This article was one of the finalists of the African Forests Story Grant, an initiative of the UN-REDD Programme, the African Forest Forum (AFF) and the Global Landscapes Forum (GLF).
On a warm morning in Kiggwa village, in the central Ugandan district of Mityana, 31-year-old Herbert Ssekyanzi stands next to a young coffee tree. The smell of dry maize stalks is in the air as he gently spreads mulch around the roots. Only a year ago, his garden was a mix of struggling crops, but now it shows the effort Herbert has put into improving the soil and caring for his coffee plants.
“I had a dream of planting coffee, but I did not have the capacity to start,” Ssekyanzi says. “I was planting badly in my banana plantations, and I did not have the expertise.”
Things changed when TeamUp Uganda started a training program for young farmers in the village. In a demonstration garden, they learned how to space plants, use mulch, apply fertiliser at the right time, and prepare the soil. Herbert remembers realising he had been making mistakes before.