Bicton helps farmers in Uganda

Bicton College is currently training international student Joseph Mugagga as one of seven delegates funded to learn in the UK by the Bicton Overseas Agricultural Trust. Joseph, from Kampala in Uganda, works as a Rural Project Manager for Kulika Uganda, an organisation set up to promote and train individuals in sustainable agriculture.

As well as having his own family farm with his wife and brothers, Joseph has worked with farming groups across Uganda and currently reaches approximately 1800 farmers in the districts of Lira, Apac and Oyam. He promotes a holistic approach to farming, where every inch of land and resources can be utilised effectively to improve livelihoods.

Joseph says, “Teaching communities sustainable agriculture allows them to work more effectively on the farm, employing systems with long term benefits like water harvesting, the recycling of nutrients and making composts. We train in livestock care and crop growing, and ensure farmers utilise the processes available to them, for example, using livestock urine to provide nitrogen to the crops.”

The Bicton Overseas Agricultural Trust (BOAT) aims to improve agriculture in the developing world by providing effective training programmes that can be further taught and adopted in different climates and countries. The students are funded by the charity to travel to Bicton and undertake a 6 week intensive course aiming to provide them with key skills in leadership, communication and project management that they can take home and implement successfully.

BOAT Chairman Fred Harper has arranged an in-depth yet focussed timetable for the students this year, maximising resources and time. Working with the Bicton College engineering department, he has also helped organise the classic restoration of ‘Gretel’, a 1962 Massey Ferguson tractor which is being raffled off with all money raised being donated to BOAT.