Food Security

Apiculture

While still in the forest the Batwa fed on honey from forest bees and other small insects. After eviction, the Batwa could no longer access forest natural honey. This, according to Batwa member Jackson and his mother Jovanis, have left the Batwa and their children vulnerable to disease. This will be re-introduced so that each home will also have at least one or two modern bee hives in their backyard. A central point for each district manned by the Batwa, will also be selected to set up an income generating apiary that will generate income to support other APU programs meanwhile employing Batwa people.

Animal Husbandry

A rabbit project will be established at a central point and subsequently at the household level. Training will be provided, feed shall be grown, a shed will be built, medicines will be provided, and a veterinarian will monitor the project. This could co-exist with sheep rearing given that the two animals require less labour, land and are less capital intensive. These are the best alternatives for the Batwa people who have little or no land and limited resources.

Sheep Rearing

Sheep are humble and can be manned by little children and require less land to raise. An additional benefit is that sheep produce a lot of manure which is a treasure in agricultural areas such as the Kisoro and Kabale districts where they use sheep urine to restore fertility in exhausted plots of land. The Batwa have little land and to have a successful food production program we will need to supplement our programs with sheep farming not only to restore soil fertility but also to keep the Batwa engaged and earning an income from the sales. We intend to initiate a program that will see each Batwa home acquire sheep through a well-monitored revolving program.