The new approach to sustainable agriculture is to keep our farms and homesteads free of any form of waste, Yisto Muddu, the founder of COTFONE (Community Transformation Foundation Network), a grassroots network organisation working to drive impactful change in the communities of the greater Masaka Sub-region in Uganda, says.
He is of the view that sustainable economic development for our country is only attainable by recognising and adopting the best practices with positive impact on improving our living environment.
“There must be a waste collection point in every homestead,” he says.
“The waste must be sorted. Metallic waste such as nails and objects made out of iron should be separated from glass waste and plastic waste. Biodegradable waste must also be separated. Non-biodegradable waste should be collected and sold to companies that reuse the materials to make new products and biodegradable waste should be turned into organic manure for use on the farm. Most of our people live in rural areas as smallholder farmers and every farming household should be taught how to make organic manure out of biodegradable waste.”
Muddu made the statement in a press release that he issued soon after his return recently from a conference in Istanbul, Turkey, where COTEFONE signed a new partnership with Zero Waste Foundation, an international network, whose patron is the first lady of the Republic of Turkey, Emine Erdogan.
It is composed of organizations and eminent persons committed to achieving a clean and healthy working environment by promoting local and national zero-waste initiatives. Muddu says farmers are expected to produce good, clean, and fair food, which is only possible if they work in a clean environment that is free from any form of waste material. He formerly used to be the coordinator of Slow Food in Masaka Region.
Slow Food is a global movement that unites local groups and activists around a shared vision: ensuring that everyone has access to food that is good for them, good for the people who grow it, and good for the planet.
He says food producers and handlers must work in a clean environment which does not give chance to eruption of disease and which is good for soil health and preservation. COTEFONE is headquartered in Kiwangala Trading Centre, Lwengo District, and works to develop and deliver targeted training modules, toolkits, and educational materials to strengthen urban authorities’ capacity on zero waste strategies.
Sensitisation is key
He endeavors to make sure that there is a waste collection pit in every household especially in the neighbouring farming homesteads.
Farming is in reality the management of plants, animals, and the environment in order to produce crops. Livestock droppings and beddings are good manure for the plants.
However, if the environment is polluted with dangerous objects like plastic or metallic waste, the animals and farmed birds may ingest them, and fall sick. Good hygiene and sanitation are therefore key in sustainable agriculture.
“We have to sensitize the shop owners about the dangers of plastic waste because most of the garbage in the local communities actually comes from the shops,” Muddu says.
“Our strategy is to raise awareness of shop owners about the environmental impact of the waste that daily comes from their shops — the polythene bags into which they put goods sold out to customers, the plastic bottles containing mineral water, alcohol, and soft drinks. The shop keepers should encourage their customers to carry shopping baskets and other containers in which to place the items they purchase. This could minimize the amount of polythene bags given out by the shop attendants. If a loaf of bread is sold to a customer, why should it be put in a polythene bag and not a shopping basket?”
When Seeds of Gold visited, Muddu was taking some members of Kiboobi Village community and some school children around waste collection pits and emphasizing to them the importance of sorting waste material.
“As partners of Zero Waste Foundation, COTEFONE is committed to creating a sustainable future by promoting the principles of the three Rs: reduce, reuse, and recycle.”
Dr Emmanuel Ssentongo, the proprietor of Betereemu Hospital in Kyotera District and current chairman of COTEFONE, has told Seeds of Gold, “If there are pieces of plastic waste and empty bottles all over the homestead, they store rain water and become the breeding ground for malaria causing mosquitoes,’ he says, adding that this means farmers falling sick and failing to carry out work.
Decomposition
‘Mindless disposal of plastic waste and other non-biodegradable waste therefore reduces agricultural production. Community health always depends on how much individuals take care of their environment. They must have well maintained latrines, complete with hand washing basins. Even pieces of paper and plant leaves left to lie in the compound for too long become breeding ground for rats and disease producing organisms like mosquitoes and flies.”
Dr Eseri Nankya, a soil scientist in NARO (National Agricultural Research Organisation), has said that plastic waste is not good for agriculture since it does not decompose for up to more than a hundred years.
‘Plant roots cannot easily go through plastic and even free underground movement of water and air is impeded,” she said. “This makes life difficult for soil organisms that naturally transport nutrients to the lowest end of the crop roots. Plastic waste prevents soil aeration which makes plant growth difficult or even impossible.’
Dr Nankya further says that non-biodegradable waste often includes bottles and cans that formerly used to contain poisonous and dangerous chemicals such as pesticides and herbicides or even human medicine. She says when such waste is driven to wetlands by wind or running water they cause the death of plants and other living things — fish, birds, and snakes, naturally meant to live in the swamps. She says they reduce biodiversity.
According to the Zero Waste Forum, every year, humanity generates between 2.1 billion and 2.3 billion tonnes of municipal solid waste. Without urgent action, the annual waste generation will hit 3.8 billion tonnes by 2050. Waste pollution threatens human health, costs the global economy hundreds of billions of dollars every year, and aggravates the triple planetary crisis: climate, nature, land and biodiversity loss, pollution, and waste.