The RUFS Project Transforms Urban Farming in Mbale and Kasese

Led by Professor Frank Mugagga of the Department of Geography, Geo-Informatics and Climatic Sciences at Makerere University and supported by the AgriFoSe2030 Programme, the project is promoting sustainable urban farming while strengthening the capacity of communities to cope with increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.

Urban farmers in Mbale and Kasese have faced mounting challenges from floods, landslides, prolonged droughts, and waterlogging, all of which have significantly reduced crop yields, household incomes, and food availability. In response, the RUFS Project is providing practical solutions that enable farmers to adapt to these climate-related risks while maintaining productive farming systems.

More than 40 smallholder farmers have already received hands-on training in Smart Agronomic Practices, including composting, crop rotation, intercropping, soil conservation, cultivation of drought-tolerant crops, and environmentally friendly pest management. Farmers are also learning how to produce organic fertilizers and bio-pesticides using readily available local materials such as cow dung, ash, pawpaw leaves, onions, pepper, tobacco, and Tephrosia plants. These low-cost alternatives are helping farmers reduce dependence on expensive chemical inputs while improving soil fertility and crop productivity.

According to Prof. Mugagga, urban agriculture has become an essential strategy for ensuring food security in Uganda's rapidly expanding urban centres, particularly as climate change continues to threaten conventional food production systems.

The project emphasizes practical learning, allowing participants to prepare organic inputs, establish nursery beds, and improve soil management techniques through field demonstrations. Farmers say the training has changed their perception of agricultural waste, enabling them to turn locally available materials into valuable farm inputs that lower production costs and increase yields.

Beyond improving farming practices, the RUFS Project is strengthening farmer organizations by building skills in financial literacy, record-keeping, communication, and group management. Participants are being introduced to bookkeeping systems, expenditure tracking tools, and cooperative management strategies aimed at improving accountability, coordination, and collective marketing of agricultural produce.

The initiative also promotes climate awareness and knowledge sharing by training farmers to communicate their experiences through community meetings and local radio programmes. This approach is helping spread climate-smart agricultural practices while raising public awareness about the long-term impacts of climate change on urban livelihoods.

Farmers have welcomed the initiative, noting that it is improving productivity while reducing production costs through the use of affordable, locally sourced inputs. They say the project has demonstrated that urban agriculture can be both profitable and sustainable when farmers have access to the right knowledge, skills, and technologies.

In a related agricultural milestone, researchers at Makerere University, led by Professor Phinehas Tukamuhabwa, recently secured approval from Uganda's National Variety Release Committee for MakSoy 7N, a new high-yielding and soybean rust-resistant variety. The variety produces between three and 3.5 tonnes per hectare, matures in approximately three months, and has the potential to significantly boost soybean production, improve farmer incomes, and strengthen Uganda's soybean value chain.

Together, the RUFS Project and ongoing agricultural research at Makerere University are reinforcing the institution's commitment to advancing climate-resilient agriculture, enhancing urban food security, and improving livelihoods through innovation and community-driven solutions.

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