Smallholder farming in Uganda

Twenty years ago, there was very little information available for small-holder farmers in rural Uganda. You might find a book on agriculture dating back twenty years, hundreds of pages long, with tiny text, dog-eared and locked in a drawer, of the Agriculture Extension Officer at the sub-county head-quarters.

By 1997, Universal Primary Education had already created demand for learning materials from the newly literate population in rural Uganda.

At the time, the only written materials you would find in rural areas were posters about HIV, or adverts for Coke and beer.

But simple techniques – using fuel saving stoves, making a pesticide from from chillies and garlic, using compost as a fertilizer can save money and increase income.

How to make a Fuel-Saving or Rocket Lorena Stove

In 2004, we began creating posters targeting Ugandan farmers with NGOs like NOGAMU, Kulika, Send a Cow, Caritas and the government.

We showed them that together, we could create something to support their existing programmes that was better quality and (when mass-produced) cheaper than what they were using already. The concept work was created by Ben Tunstall, and final artwork by Baingana Andrew, Sam Rich and Okudi Deogratius.

The poster set below costs about $6.50. By printing over 2000 sets at a time the costs comes down to $3.50. Editions in French and Kiswahili are also available, and some were adapted for use in Bangaladesh.

The posters covered basic topics on organic agriculture: