For founder Dr. Emma Naluyima, generating a source of income and putting good food on the table for her children sparked the idea of the one-acre farm. Other factors such as Uganda’s rising population and farm fragmentation also inspired her. Under pressure to increase productivity from small pieces of land, Ugandan farmers are compelled to work longer hours and employ intensive farming practices to increase yields. To prevent farm fragmentation, small farms need to be more efficient and productive to provide food security to local populations. One-acre farms could also prevent the further expansion of agricultural land into natural wilderness areas, affecting local biodiversity.

Dr. Emma Naluyima’s farming approach is based on the principle of regeneration. She only uses natural materials and ingredients, and no crop residue goes to waste. Tapping into nature’s regenerative processes, Dr. Naluyima created a hybrid farming system that connects livestock and plant crops in a mutually symbiotic relationship. To design a circular resource flow system, Dr. Naluyima divided the farm into four zones that enable one system to exchange resources with another. For instance, one process involves growing maggots on pig waste in order to feed poultry and fish. Subsequently, this waste is broken down further by worms, and then combined with cattle and pig urine to provide fertiliser for year-round crops, such as matoke (green-banana). The central idea is to repeat this exchange of resources throughout the farm so that nothing goes to waste. One crop’s waste is another’s resource. In addition, Dr. Naluyima created a school that provides education to anyone interested in learning about healthy and effective farming on smaller land, as well as good nutrition and financial education.

The one-acre farm is purposefully designed to increase profitability, with estimated revenue generation of $100,000 annually—more than 10 times the average Ugandan salary. If the one-acre farm design is implemented in other parts of the region, it could make small-scale circular agriculture a very attractive work option, especially in the face of high unemployment among youth. There are numerous additional benefits such as an 80% reduction in feed and other input costs, a robust supply of renewable biogas, reducing pressure on forests and avoiding particulate pollution. What’s more, local biodiversity is protected as the farm’s high productivity reduces the need for expansion into virgin wilderness areas, while high-quality, nutritious food contributes to positive health outcomes for humans and animals. Technologies, such as hydroponics and aquaponics, have been put to use on the farm to cultivate catfish and tilapia, which generate nutrient-rich wastewater to be used to irrigate tomatoes and other high-value fruits and vegetables.

Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash.