A coalition of farmers, academicians, policymakers, and food safety advocates has called on Uganda to urgently embrace agroecology as the foundation of its agricultural and food systems transformation.
This growing chorus of warnings posits that continued reliance on chemical-driven farming threatens the country’s health, biodiversity, and climate resilience.
The call was made during the National Schools’ Agroecology Poem Writing Competition, held on Friday September 26th, 2025, at Namugongo Kyoto (Les Foyers de Charité), where finalists from schools across Uganda showcased poems centered on agroecology, food systems, and environmental protection.
Organized by Eastern and Southern Africa Small Scale Farmers Forum (ESAFF Uganda) and partners, the competition did not only to nurture creativity among learners but also to built awareness about sustainable farming as a national priority.
Hakim Baliraine, ESAFF Uganda National Chairperson described agroecology as the only viable alternative to the destructive consequences of chemical-intensive farming.
“Agroecology is not just about crops; it is about the whole food system,” Baliraine emphasized. “We look at livestock, people, crops, biodiversity, and even policies that shape production. If these policies do not support agroecological systems, then we are setting ourselves up for crisis.”
Mr. Baliraine, who is also a practicing small-scale farmer from Mayuge, highlighted ESAFF’s efforts in promoting agroecology through community agroecology schools, school-based laboratories, and curriculum development partnerships with public universities. He urged that young people must remain at the center of this movement.
“These pupils and students are the citizens of now and tomorrow. If they do not appreciate what is happening to our environment, the world might go astray. We want them to be mitigators of climate challenges because the adoption rate of agroecology is still low. Competitions like this help us raise a new generation of change agents,” he said.
He also criticized Uganda’s education system for downplaying agriculture, noting that it remains optional in secondary schools while subjects like English are compulsory.
“If someone speaks English very well, so what? Why can’t agriculture — the foundation of food and life — be compulsory?” Baliraine asked, calling on the Ministry of Education to revise the curriculum to integrate agroecology at every level.
Baliraine further urged government ministries to work in synergy rather than in silos.
“The Ministry of Education is looking at curriculum reform, but the Ministry of Agriculture is going another way. If the Ministry of Finance does not allocate resources to agroecology, all these discussions remain empty. Right now, most of the budget still goes to conventional farming. That has to change.”
Government’s Position
Representing the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Sir Sunday Bob George, the focal person for organic agriculture and agroecology, reassured participants that government is committed to supporting sustainable farming practices.
“As government, we have not folded our hands,” he said. “We developed the National Organic Agriculture Policy in 2019, and we are finalizing a national agroecology strategy. These policies create an enabling environment for sustainable farming.”
While acknowledging the growing interest in agroecology, Bob stressed the need for multiple farming approaches to ensure food security.
“You cannot feed the increasing population with only one technology. We need multiple approaches. But going forward, we must ensure that whatever we do conserves agricultural biodiversity and does not spoil nature,” he explained.
Education Sector Welcomes Agroecology Integration
Dr. Grace Baguma, Executive Director of the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC), who officiated at the event, commended ESAFF Uganda for championing initiatives like the National Schools’ Agroecology Poem Writing Competition. She noted that the intervention directly complements the aspirations of Uganda’s New Lower Secondary Curriculum, which emphasizes project-based and practical learning.
“This intervention is helping us to support the expectations of the new curriculum, especially projects that are agricultural, agroecologically, and environmentally based. It focuses on what children are manipulating in their environment and doing things that add value to their lives and to the communities where they live,” Dr. Baguma said.
The Namugongo event underscored a growing recognition that agroecology is not simply a farming method but a holistic system that integrates health, environment, education, and sustainable livelihoods.
With schoolchildren using poetry to voice the urgency of sustainable farming, experts emphasized that Uganda must empower its younger generation to take the lead in shaping a healthier, climate-resilient future.