VSLA Bwindi Mgahinga Conservation Trust (BMCT) is implementing a Health Education Agriculture Livelihood and Land rights (HEAL) project under a sub grant from CARE international from 2015 – 2017.
The major aim of HEAL is livelihood improvement of the poor marginalized Batwa women and girls (aged 10-14 years) through socio economic empowerment. The major approach used in the project is Village Savings and Loan Associations (VSLA) where communities are mobilized in groups, trained on VSLA methodology and they start saving with the aim of mobilizing local financial resources for development.
The VSLA methodology is to benefit both Batwa and non Batwa in groups to pool their own funds as savings, access loans for investing in micro projects for generating sustainable incomes at household level.
Kigezi region where BMCT operates is one of the areas where bee keeping is restricted besides West nile and Teso. Beekeeping has been a part of agriculture programming at BMCT since 2016. Most of our farmers use the traditional basket or hollowed-log hives with only 1 farmer trying to adapt the Kenya Top Bar (KTB) hives.
Two years of steady effort on the part of our field staff, the apiary beneficiaries are beginning to see good results as the project has thrived to honey production. One of our model Apiary farmer Mr. Silver Baguma of Kashasha Parish received 46 hives from BMCT in 2016. He sells some of his honey to BMCT office for staff consumption. Another farmer, Ms. Twinamatsiko makes lip balms as well as lotion from the wax.
We have hopes of training more farmers to manage the KTB hives which have more advantages over the local hives. We also plan to scale up the business angel of bee keeping through the FFS groups.
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Livestock farming for BMCT beneficiaries is used majorly as a source of income for more than 60% percent of the households. Under our annual project funding disbursements, we normally give out between 60-100 heads of livestock including sheep, goats, pigs and a few cows. Our farmers have been trained in livestock management including disease control and nutrition to boost productivity.
Farmers that have been able to meet their economic setbacks through the sale of some of their livestock hail BMCT for the livestock project.
Since 2016, we started the revolving heifer project, for sustainability of the livestock project. To date, 16 families have already benefited from the project.
“I think, my daughter would have lost her leg when she got an accident had it not been for my cow, I sold its calf that took care of the hospital bills” reminisces Grace Bimanywoha one of the Heifer beneficiaries from Kisoro district.
We see a steady stride in the Heifer project and we hope to start cross breeding to improve project outputs especially for income generation.
In the villages of Mpungu, Buhoma and Mukono are groups of ex-poachers engaged in vegetable growing. They grow cabbages, carrots, cauliflower and Sukuma wiki as the vegetables of their choices. These groups sell the vegetable harvests to the neighboring hotels for income. The Buhoma mukono community development association (BMCDA) has a contract to supply two schools with vegetables termly. Their vegetable supply contract to 1 hotel has been running, for now, 2years and this has boosted their income.
Besides the farmers selling these vegetables, they have been encouraged to feed their children on these vegetables for their health benefits.