosquito larvae and
the mosquitoes themselves.
When did this idea start?
When I was at Nyakasura in the 60’s we used to study
health science. I read in one of the book about a type
of fish that eat mosquitoes and when I returned from
exile the early 90s I started fish farming on my land in
Fort-Portal.
Are you suggesting that schools should
teach health science?
Yes, it’s highly ideal that schools should teach health
science. Look, this is how I got the idea to start fish
farming as an idea to address Malnutrition and fight
Malaria.
“Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.” -
Is it about a particular fish that eat
mosquitoes?
No, fish will eat insects that are in water.
One time Hon. Tom Butime visited my home with a
former ambassador to China who told me that in
China, people do fish farming in urban areas as one
way of fighting malaria.
So, instead of government of promoting
DDT, they should have promoted fish
farming?
Yes, because DDT kills the market for our farm produce.
In fact, people here in Tooro also know about the fact
that fish feed on mosquitoes. It is simple, promote
fish farming, and you will be able to fight malaria,
malnutrition and poverty in the households.
So, tell us more about this SET-FMM
Concept at your Home.
When I started digging fishponds at my home, my
neighbors thought I was going to breed mosquitoes
that will spread malaria in the village. It’s also true that
even in shallow wells mosquitoes will bread due to
poor environmental sanitation. For example, I last had
malaria in 1991 and up to know there is no malaria in
my home. I established these ponds in 1990. My main
goal has been to promote good nutrition and fight
malaria.
My Village Development Magazine 5
Is it true that the fish will scavenge all the
mosquitoes around the village?
Not really but those that will come into contact with the
fish in the ponds will be eaten, including the anopheles
mosquito which causes malaria.
What impact are you having?
One of my neighbors has also started a fish pond
but the whole idea is to spread the message of good
nutrition in the region, conservation of the environment
and fighting malaria. I have been preaching this since
1996 on VOT-FM. Unfortunately it takes time for
people to adapt new knowledge, and yet about 80
% of the topography in Tooro can allow shallow wells
and therefore people can establish fish ponds. I have
given this idea to Hon. Alex Ruhunda to pass it on
to Rt. Hon. Speaker, Rebeca Kadanga. I don’t know
if he did pass it on but I have been trying to interest
local leaders to take this idea forward. For example,
Kabaka Mwanga constructed a lake, his interest was
to connect to L. Victoria but that lake is still there, more
than 100 years old. Although it didn’t fulfill the purpose,
but locals can get fish from it. This is what I mean with
sustainability. One of my canals is 29 years old and is
still supplying me with the fish and I depend on natural
supply of water.
How often do you harvest?
About twice a month and the idea is viable. When
I make a survey, the whole of Kabarole has the
topography that will favor fish farming. In fact gravity of
water flow from the Rwenzori Mountains should favor
fish farming as far as Mubende.
Are there people who are copying what
you are doing?
Very few, apart from my neighbor.
May be because fish is not a familiar trade
and that could be the reason that people
are slow to adapt?
Partly yes, but also the leadership must promote it like
they have done with cage fish farming in crater lakes
that will not be able to provide the fish because of their
hydrological conditions , except for Lake Saaka which
is not a crater lake anyway.
So, you are saying that SET-FMM should
become part and parcel of the current
government interventions in Agriculture?
Yes. That is what we need, given the fact that we have
many wetlands that can be utilized to start fish ponds.

What do you feed the fish on? How would an ordinary person who wants
I feed my fish with yam leaves, and many fruits from
to implement this idea start? Otherwise, I
my naturally planted forest. In fact most of my trees are
find that your eco-system is much richer.
planted by birds. And ofcourse, on mosquitoes that
breed in the ponds.
Where should one start?
It has taken me a lot of time to build this, ever
since I returned from exile I have been working on
You are actually saying that, if you are
it. Otherwise, for those who don’t have the land, I
going to sustain the fish, you must also
recommend communal ponds in wetlands which are a
look after the environment very well? shared resource by every community member. Let us
Yes. You should look after the environment otherwise
also start in schools and church land. In the schools,
you run out of resources soon.
the students will benefit directly by eating fish.

Was your idea of establishing the

fishponds to supply the community with
fish or as a learning site?
I wanted to start with my family, to make sure that
there is fish throughout the year. Those who come to
help me with harvesting, I give them fish, and I also
sell to the neighbors. It’s not on a commercial level but
people come and buy. I’m hoping that others learn a
lesson or two when they come to see what I’m doing.

6 My Village Development Magazine - “Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.”
EDUCATION
The woes of rural Schools in Kabarole:
The Sorry State of Kaboyo S.S - Some of the students are running away
to well facilitated Schools in the neighborhood.

By: BUSIINGE Christopher in Mugusu

Above: Images from Kaboyo S.S. The School needs urgent refurbishment, and construction of new classroom blocks. There is no way that students can get
motivated to study is such an environment.

“Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.” - My Village Development Magazine 7
Students study in dusty and untidy makeshift structures
and many of the buildings are too old and risky to be
occupied. The school is Kaboyo S.S found in Mugusu
Sub County, Kabarole District. The vision of the school
is to provide quality and affordable education with a
mission of producing citizens who are morally upright,
knowledgeable and capable of leading Uganda to
greater heights.
Indeed, the school has a wonderful vision and mission
but I doubt if this can be fulfilled in the current state
where the learning environment is not conducive for
learners. The school that was founded in 1982 is one
of the poorest schools in Western Uganda. This not
withstanding that it’s a government aided secondary
school, founded by the Tooro Kingdom and sits on
Church land. In the past, the school was assisted
by the Rwenzori Development Foundation that
Constructed and equipped the library with new text
books. This library is aging and needs urgent repairs.
The school has a student population of over 300
students. The school seems to have been condemned
to the periphery and none of the stakeholders-including
the parents seem NOT to care about the school any
more. There are all signs of a well-to-do neighborhood
with beautiful mansions but have not added a single
brick to the school infrastructure.
By all standards, the school learning environment
doesn’t befit the standards of a secondary school
that has been in existence for 36 years. It’s therefore
unlikely that the school will ever produce leaders that
will take Uganda to greater heights.
The school management is appealing to well-wishers to
come to their rescue. Anyone interested in supporting
the school should contact the head teacher on this
email address: kaboyoschool@yahoo.co.uk or
Tel. +256 772827244/0782398822
8 My Village Development Magazine - “Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.”
OPINION
Rural Agricultural Development:
The role of effective
communication in Improving
Agricultural Development
BUSIINGE Christopher
Agricultural development is a fancy term in the
development spectrum for government and
development actors such as NGOs. In Uganda,
agriculture contributes approximately 24% to GDP yet
the sector continues to grow very slowly. There are two
challenges that I see, namely; 1) that government invests
so little in the sector, 2) the capacity building approach
by government and non government Organisations is
skewed and more Eurocentric and therefore failed. It’s
the later that I want to discuss and provide a solution
with the aim of improving development planning
and re-aligning current resources to the agricultural
sector, particularly so by the NAADS/ Operation
Wealth Creation Programme. The insights shared here
below are informed by my 6 years as a development
communication practitioner and a researcher.
For six years, I experimented with a set of communication
tools in Kabarole, all chosen based on their varying
capability and access to the target audience, the
farmers. At my disposal, was; the radio (commercial as
well as owned and self managed) posters, expositions
i.e. exchanges and demonstrations, the mobile phone,
toll free line and cinema/films. To a significant extent,
the same amount of effort was invested in the utilization
of these tools to realize maximum results. For this
article, while most of these tools achieved results
to a significant degree, my sharing will be on a few
tools that stand out based on the resources that were
available to implement the projects. Obviously, not all
the project tools had the same amount of financial and
human resources needed to harness their potential.
Early development programmes and projects mostly
followed an approach proposed by the World Bank,
Capacity building. Being poor countries, without
financial resources of our own, we didn’t refuse but
implemented what was proposed by our donors.
This approach was inclined to the fact that, the south
or more bluntly put, the developing countries such
as Uganda had no sufficient capacities of their own
or the necessary training required to transform our
economies. They therefore needed support from
the so-called developed countries in the form of
capacity building programmes across all sectors of
development including agriculture.
Some of these capacity building programmes are in
the form of knowledge, information and technological
transfer and NGOs often play the intermediary role.
On behalf of the World Bank, UNESCO has been at
the helm of promoting capacity building in the area of
knowledge and technological transfer to the developing
countries. Some of this effort led to the establishment
of telecommunication centers like Nakaseke telecentre
in Uganda that have since not shown serious impact.
Many NGOs also tried to copy and started what they
called community information centers. However, none
of these seem to have worked really well.
Again, the challenge is the way capacity building
was conceptualized, that is; the west often modeled
development based on their countries. Unfortunately,
this disease was transferred to governments and
NGOs of developing countries and continues to be
transferred through western donations. I believe that
this is the reason why development is very slow in
developing countries and Africa in particular.
Therefore, the development approach has continued
to be the same- that is, a copy and paste of too
many capacity building programmes and projects
by governments and NGOs in the south. The results
of these programmes are too thin on the ground
and farmers have continued to struggle to transform
their households since the Briton woods institutions
embarked on their capacity building campaigns.
Behind these capacity building programmes and
projects is a view that knowledge will be availed to
those who need it, including farmers and the result
will be significant economic transformation for the
farmer and the country. Unfortunately this assumption
has been proven wrong. A lot of capacity building
programmes and projects do take place but with very
minimal change and therefore money is wasted.
It is anticipated that through a cascading approach,
knowledge attained through capacity building
programmes will not only be applied but transferred
to the lowest level and cause change. My many years
of involvement in capacity building activities have
only experienced microscopic results. The trainees
simply fail to transfer or let alone use the knowledge
“Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.” -
acquired through capacity building to cause change
on the ground. Unfortunately funds by government
programmes such as NAADS continue to be poured
into capacity building activities.
My six years of practicing development communication
and working with farmers in Kabarole district, where
most farmers are not literate to understand let alone
comprehend often technical jargons loaded with
statistics, we had to innovatively work with information
for it to be utilized. We had to find new ways and
techniques of breaking down the knowledge/
information and packaged it in such a manner that
enabled farmers directly apply what they learnt through
a selected communication medium.
The principle in this approach lay in the Chinese saying;
what we hear- we forget, what we see – we remember,
and what we do – we know. The agricultural sector
programmes in Uganda are still stuck in the talking
and providing less demonstrative and informative
activities. Thus, apart from the health sector in Uganda,
they are involved in lots of knowledge transfer capacity
building programmes that simply fail to deliver and
realize change at the farmer level.
The new approach emerging from six years of
experiment with development communication
tools is to provide for well thought-out agricultural
communication activities that deliver relevant and
timely information through a medium that a farmer can
afford and relate with. I have spent 6 years studying
these media tools and also experienced some inspiring
results and below are some examples and results.
In Kabarole, we created films in which farmers
participated in providing information. The farmers
were actors in these films. The films were translated
Kibanda style. They are enjoyable and fun to watch.
We then, rolled our sleeves on pick-ups and went to
the villages to show these films in the evenings. We
didn’t bother whether we were bitten by mosquitoes
but we wanted to be sure that farmers watched the
film and got information that they can use to transform
their lives. One such film that we created and widely
screened was on Banana bacterial wilt. In Kasenda
Sub County where the film was screened many times,
the area registered a drop in Banana Bacterial will
down from 60% to 40%. The other tool we deployed
was the use of posters. These we figured out that, they
would be read by both young and the adults. We made
sure that, the posters were illustrative. To achieve this,
My Village Development Magazine 9
local artists played an important role to image the local
context into the posters so that the readers would relate
with the information. For example, the posters would
try to show the geographic and agricultural setting
of a given community. Although, the resources were
not available to measure the effect of these posters
onto their audience, there was always an increasing
demand for them by the farmers. This was definitely an
indication that, the posters provided useful information
to the farmers. We made sure that there were more
pictures on the poster than there was text.
Another important example of a development
communication tool used was a local radio station
specially designed to provide agricultural related
information and providing advice to farmers. In a
context where extension workers are scarce, farmers
would tune in to the radio and get the information
needed. There were reports of farmers starting to
rare fish, growing passion fruits or starting vegetable
gardens based on the information obtained on the
radio. There is no doubt that radio if focused can
be used to improve the situation of farmers in a way
that is least expected. This is to the extent of finding
new markets for their produce and improving their
household incomes. Definitely farmers in Kabarole
who have benefit from the Fm radio have had their lives
improved due to the relevant and timely information
provided to them by the radio.
The radio was also equipped with a phone line that
farmers called 24-7 and given responses to their
information needs. During a field survey in Mugusu, I
was mesmerized to find a farmer who had come to sell
her produce with the studio Number. When asked why
she had the number she said that, she often calls the
studio to find out the prices of agricultural commodities
before coming to the market. I was deeply touched to
see how much impact the radio was having on the
farmers.
An additional and effective radio agricultural
communication tool that I tested and realized results
is radio magazines broadcast in series accompanied
with moderated radio discussions and call ins. Radio
magazines are recorded and well produced voices
of farmers, experts, leaders providing their technical
advice on a given subject like post harvest handling. I
found that, radio magazine are more informative than
radio talk shows. The later normally have the same
person talking, and sometimes they are too technical
and or even political and therefore having less impact
10 My Village Development Magazine - “Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.”
on the audience that quickly switches to another
available channel.
With radio magazines, the radio literally goes to the
community, and draws in community experiences,
expertise and personality. This helps the listener relate
with a particular issue and personality and that has an
impact on the listener. One such experiment with radio
magazines that had impact was on how to improve
post harvest handling of maize in Kabarole. A best
practice was recorded in Karambi Sub County and
aired on radio several times and this attracted farmers
from around Kabarole and other neighboring districts
like Bundibugyo to the farmer in Karambi to learn.
Some farmers from other places paid for his expertise
and he supported them at their own farms. More than
15 maize cribs were constructed based on the Karambi
model in Kabarole and Bundibugyo based on this
single communication tool.
The other development communication tool used is
visitations and demonstrations. Many farmers are
able to learn from other farmers in their neighboring
communities. So, we often took farmers on exchange
visits to other successful farmers. Because of the
cost involved in travelling, we also set up our own
community demonstrations and also organized farmer
expositions where farmers come to a central point and
spend several days learning about one another. In the
process they learn new technologies and techniques
that the later apply on their farms.
Conclusion: the above communication tools and
others could be redesigned and improved upon and
integrated in what I would like to call Agricultural
Development Communication. If fact, NAADS/OWC
could provide some TV programmes to air short
and practical documentaries on how to do it (on any
particular aspect in farming). These short films will have
to be short and produced locally involving farmers.
While government needs to redefine and adjust
planning to this new direction and therefore support
some of these communication activities that will within
a short period of time spur agricultural development.
Mr. BUSIINGE Christopher
Is the Chief Executive Officer/Chairman for
Countryside Environmental Conservation-Uganda
(CECO-Uganda) a non-Governmental Organization
based in Fort-Portal, Uganda.
CECO-Uganda is the publisher of My Village
Development Magazine.
 FORT-PORTAL FARMERS EXPO
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0778 615055 0772 610928
Organizers: Partners:

“Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.” - My Village Development Magazine 11
 To advertise, articles and comments please
Email us: myvillagedevt@gmail.com

Note: Development actors can use this

space to share their stories with the World.
Don’t hesitate to contact us.

12 My Village Development Magazine - “Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.”
 CECO-Uganda is the publisher of My Village Development
Magazine a development Organisation based in Fort-Portal. Our
development interest is in the following areas; Conservation, Energy
and Renewables, Conflict Management, Poverty Alleviation, Forest
Resources, Climate Change, Waste Management and Pollution, Food
and Nutrition, Green skills development, Research and Education.

Please drop us an email if you have any stories that you would like to
share with us. You never know your story could be featured in the next
issues of My Village Development Magazine. Our subsequent issues
will continue to pay attention to Food and Nutrition and we welcome
your input in the form of articles.

We are particularly looking for articles with solutions to bring down the
malnutrition challenge in Western Uganda and other parts of Uganda.

“Publishing Development Stories and Challenges from Across Uganda, Africa and the World.” - My Village Development Magazine 13
For Comments about the Stories and Articles Published in this Magazine, Please Contact the Editor;
Email: ceco.dsuganda@gmail.com or myvillagedevt@gmail.com
Tel: +256 772-452 945/ 772-610928 or Visit Our Office: Rwengoma Hill, Fort-Portal.
Send us a letter to: P. O. Box 408, Fort-Portal, Uganda.