Hope Mafaranga

One day in 1992, a professional teacher Evas Kamasaka returned home to try farming.   She left her teaching job to concentrate on farming after realizing that it was the only way she would attain riches. Kamasaka says that she started growing, trees, matooke, ground nuts, greens, cassava, beans, sweet potatoes and millet for home consumption. But her biggest and main enterprise was tree planting which she proudly says has made her go to the bank smiling. Kamasaka who has planted 40 acres of eucalyptus trees, says that she used to sell each tree at shs 50,000 but later realized that she was being cheated and making loses and decided to be cutting her own timbers. She says that trees are one of the most profitable enterprises Ugandans should engage in, urging that it’s not labour intensive and besides money earning they also contribute to rain making. She explains that when she cuts her timber, she gets 120 timber   from one tree and sells each at sh 3600. Kamasaka earned

A first study to investigate in detail the effects of disasters on crop diversity and its recovery has been concluded with a combined agronomic observations of looking at the seeds’ colour, size, pattern, and shape with biotechnology tools to determine the seeds’ genetic makeup. Seeds of local crop varieties included in relief-seed packages distributed to small-scale farmers after natural calamities if indigenous agricultural diversity is to rebound faster. Agricultural relief efforts also capitalized on existing social networks to distribute seeds more effectively and efficiently. These are among the findings of a recent study looking into the loss and subsequent recovery of cowpea diversity in Mozambique after massive flooding, followed by severe drought, hit most of the country about 11 years ago. After natural disasters such as floods and drought that often wipe-out their crops, farmers usually receive relief seed packages to help them recover and restore their food security and s

Many people in African still die of diseases which can be treated using African herbal medicine. Clovis Kabaseke, a horticulture expert in Fort Portal town in western Uganda says that among the herbals that people have been using is for inflammation, fever and Malaria treatment. Kabaseke says that Artemisia annua has traditionally been used in many herbal remedies such as a bitter, a febrifuge, as an anti-malarial and as an antibiotic. He explains that traditional African medicine is a holistic discipline involving extensive use of indigenous herbalism combined with aspects of African spirituality.   “Traditional medicinal remedies are made from the leaves. This anemophilous species has only a light pollen count during hay fever season,” he noted. Hay fever season usually happens in from July to November in Kabarole district, western Uganda according to Kabaseke. Artemisinin is a plant natural product produced by Artemisia annua and the active ingredient in the most e

By Hope Mafaranga   “I was born in a poor family, raised up in a grass-thatched house and cared for by many people,” says Faith Kunihira, the director of Bringing Hope to the Family, on how she was inspired to take care of HIV and vulnerable children. Kunihira adds that she was born under a coffee tree and ushered in by her grandmother who was a midwife. An accountant by profession, Kunihira never had any personal savings because most of her money was spent on looking after her siblings after her mother separated with her father. In 2000 and with only sh5000 to her name, Kunihira left her accounting job in Jinja to go back to her community in Kaihura, Kyenjojo district, to look after HIV-orphaned and vulnerable children. She was inspired by her background and many NGOs that did HIV-related work in Jinja.“I knew the stories of the HIV prevalence in my community. I had no money but I had the brain, was sensitised and knew that I wanted to help people in my locality,” the 40-year-

It is sunny evening; the cool breeze is soft and gentle as it fanned upon my face. As I walked into the Tooro Botanical Gardens (TBG), I was enchanted by the abundance of colorful flowers and trees and I could easily hear the birds perched on the groves, singing their lullabies.   . I started walking slowly, so that I do not scare the birds away because my ears were enjoying their sound and I was enthusiastic to see them.   However my excitement was cut short when a bee started buzzing near my ear, I shooed it away.   It was no wonder that bees were there in big numbers because were completely surrounded by flowers of different colors, shapes and sizes. TBG that sits on 100 acres of land is conveniently located towards Mountains of the Moon Hotel, about 2km from Fort Portal town, in Kabarole district. The second botanical garden in Uganda is a perfect site for leisure with numerous peaceful places for resting and listening to nature. Yet it is also a place where ma

Five Pakistanis arrested in Uganda By Hope Mafaranga June 18, 2012 In Ntoroko Security operatives in Ntoroko district have arrested one Congolese national and five Pakistanis for entering the country without travel documents.   The six were arrested on Wednesday night at Ntoroko landing site, while crossing into the country on a boat. Wilson Kwanya, the Western Regional Police Commander, identified the Congolese national as Musa Ismael Tembo. Kwanya, however, refused to disclose the names of the Pakistan nationals, citing security reasons.   According to Kwanya, the six are said to have travelled to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) through Mpondwe border in Kasese district and then from Congo, they proceeded to Ntoroko landing site in Ntoroko district.   The men were arrested after security operatives attached to Kanara landing site, became suspicious when the six were told to identify themselves, but they refused. When they were searched, they didn’t have any ide

A cholera outbreak has hit Ntoroko district leaving two people dead and over 80 people admitted in a period of three weeks. The Ntoroko district health officer Dr Simon Ssentamu said that the district registered the first case of cholera on 18 May 2012, but since then, the number accumulated to 82 patients. He attributed the outbreak to people who fish from Lake Albert on the side of Hoima and Nebbi where cholera was reported recently. “It is true we had an outbreak of disease and most samples that we tested turned positive to cholera and two people have since died but we are doing our best to stop the spread,” Dr Ssentamu confirmed. Dr Ssentamu said most people who reported at centers of Kanara health center III and Karugutu Health center IV were vomiting, watery diheorea and also complained of muscle pain which led to dehydration in their bodies. He explained that cholera can kill an adult within three hours, causing active secretion of an isotonic fluid resulting in