A partnership putting nature first

“Ripple Effect gives a hand up not a hand out. Farmers are tasked to share their knowledge with their neighbours, Peer Farmer trainers stay in the community long after the project has finished and they offer guidance and support to their neighbours.” - Sheila, Farm Systems Coordinator

“Climate Change is a world-wide problem, in Uganda we’re seeing a lot of floods, rains coming at the wrong time and a lot of sunshine. Ripple Effect’s role is to see how we can build resilience at household level and among the community, so they are able to tackle the shocks that come, such as floods and drought. We ask farmers if they have alternatives, do they have multiple sources of income that they’re able to fall back on if aspects of their farm fail? Our role is to help identify other sources of income in case the climate change has detrimental impacts – for example, this Push-Pull project will help to raise the quality and quantity of maize grown.” - Pamela, Country Director Uganda

“Maize is the common crop in Uganda, you’ll find it in every household, no matter how small. We want to see how best we can work with those farmers to protect that crop and gain as much as possible out of it. Stemborer Moths and Striga Weed are big problems for Ugandan farmers. At Ripple Effect, we work with those vulnerable families to protect whatever little they have so they can gain as much as possible out of it. Farmers will always grow maize, it can grow twice in a year – this Push-Pull method will help farmers to fight these pests and improve their harvests.” - Pamela, Country Director Uganda

“We are encouraging farmers to grow diverse, organic food crops on their farms - our projects encourage farmers to look at family nutrition and work from there. Unlike in the UK, farming in Uganda is still about feeding your family from your farm, and then feeding your community. Diverse crops and multipurpose farmers leads to sustainable harvests.” - Sheila, Farm Systems Coordinator

“I absolutely believe that organic farming can feed the world… it requires a much more skilful form of agriculture which I saw in a lot of Ugandan farmers. We need a lot of re-education.” - Guy, Riverford Organic Farmers

“Sometimes NGOs ignore the gender aspect and think inputs will provide a solution, but that’s not always the case. Gender is mainstreamed across all of Ripple Effect’s projects, so that the whole household understands their requirements. With this Push-Pull project we will be working with the whole household so they understand what their responsibilities are to promote this method of farming.” - Pamela, Country Director Uganda

“I heard Ripple Effect talk about their achievements on gender equality, and thought, ‘ahh, they’re just saying that to get the funding – no one changes that quickly’. But it was astonishing to see the pace of change within gender roles over the course of a year– it was a radical revaluation of roles. I totally take my hat off to Ripple Effect and the staff who are working to achieving gender equality.” - Guy, Riverford Organic Farmers

Riverford’s co-owners voted this year to support the new Push-Pull project in Uganda. An integrated pest management system, it works through intercropping maize and Desmodium (which covers and protects soils from degradation, fixing atmospheric nitrogen and increases nutrients). Surrounding these with types of cow pasture, farmers can protect their crops from pests and weeds, and improve soil health. This video explains the method in more depth: