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UGANDA / ORGANIC PINEAPPLES
STORY: UGANDA / ORGANIC PINEAPPLES
TRT: 4.00
SOURCE: UNEP
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: LUGANDA / ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 4, 5, 6 FEBRUARY 2011, BUMALLI VILLAGE, KATUNGA DISTRICT; KAMPALA, UGANDA
5 FEBRUARY 2011, BUMALLI VILLAGE, KATUNGA DISTRICT, UGANDA
1. Med shot, organic pineapple farmer Vincent Ssonko walking through his plantation
2. Close up, Vincent Ssonko cutting a pineapple from the plant
3. SOUNDBITE (Luganda) Vincent Ssonko, Farmer:
“The major benefit I’ve had from organic agriculture is an increase in my income. I’ve been able to educate my children and I have been able to harvest enough food to feed my family.”
4. Various shots, sign of the National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU)
5. Wide shot, Vincent Ssonko walking through the farm with a group of people
6. SOUNDBITE (Luganda) Musa K. Muwanga, Chief Executive Officer, National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda:
“The Green economy is important to Uganda because it creates a lot of opportunities to create wealth for different actors, from farmers to traders, in a way that is more sustainable and protects the environment.”
7. Various shots, Vincent Ssonko touring the farm
8. Close up, Vincent Ssonko cutting a pineapple from the plant
9. SOUNDBITE (Luganda) Vincent Ssonko, Farmer:
“I can sell this organic pineapple for 600 shillings to an exporter. But the same sized conventional pineapple is worth only 200 shillings on the local market.”
4, 6 FEBRUARY 2011, KAMPALA, UGANDA
10. Wide shot, pineapple packing plant BioFresh
11. Close up, pineapple being packed
12. Med shot, securing box with pineapples
13. Wide shot, exterior packing plant with boxes stacked outside
5 FEBRUARY 2011, BUMALLI VILLAGE, KATUNGA DISTRICT, UGANDA
14. Wide shot, street with traffic
15. Med shot, shop with customers
16. Close up, packed pineapple on shelf
17. Med shot, packed strawberries and lettuce on shelf
18. Med shot, fruits and vegetables in shopping bag
19. Med shot, Jane Nalunga on computer
20. Wide shot, Jane Nalunga arriving to the NOGAMU headquarters and stepping out her pick-up and taking a bag from the back of the pick-up with the help of another man
21. SOUNDBITE (Luganda) Jane Nalunga, Senior Training Officer, National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda:
“The potential for organic agriculture in Uganda is very high. It’s easier to improve the livelihoods of farmers in rural areas thru organic agriculture than any other intervention.”
22. Various shots, farmers gathered
23. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme:
“Together with our colleagues at UNCTAD, we’ve prepared a study on the transition towards organic agriculture and the associative productivity gains achieved. Across Africa, on average, the increases in yields were 100 percent and in East Africa even 125 percent.”
24. Med shot, Vincent Ssonko doing numbers
25. SOUNDBITE (Luganda) Vincent Ssonko, Farmer:
“My life has changed. I started w 10 acres, now I have 80 acres. I’ve built three houses, and opened a hardware store in the village.”
26. Wide shot, Vincent cutting a pineapple
27. Wide shot, Vincent at his home with children playing soccer in the garden
The National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (NOGAMU) promotes the growth of organic agriculture across the country, and the export of certified, organic products around the world.
SOUNDBITE (Luganda) Vincent Ssonko, Farmer:
“The major benefit I’ve had from organic agriculture is an increase in my income. I’ve been able to educate my children and I have been able to harvest enough food to feed my family.”
SOUNDBITE (Luganda) Musa K. Muwanga, Chief Executive Officer, National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda:
“The Green economy is important to Uganda because it creates a lot of opportunities to create wealth for different actors, from farmers to traders, in a way that is more sustainable and protects the environment.”
The key to success in the export market is becoming certified as organic.
SOUNDBITE (Luganda) Vincent Ssonko, Farmer:
“I can sell this organic pineapple for 600 shillings to an exporter. But the same sized conventional pineapple is worth only 200 shillings on the local market.”
Ssonko sells his certified organic produce to a local exporter called BioFresh, which airfreights his pineapple to Germany.
Workers at the BioFresh packing plant earn twice what conventional packers do, and enjoy free breakfasts, lunches and transport, unheard of in the conventional agriculture industry.
And it’s not just global exports in Uganda, organic is going local: NOGAMU runs a shop in the capital Kampala, providing access to organic produce to the public. There’s even a home delivery service; just order online and earth-friendly products are delivered to homes and hotels.
SOUNDBITE (Luganda) Jane Nalunga, Senior Training Officer, National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda:
“The potential for organic agriculture in Uganda is very high. It’s easier to improve the livelihoods of farmers in rural areas thru organic agriculture than any other intervention.”
SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Executive Director, United Nations Environment Programme:
“Together with our colleagues at UNCTAD, we’ve prepared a study on the transition towards organic agriculture and the associative productivity gains achieved. Across Africa, on average, the increases in yields were 100 percent and in East Africa even 125 percent.”
Farmer Ssonko is living proof that the green economy creates not just jobs, but better living standards.
SOUNDBITE (Luganda) Vincent Ssonko, Farmer:
“My life has changed. I started w 10 acres, now I have 80 acres. I’ve built three houses, and opened a hardware store in the village.”
The green economy and organic agriculture allow farmer Ssonko to take care of his family and his land, which has nurtured him and his ancestors for thousands of years.
Uganda uses among the world’s lowest amount of artificial fertilizers, at less than two per cent (or 1kg/ha) of the already very low continent-wide average of 9kg/ha in Sub Saharan Africa. The widespread lack of fertilizer use has been harnessed as a real opportunity to pursue organic forms of agricultural production, a policy direction widely embraced by Uganda.
In Uganda 85 per cent per cent of the population was engaged in agriculture production, contributing to 42 per cent of the national GDP and 80 per cent of the exports earnings in 2005/06. As early as 1994 a few commercial companies began deliberately engaging in organic agriculture. At the same time in Uganda, there was a general movement in the agricultural sector towards developing sustainable agriculture as a means of improving people’s livelihoods.
Through organic farming, Uganda not only gains economically, it also contributes to mitigating climate change, as GHG emissions per ha are estimated to be on average 64 per cent lower than emissions from conventional farms. Various studies have shown that organic fields sequester 3–8 tonnes more carbon per ha than conventional agriculture.
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