Kabarole Siamese twins who had been admitted at Mulago hospital have died.

Kabarole Siamese twins who had been admitted at Mulago hospital have died.

Mulago hospital spokesperson, Enock Kusasira, says the twins died last night after their situation worsened.

The pair admitted last week was sharing the heart and the liver. Francis and Robert were admitted at the hospital's Special care Unit in ward 5B. The male babies weighed 4.3kg.

This was a fourth pair of Siamese twins admitted at the hospital including the two pairs from Ngora and Kabarole districts which passed on.

WFSJ graduates 58 African and Arab Science Journalists

Fifty-eight journalists from 30 African and Arab countries graduated from the SjCOOP Program of the World Federation of Science Journalists, Wednesday 10^th October 2012, in Jordan.

Following their last encounter with the experienced science journalist who has been their mentor for the last two years, the ‘mentees’ – one of them now editor-in-chief of his newspaper, another now working for the main TV station in her country, and several having published articles in the most prestigious scientific journals – received their certificate from the World Federation of Science Journalists.

“It has really been two years of great learning and sharing”, said Hope Mafaranga from Uganda.

The class of 2012 is the second group of African and Arab science journalists to successfully complete the SjCOOP training program. In a first phase, from 2006 to 2009, SjCOOP graduated 32 science journalists from Africa and the Arab World.

SjCOOP mentees typically begin by revising the ten lessons of the WFSJ online course in science journalism developed – and recently updated – by an international team of journalists: http://www.wfsj.org/course/. Mentors then comment the online, print, audio, or video production of their mentees with a goal of improving overall quality. Mentors also advise on how to find sources and story ideas all the way to pitching stories to editors and freelancing internationally.

Beyond improving the skills of individual journalists at better covering complex issues like climate change, health, energy and technological developments, SjCOOP has provided several pan-African publications with networks of correspondents, in some instances giving birth to entirely new publications, rooted in Africa.

The program also invests in the development of networks of journalists, up to the establishment of associations and the linkage of the associations, regionally and internationally. It has played a key role in the establishment of more than 15 active associations or clubs of science journalists with many of them initiating their own training activities.

Monitoring and Evaluation are fully integrated in the program thanks to the work of internal and external evaluators. Throughout the duration of the program, the SjCOOP program managers benefit from early information about areas that need improvement while independent evaluators measure the progress of the mentees’ production according to quality criteria established at the outset of the mentoring.

This intense monitoring work – and the large size of the group – provide an exceptional opportunity to study what conditions are necessary for a journalist to succeed at covering science in Africa and in the Arab World, from his personal qualifications to the newsroom environment. SjCOOP has already led to the publication of several articles in peer-reviewed journals*. Several more papers providing unique insights on how science and technology can be communicated through the African and Arab media will be published in the coming months.

… and SjCOOP Phase II will end only next January.

In the meantime, eighteen of the best SjCOOP graduates from 15 different Arab and African countries will be working in a ‘virtual newsroom’ where they will work in teams on stories under the editorial leadership of editors from ScienceAfrica, SciDev.net, Nature Middle East and the newspapers Sidwaya (Burkina Faso), Mutations (Cameroon), and Fraternité-Matin (Côte d’Ivoire).

The World Federation of Science Journalists and the SjCOOP team have learned tremendously from the mentees, mentors and coordinators. The Federation is now putting together follow-up activities. Keep visiting this web site for more detailed reports on the achievements of the SjCOOPies, from publishing in the most prestigious international publications to making an impact on their Parliaments.

As Ola Al-Ghazawy said: “I wish all the SCJOOP family will keep in touch”.

This is a challenge that the World Federation of Science Journalists is committed to meet in several ways. One way is to make sure that as many science journalists as possible attend the upcoming 8th World Conference of Science Journalists, 24 – 28 June 2013, in Helsinki, Finland: http://wcsj2013.org

The SjCOOP Program is funded by UK Aid (lead donor), The Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Canada's International Development Research Centre.

http://www.wfsj.org/news/news.php?id=291

Research shows that legume trees can fertilize and stabilize maize fields, generating higher yields

Africa’s first long-term study finds legume trees planted alongside maize, combined with less fertilizer, is best solution for Africa’s most important food crop

Inserting rows of “fertilizer trees” into maize fields, known as agroforestry, can help farmers across sub-Saharan Africa cope with the impacts of drought and degraded soils, according to a 12-year-long study by researchers at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF).

The study, Can Integration of Legume Trees Increase Yield Stability in Rainfed Maize Cropping Systems in Southern Africa?, by Gudeta Sileshi, Legesse Kassa Debusho and Festus Akinnifesi, was published in this month’s issue of Agronomy Journal of the Soil Science Society of America.

Three coordinated experiments, begun in 1991 in Malawi and Zambia, found that farms that mix nitrogen-fixing trees and maize have consistent and relatively high yields year after year. In Malawi, the highest average maize yield was found in fields that combined both fertilizer trees and inorganic fertilizers, but applied at just half the standard recommended amounts.

Maize mono-crops grown with inorganic fertilizers may have higher yield in some years but the yield is less reliable in the long run. Mono-cropping without replenishing soil nutrients in any way the de facto practice of resource-poor maize farmers, was the least productive and most unpredictable of all. 

“To grow their way out of poverty, Africa’s small-scale farmers don’t just need a good harvest for one or two years, they need long-term stable, high-yield harvests,” said coauthor Akinnifesi, former regional coordinator for the World Agroforestry Centre, Southern Africa Regional Programme. “Moreover, they need to know which farming systems will be both stable and sustainable as the environment and climate changes.”

In sub-Saharan Africa, where more than one in three people is chronically hungry, variable rainfall, drought and degraded soils all cut into yields that are one-quarter of the global average. 

While previous studies have shown the short-term benefits of such agroforestry practices, today’s study is the first to analyze long-term yield stability in the face of environmental change.  Year to year, the most dynamic environmental change is found in rainfall, which directly impacts maize yield on Africa’s largely non-irrigated, rain-fed farms.   

Maize accounts for more than half of the cropped area and the calories consumed in many countries in sub-Saharan Africa. The small-scale maize farming system, covering 10 percent of the region, is in crisis, with yields in many areas either stagnating or declining. As a result of rapid population growth, average farm sizes have fallen to less than 0.5 hectares in many areas.

Continuous farming without replenishing the organic matter and nutrients in soil has led to erosion and soil infertility, and there are signs of increasing soil acidity in some areas exposed to prolonged use of inorganic fertilizers and the burning of crop residues.

With climate change, maize cropping systems are expected to experience even more dramatic reductions in yield. For just 1°C of warming, more than 75 percent of the present maize-growing areas in Africa are predicted to experience at least a 20 percent reduction in yield under drought conditions.

The experiments incorporated a tree called gliricidia into maize fields. Gliricidia “fixes” nitrogen, drawing it from the air, changing it into a form that plants can use for their own growth, and inserting it into the soil. This alleviates the need for big doses of manufactured nitrogen fertilizers. The leaves shed by gliricidia also return organic matter to the soil, increasing its structural stability, erosion resistance and capacity to store water.

“Growing maize with legume trees has increased yields in many parts of sub-Saharan Africa,” said Gudeta Sileshi, the lead scientist on the study and regional representative for ICRAF’s Southern Africa Program. “Now we know this is not just a temporary phenomenon. For maize farmers who can’t afford fertilizers, agroforestry with nitrogen-fixing trees offers a stable increase in production, allowing them to feed their families and replenish the soil.”

Application of fertilizer without the addition of organic matter may not be sustainable because only organic matter helps to retain soil moisture, adds calcium and feeds soil biota, contributing to soil health and structure.

Past long-term studies have shown that continuous maize cropping with inorganic fertilizers in Nigeria resulted in significant yield declines over a 16-year period. Likewise, in Pakistan, a 14-year study showed declining rice yields even when the recommended level of nitrates, phosphate and potassium were applied. 

In the United States and Europe, researchers have conducted long-term studies ranging from 20 to 120 years, monitoring the impacts of cropping systems on dynamic soil processes. Such long-term studies have been virtually nonexistent in sub-Saharan Africa.

“We need well-designed long-term trials that will allow scientific assessments of different cropping systems with a changing climate in Africa,” said Debusho, a senior lecturer at the University of Pretoria. “Such information can guide the exploration of technological alternatives and the development of policies to improve the adaptability and sustainability of cropping systems.”

 Ends

Global Fund results show broad gains against HIV

Global Fund results show broad gains against HIV

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria announced new results on Monday ( 23. 07.2012)  that show a significant increase in treatment of HIV and in the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV.

The results show that 3.6 million people living with HIV are now receiving anti-retroviral treatment under programs backed by the Global Fund, an increase of 600,000 since the end of 2010

Overall, 8.7 million lives have been saved by programs supported by the Global Fund since the organization was formed in 2002. The results include data through June, 2012.

The success in expanding treatment for HIV in developing countries has been achieved by effective efforts by health workers in countries with a high disease burden, the commitment of donors, and reduction in the cost of drugs, among other factors. A year’s supply of first-line anti-retroviral drugs costs today less than $100 per person for the least expensive regimen recommended by the WHO, from more than $10,000 in 2000.

However, financial support for effective drugs is only part of the solution. Preventing and treating HIV requires extensive efforts by health and community workers – persuading high-risk people to be tested, and counselling patients on treatment – and can only work by strengthening health and community systems. The engagement and support of civil society organizations have also been crucial to the successful implementation of Global Fund grants and their achievements.

By mid-2012, the results show an increase in the number of pregnant women living with HIV who have received a complete course of antiretroviral treatment under programs supported by the Global Fund to 1.5 million.

“As we focus our resources to increase impact, preventing mother-to-child transmission is an area where we are achieving great success,” said Gabriel Jaramillo, General Manager of the Global Fund. “These results show that creating an AIDS-free generation is now possible, but only if we push harder to get there.”

The results also show that the number of HIV testing and counselling sessions provided by Global Fund-supported programs rose by 43 per cent in the 18 months since December 2010 to 210 million.

Massive strides have also been made in the fight against malaria, with 115 million insecticide-treated bed-nets distributed in the past 18 months alone under programs backed by the Global Fund, taking the total number of nets distributed to 270 million. The number of cases of malaria treated has risen by more than half in the same period to 260 million.

Global Fund-supported TB programs continued to expand. Recipients of Global Fund financing have cumulatively detected and treated 9.3 million smear-positive cases of TB, an increase of 21 per cent from 2010 to mid-2012.  They have also more than doubled the number of TB/HIV services, such as screening for co-infections, delivered over the same period.

Together with the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, PEPFAR, the Global Fund is one of the leading international financial supporters for HIV prevention and treatment. The Global Fund provided 21 per cent of total international investments for HIV and AIDS in 2009, the latest year for which data is available. The Global Fund was also the main source of international funding in 52 of the 92 recipient countries that have reported financial data to UNAIDS.

The Global Fund will invest up to US$8 billion in grants to fight AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria over the coming 20 months, US$5 billion of it in Africa.

President Museveni challenges leaders on women empowerment, as birth control efforts get major boost

President Yoweri Museveni has challenged leaders especially those from developing countries to re dedicate themselves to the social- economic transformation of their people and to addressing their reproductive health needs.

He urged them to empower women in all aspects saying all stake holders must be on board as women do not only give life but they are the backbone of the economies of the developing world.

The President said the government of Uganda is committed to ensuring that all women are enabled to exercise their family planning choices and to strengthen service delivery and the reproductive health systems in the country.

President Museveni who is accompanied by the First Lady Hon.Janet Museveni was last evening delivering his key-note address at the London Summit on Family Planning hosted by the British Prime Minister David Cameron and co-sponsored by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and United Nations Fund for Population Activity-(UNFPA).

He told participants at the meeting who included the Tanzanias’ leader Mr. Jakaya Kikwete and that of Rwanda Gen. Paul Kagame, that government will increase the current allocation for family planning supplies from USD 3.3 million per year to USD 5 million per year for the next five years and will mobilize an additional USD 5 million from External partners.

He also said the National Medical Stores will be strengthened to improve distribution of supplies to both public and private health delivery units.

This he said, was in accordance with the road map to reach Uganda’s’ goals towards the achievement of her National Development Plan. He also said that the country was making steady progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals, citing reduction of poverty levels among the people, increase in life expectancy, the provision of Universal Primary and Secondary Education and promoting women development.

The summit was addressed by Presidents Jakaya Kikwete and Paul Kagame who both committed their governments’ efforts in scaling up family planning infrastructures through more resource allocation and information dissemination.

Welcoming Heads of State and other delegates to the summit, Prime Minister David Cameron said empowering woman is key to the development of a family.

He said women should be allowed and be able to decide whether, when or how many children they should have and to avoid unintended pregnancies.

"We're not talking about some kind of Western-imposed population control, forced abortion or sterilization," said Cameron. "We're not telling anyone what to do. We're giving women and girls the power to decide for themselves,” he said.

He committed over 500 million pounds between now and 2020 to the cause of family planning in order to provide affordable lifesaving contraceptive services, information and supplies in the world's poorest countries.

Mrs Melinda Gates of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and co-sponsor of the summit said the purpose of the Foundation was to help all people around the world to live healthy and better lives adding that family planning with contraceptives helped families to determine when to have their children, enable them go to schools and live good lives and at the same time enabling women and girls avoid unwanted pregnancies.

She committed over US$500 million to Family Planning between now and 2020.

The Executive Director of the United Nations Population Fund, (UNFPA ), Dr. Babatunde Osotimehin thanked the three Heads of State for honouring the Summit. He described President Museveni as a man full of wisdom and who led Africa in the fight against HIV/AIDS adding that the pledge to boost birth control measures is transformational for the developing world.

The measures agreed at the conference would avert an unintended pregnancy every two seconds over the next eight years and mean that 212,000 fewer women and girls would die in pregnancy or childbirth. They would also prevent 3 million babies dying in the first year of their lives and that an estimated 220 million girls and women around the world would use contraceptives if they had access to them.

The lack of contraceptives resulted in over 60 million unintended pregnancies every year, while putting women at risk of death or disability during pregnancy, as well as unsafe abortions. According to reports in 2008, there were around 14 million births to adolescent girls in developing countries, "most often before they were physically, emotionally or economically prepared.”

Press Release: President Museveni calls for unity deal based on justice for the two Sudans.

President Yoweri Museveni has called on the people of South Sudan not to be like the Biblical children of Israel who were about to back-track to Egypt when faced with challenges.

“You should stand firm and make sure that judgment is attained. Be strong, the modern world doesn’t have a place for the weak hearted”, he said.

The President who was the Chief Guest at the celebrations to mark the first Anniversary of Independence of South Sudan called for a peaceful deal based on justice to resolve the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan. He urged President Salva Kiir to strike a deal with the Khartoum government that will benefit everybody.

“I don’t care who is right or who is wrong but make a deal based on justice and a deal that will not create problems in the future”, he counseled. He decried the suppression of black people by greedy politicians.

“In the world, the voice of black people is not heard; otherwise the suffering of the black people of South Sudan would not have gone on for too long because their case was quite obvious”, the President said.

In a brief recount of the history of the South Sudanese struggle to independence, Mr. Museveni lamented the tendency of black people being prone to division. He, however, paid great tribute to the Sudanese People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and the heroes and heroines, who fought hard to win the independence struggle.

The Republic of South Sudan, the youngest independent nation on the African continent, yesterday held its 1st Independence Anniversary celebrations amidst pomp at the John Garang Mausoleum in Juba. South Sudan became independent on the 9th July 2011 after a majority of its over eight million inhabitants voted in favour of cessation from the Khartoum based government.

Other high ranking officials who attended the celebrations included former South African president Thabo Mbeki, who is mediating AU-led talks between Sudan and South Sudan, Deputy Prime Minister of Ethiopia Hailemerian Desalegn, Chairperson of AU Commission Jean Ping, AU Chairperson Yayi Boni, Minister of State for Public Service of Kenya Dalmas Ayango and Special Representative of the UN Secretary General Hilda Johnson.

President Salva Kiir on his part congratulated the people of South Sudan and paid tribute to the fallen heroes.

“The celebrations to mark the first anniversary are a manifestation of a sustained liberation struggle. Today we are free and liberated; but as we celebrate we must know that freedom is not an end in itself,” he said.

President Salva Kiir said that the conflict between his country and Sudan, stems from the fact that since attainment of South Sudanese independence, the Khartoum administration has continuously disregarded South Sudan’s sovereignty which has caused fighting and displacement of South Sudanese citizens.

He, however, emphasized that he will solve all those problems through dialogue. He reported that the Khartoum government had confiscated oil belonging to the government of South Sudan worth over US$800 million leaving South Sudan to operate on a very limited budget. He also expressed optimism that the relations between Khartoum and South Sudan would soon be addressed peacefully.

“We realize the importance of our mutual relationship and respect each other’s sovereignty as we pursue the visions of our two countries”, he emphasized. President Kiir paid tribute to development partners and civil society organizations for their assistance before and during South Sudan’s first year of independence.

Speaking on the way forward for South Sudan, President Kiir promised to tackle corruption, which he said had made the country lose millions of shillings. He also called on the people of South Sudan to join him in the fight against corruption so that the vice does not undermine the aspirations of the South Sudanese people.

African Union commission chairman Jean Ping said the AU noted the tremendous difficulties facing South Sudan, urging both Juba and Khartoum to stick to AU and UN Security Council resolutions to broker peace between them.

In a speech read for him by Ms. Hilda Johnson, the United Nations Secretary General, Mr. Ban Ki Moon pledged the world body’s support to ensure a peaceful and stable South Sudan.



ENDS

Global Fund Offers Outstanding Value for Money

The General Manager of Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria Gabriel Jaramillo, has told a gathering of finance and health ministers that the financing institution offers outstanding value for money by effectively treating and preventing the spread of disease.

In a speech to a Conference of Ministers of Finance and Health by Harmonization for Health in Africa (HHA), Mr. Jaramillo said the changing economic climate had forced the Global Fund to change its operations to make grants more strategic, improve efficiency and become more effective overall.

The Global Fund will invest US$8 billion over the coming 20 months, US$5 billion of it in Africa. Mr. Jaramillo said that with productivity gains and more co-investment by countries that receive grants, there is a tremendous opportunity.

“As a former banker, I know a good deal when I see one,” said Mr. Jaramillo. “There is no better deal that investing to prevent these diseases.”

Jaramillo urged the ministers not to fear the investment necessary just because the up-front costs look high, because maintaining gains is less-expensive than the initial investments.

“Front-end these programs now, put your skin in the game now, because the out-years will be much cheaper as your number of cases goes down.

“Sustaining your programs is much-less costly than you believe, and the return on investment is potentially huge,” he said.

He also observed that the average cost of ARV drugs is now US$ 127 per patient per year, 12 percent less than in 2010, on top of a 27-percent decline the year before. The average cost of insecticide-treated nets is down to US$ 4.50.

He also cited recent analysis about Namibia, where HIV treatment costs approximately US$ 120 million a year, about half of that paid for by the Global Fund. With that investment, 9200 hospital beds were released for other health problems, 1,000 health workers and 550 teachers were kept alive per year,. The country also went from 9,400 hospitalizations to 236 and 2,700 deaths to 56 over five years.

Jaramillo drew a sharp contrast between the situation today and that of 10 years ago, when international assistance for health saw a huge increase in funding because of three factors – generosity, fear, and a sense of urgency.



“Ten years ago, few people were on ARVs in Africa, and fewer than five per cent of African households owned insecticide-treated nets. Today, only generosity is left as a motivator, you have to create the sense of urgency and much work remains to be done,” he also said.

The current rate of improvement will not be sufficient to reach the health-related Millennium Development Goals by 2015. Only 41 percent of countries supported by the Global Fund are on track to meet the fourth MDG on reducing child mortality and the sixth on combating HIV and AIDS, malaria and other diseases.

“We know what works now we did not 10 years ago,” Mr. Jaramillo said. “You have become good at this fight. The knowledge base has moved from the North to the South—you now know the most. We want to work with you to make your programs more effective and more efficient.”



ENDS

Press Release: President urges leaders on unity in service, says lack

In another attempt to resolve the simmering tensions over land in Kayunga district and growing divisions among local leaders over the matter, President Yoweri Museveni met district leaders and later held a rally for bibanja and landlords to address the issue.

President Yoweri Museveni who met leaders from the lowest councils to the district leadership at Nakyesa Primary school urged them to educate the people about the law governing land issues especially about bona fide occupants and illegal occupants. He said the disagreements among the leaders focus on the same issue but interpreted differently.

“People being evicted illegally from their land and land disputes in the district are rampant. It is my job to inform you about the improved laws that govern land in Uganda. I want to get to the truth of the matter,” he said.

The President later held a rally at Kayonza Primary school were victims of land evictions and some landlords gave their testimonies on matter. The President pledged to send investigators to ascertain the credibility of the issues raised by the residents. He said he would use the testimonies given to help him scrutinize the issue to its conclusion.

There were reports that the district is faced with rampant evictions that have left thousands homeless and starved while others claim that the number of illegal occupants in rising.

“ People who get involved in Illegal evictions will be dealt with. I have come here three times because people in Buganda have been affected by these evictions. I want to stop this practice. I want to commend Minister Madada….the banyankole have a saying that a child saw their aging mother and asked what kind of wife their father married... Madada helped us a lot in the land act especially in parliament. That law was passed and it is tough because it says those who illegally evict will be arrested including their accomplices. The frustration has been that it has not been implemented because we have not been getting accurate information about who is doing what,” he said.

According to the President, if it is mailo land or lease land you can have a kibanja by law in two ways. If the landlord granted you permission to stay there or if you have been staying on the land before 1983 or the person who sold you the land was there prior to 1983 or if you are settled there by government or if you are the first land on public land under customary rights.

“You should see were your claim lies. If you don’t fall in any of these categories then you are on that land illegally and we shall have to discuss with you how to help you in another way. One way of helping you would be to set up a fund from which you can borrow money to buy land. If you are on land illegally, it will help you to buy land elsewhere. Land is not only for building on and sleeping there but also for production so that we get out of poverty,” he said.

The President stressed that they don’t want a situation where people invade other peoples land without following the law, adding that landowners must also be protected especially those using the land for production.

“That stampede which you say they have sold you out is because you don’t know the law and you are just frightened for nothing.  Because it makes no difference because the one who is buying is inheriting the problems the old one had. A kibanja holder does not have to buy themselves out if they have no money or no desire. If you have money it is good to pay the landlord and get a title. But even if you do not pay the landlord for title you can use your kibanja for production and nobody will evict you by law,” he said.

The President said landlords can only charge nominal fees approved by the District Land Boards adding that a special account will be opened at the districts for money that is rejected by the landlords to be deposited.

Mr. Museveni commended the State Minister for Labour and Bbaale County MP, Hon. Sulaiman Madada together with Kayunga District Woman MP, Hon. Aidah Nantaba, for their relentless assistance to the people in a bid to solving the land issues.

He assured LC Chairpersons and other officials, to fulfill their roles basing on the law. He assured them that their financial needs would be addressed as the national economy improved.

The President called on the people to cultivate a culture of valuing the important role the environment plays in human sustainability.

“Those people invading swamps and forest reserves should know that that is government land and government needs to protect it,” he said.

Regarding the government development programmes, the President said that Bujagali power dam is ready adding that the government would embark on the construction of other power generating dams such as Isimba, among others. He revealed that the people that would be affected would be compensated promptly.

ENDS

She made her first millions in farming

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 millions of shillings from the actual sale of timber and is also earning millions money from the fire wood she sells to people burning bricks and schools.

 “Once your forest has grown, you relax as you count money. For instance whenever I cut trees for timber, I get 20 tippers of fire wood which I sell at sh 70,000, I get sh 1.4m and I am able to earn sh 432,000 from one tree,” she says.

Helping other farmers

Kamasaka  started Ruki women farmers group with aim of uplifting and promote women to attain financial independence.

The group with 25 members started saving sh 2000 per month, and borrowing it to each other.  She also procured coffee seedling for the group, to increase the production of coffee in area.

She has won herself a reputation in the entire neighbourhood as a hardworking and trustworthy farmer.

Advice

The mother of nine who also looks after 50 orphans urges parents to teach their children when they are still young to nurture them with a business and job creation mind.

“Teach children how to work when they are still young, they will grow up knowing that they can make money anywhere and they will never suffer hunting for jobs,” she counsels.

 She says that farming needs a lot of patience, love, care and high level of interest. “Love it, live it and take time to grow the love in farming, you will never regret,” she says.

 “I am telling you I have never earned such millions of money am earning from the harvest of the timbers and coffee before in my life,” he said.

Coffee

Kamasaka’s first coffee harvest got her sh 3m and the second season she got sh 6m. She’s optimistic that the coming season will be better because now a kilo of coffee is sh 6000.

“When I planted coffee, I did not know that the harvest would be so good. I had to give up one of my bed rooms to be able to store coffee. In fact we had to keep some of the coffee outside and had to worry about the rain damaging it,” she says.

Kamasaka was digging and preparing the ground for planting more coffee this rain season.

Mix enterprise

 The family also has 50 cows that give them milk worth sh 1.2m per month, poultry project with 200 birds that gives the family a daily income of sh 30,000 from eggs and also earns sh 6m from cassava per year.

 Kamasaka consistently keep 200 local chicken for meat  and  sells 50 per month  at sh 20,000  each getting sh 1m, she sells  20 bunches of matooke every week  that earns her sh 200,000  as well getting  sh 2m from beans per season.

Empowering women

Started up a tailoring workshop with only one sowing machine, Kamasaka was determined to train women and girls who dropped out of school in order to give those skills to sustain themselves.

Over 200 women and girls have passed through her hand, which gives her total satisfaction of seeing others excel.

However, besides using the workshop to train women and girls, it brings sh 2m per year.

“Christmas, Easter and beginning of the first term, is a peak time and the workshop gives sh 2m,” she adds.

Achievements

The 50 year old lady is already an opinion and influential leader in her community and luck has been following her farming activities, which has seen her get great achievements and is not afraid of mentioning a number of her achievements.

She reluctantly says that: “I have made money in farming that I would die dreaming of in teaching”.

 She has built rental houses and is expanding her coffee project. “My well maintained coffee plantation  three forests keep bringing in money all the time and helps me the occasional disappointments when annual crops such as beans and  maize don't do well perhaps due to drought or any other calamity,” she says.

However, seeing her children attaining education in good schools and exceling is one of the things that put a smile on her face.

Challenges 

Lack of labor is the main challenge the progressive farmer which she says that gets from Kasese district at high price.

End

A study on disasters on crop diversity concluded

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 source of income.

However, most of the seeds in these relief packages are generally of introduced and genetically uniform varieties purchased from markets or from seed companies by well-meaning relief agencies, which slow the recovery of crop diversity.

Interestingly, the study also noted that the speedy recovery of Mozambican cowpea diversity after the double-disasters of 2000 was largely due to the exchange of seeds among farmers through gifting and other social interactions involving friends, family members, and relatives within the same community or adjacent communities.

Dr Morag Ferguson, a molecular biologist with IITA and one of the study’s lead researchers, says farmers in Africa traditionally grow many crops and several varieties of each crop on the same plot of land to cope with unforeseen economic or environmental instabilities.

He said that farmers usually set aside part of their harvest to serve as seed for the next cropping season.

Therefore, when natural disasters strike, many farmers often lose their seeds and are forced to rely on relief, buy from the market, or receive seeds as gifts from friends and relatives.

“We found that the substantial recovery of cowpea genetic diversity two years after the calamities was mainly due to the informal exchange of seeds among farmers that served as a social-based crop diversity safety backup,” he said.

He addede: “ It is therefore important that seed relief strategies recognize and capitalize on this existing traditional network based on social relations to help restore diversity especially after natural upheavals,” she said.

The study was initiated in 2002, two years after the flood-drought double disasters and carried out in Chokwe and Xai Xai districts in the Limpompo River Valley –areas that were among those severely affected.

The findings of the research have been published in the current edition of ‘Disaster’, a publication of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI).

The research established that nearly 90% of the farmers in the affected areas received cowpea relief seed immediately after the back-to-back calamities.

Two years after, only one-fifth of the recipient farmers were still growing the seeds, while more than half sourced their seeds from markets.

However, this did little in restoring cowpea diversity in the affected communities as the seeds bought by farmers from the market were mostly uniform, coming from other districts that grew just one or a few select varieties.

On the other hand, about one-third of the affected farmers obtained seeds from friends and relatives living within the same or neighbouring localities to restock their farms – the same people that they have been exchanging seeds with prior to the disasters.

This practice was the main reason why cowpea diversity was restored in these areas, the study showed.

Dr Ferguson says that such a social relations-based seed distribution system is already in play in an approach developed and implemented by the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) in partnership with other relief agencies in which seed vouchers are exchanged for seed at ‘Seed Fairs.

In this approach, he says farmers from nearby districts not affected by disaster and with excess seed, come to the Seed Fair to sell seed to disaster-affected farmers in exchange for vouchers, which they then cash-in with the relief agency.

“This approach recognizes that farmer seed systems are robust and resilient, and can provide seed even in emergency situations. And this study shows that such an approach will be more effective in restoring diversity faster and more efficiently than a system based on direct distribution only,” she says.

End

80 percent of Africans depend on herbal medicine

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 effective treatment for malaria.

“Efforts to eradicate malaria are increasing demand for an affordable, high-quality, robust supply of artemisinin. We performed deep sequencing on the transcriptome of A. annua to identify genes and markers for fast-track breeding. Extensive genetic variation enabled us to build a detailed genetic map with nine linkage groups,” he said.

Kabaseke explains that replicated field trials resulted in a quantitative trait loci (QTL) map that accounts for a significant amount of the variation in key traits controlling artemisinin yield.

He said that enrichment for positive QTLs in parents of new high-yielding hybrids confirms that the knowledge and tools to convert A. annua into a robust crop are now available

“The genetic map now makes it possible to speed up plant breeding of Artemisia; rapidly developing it into a high-yielding crop. This breakthrough is crucial if we want to meet the ever-growing demand for effective malaria treatments,” he said.

Malaria, a preventable and treatable disease, is still responsible for an estimated nearly one million deaths every year globally.

Artemisinin is extracted from the plant Artemisia annua; however, yields so far have been low, making the product expensive. Planting areas have declines because Artemisia production has been uneconomic. This drop has raised fears of shortages.

Despite numerous attempts at government interference, this ancient system of healing continues to thrive in Africa and practitioners can be found in many other parts of the world.

Under colonial rule, many nations considered traditional diviner-healers to be practitioners of witchcraft and outlawed them for that reason.

In some areas of colonial Africa, attempts were also made to control the sale of traditional herbal medicines.

He said that the Mountains of the Moon University are also doing a study to assess the use of traditional herbal medicine by AIDS patients in Kabarole District, western Uganda.

He said that they enrolled 137 AIDS patients selected from outpatient departments of three hospitals and interviewed them.

Kabaseke said that they wanted to find out the frequency of herbal medicine intake, concomitant herb–pharmaceutical drug use (including herb–antiretroviral drug co-therapy), and the perceived effectiveness of herbal medicine. Overall, 63.5% of AIDS patients had used herbal medicine after HIV diagnosis.

“Patterns of traditional herbal medicine use were quite similar between those on antiretroviral therapy and those who received supportive therapy only,” he said.

He added: “I’m not an expert in herbal medicine but it works perfectly well. I agree that it needs to be run along with conventional medicine”.

The World Health Organization estimates that up to 80 percent of people still rely on herbal remedies for their health care.

Yayeri Mugenyi a HIV patient from Buhesi in Kabarole district said that many people resort to using herbs as a result of poverty.

Mugenyi says that the high cost of drugs in clinics and pharmacies, drug resistance which often lead to treatment failure, prolong and expensive treatment are some of the reasons that pushes lower income people to use herbs.

 “Herbs have fewer side effects compared to conventional medicine and it is cheap. Why should I go for an expensive drug which will as well give me terrible side effects? Mugenyi asked.

If herbal medicine was not in Uganda, so many Ugandans will be dead by one. Trust me on this. Grace Kabasita, a traditional birth attendant and a resident of Kaburasoke in Kamwenge remarked.

Kabasita said that she also use herbs to treat livestock diseases and uses herbs to treat expectant mothers.

“I have used some of the plants to treat diabetes, tumours, stomach pain, rheumatism,” she says.

“Personally, I love herbs because of the wide variety of diseases can be treated with a single plant. You take one for cough but you end up treating over ten diseases hidden in your system as well,” Kabasita adds.

Haji Suleiman Nyakana of Rwengoma said that he treats his family of malaria plant called alovera.

Nyakana called upon the Ugandan government to officially authorize herbalists so that they can be able to conduct their business legally.

“I want the government to put herbalists into some form of training and authorize them like the Chinese have done to improve to implement the health sector,” he said.

The study which was conducted between January 2000 and September 2003 by the Department of Botany at Makerere University documented medicinal plants used to treat fungal and bacterial infections in health care in and around Queen Elizabeth Biosphere Reserve in Bushenyi and Kasese districts in western Uganda.

However the study pointed out that some people also worry about bacterial infection that comes out of mixing herbs or saliva used by herbalists.

End