Journalists Asked to Champion Organic Farming Practices  

By Immaculate Mwinganiza 2th, 8 ,2023

Journalists in the Rwenzori region have been argued to advocate for organic farming practices to help society curb chronic illnesses.

The call was made on Friday by Adem Andrew the course coordinator from the East and South African small-scale Farmers [ESAFF]Uganda in a one-day regional Agroecology media workshopat Agip Motel Mbarara city.

Andrew said that most of the people in Uganda nno longer put efforts on the quality of farming and in the end this has direct impact on the kind of foods that are served in the local markets.

He noted that unlike in the 1990s where there were no chemicals on market, today the trend has changed with farmer’s focus on profits at the expense of consumer’s health.

“Currently most of the business people including farmers do not care of the population’s health but on profits and this direct impact on our population” Andrew said

Rashida Kabanda a staff at ESAFF Uganda, called upon journalists to sensitize the community mostly on the food safety.

Journalists were taught how to engage small scale farmers in their production and to let them take lead in proving grassroot evidence.

Biira Moureen a journalist from Mesiah radio in Kasese district highlighted ow support from media houses, bribes and lack of adequate information to support stories as some of the challenges that limit journalists from fully engaging in community driven stories.

Alex Nashaba working with National Broadcasting Services –NBS- asked partnes in development to support  investigative journalism.

Organic farming is agriculture that makes healthy food, soil, plants and environment priority.

Organic farmers use biological fertilizers inputs and management practices such as crop cover and crop rotation to improve soils quality and build organic soil matter.