Uganda: Agriculture

From Uganda Photo Album

Driving along the dusty roads we observe the farming that sustains village life: small plots of corn in front of thatched huts. peanut shells drying in the sun, and palms which are banana or matoki trees.

Millet (pictured at right) is a type of grain used to make a jelly-like bread with a mild flavour. For school lunches, children take a small plastic bag filled with maize, a corn which has been ground to a fine powder. Water is added to provide a filling but not very nutritious drink.

Other crops we have seen along the way include rice, pineapple — the sweetest fruit — and tea. Village markets display pyramids of tomatoes, mangoes, cabbages, cucumbers, and white potatoes, known in Uganda as "Irish."

Uganda is such a fertile land that it is hard to understand how so many of the children we see are malnourished.

2006 Uganda SCAW team