Africa Top Success Ils font l'Afrique
28 years, and a big passion: organic production.
Edie Mukiibi has just been elected at the vice-presidency of Italian eco-gastronomic organization Slow Food International that is committed on the continent.
And the road map of this Ugandan is simple: create new kitchen gardens on the continent.
Student, he is passionate about farming, regularly gives pieces of advice to farmers of his locality, asking them to reduce the use of fertilizer and to come back to traditional agricultural practices: « if we take a classic African farm, we find there fruit trees, vegetables, tubers… It is thanks to this model that, during centuries, Uganda has never got famine ».
He knows the case on the fingertips: « in the West of the country, farmers massively planted corn, except that there was recently a big drought and plantations did not resist. We say that Africa needs more food … But we rather need diversity ».
In 2008, his fate met Slow Food when this organization set up Terra Madre, its farmers’ network in Africa. « We spoke the same language! »
He launched gardening workshops in schools situated in rural zones. « At school, gardening is a punishment. Pupils who arrive late have to dig the kitchen garden of their teacher. We transmit to young people a negative look on farming while it can bring so many good things ».
Edie Mukibi is proud of outcomes of his action: one thousand organic kitchen gardens only constituted by local varieties and cultivated by rural or urban communities, were already set up. He aims high because he wants to multiply their number by ten. « It is a challenge of which it is necessary to catch hold henceforth. At a time when McDonald’s and KFC come to settle down in Africa, we have to defend our biodiversity and our food independence. We are capable of feeding our continent!
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[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/53547724[/vimeo] [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8uAPlfLZkb0[/youtube]
