The global challenge of increasing urban populations in cities around the world is causing an escalation of food prices. This is worsened by the effects of climate changes that have negatively impacted most farming regions around the world.
At NILE MEADOWS LTD in Uganda, we believe that the quality of people’s health is directly related to the food eaten, besides the healthcare facilities and services available. An un-balanced diet causes additional burden on the healthcare system because of some preventable diseases that develop after some period of years if the body lacks sufficient nutrients.
One of the effective ways of providing equitable and affordable access to healthy, low carbon food in cities is through processing fortified food products. For example, the flour we are producing through our process of mixing flour made out of pumpkins, carrots, soybeans and corn flour. Our flour gives a high concentration of nutrients with high values of antioxidants, vitamins, carbohydrates and proteins, all in a single serving. Such nutrients help the body by providing natural defense or immune system that protects the body against certain diseases yet cheaper than when buying individual crops on the market.
A sustainable and healthy food system can be achieved through organic farming methods that restore the environment and minimizes the use of industrially manufactured pesticides and fertilizers. Crop rotation systems on farms help minimize the continued prevalence of certain pests whereas soil fertility can be restored naturally through cultivation of leguminous crops, that help fix nitrogen back into the soil: such as soybeans, beans or peas.Introduction of bee keeping on some farms would help to provide honey (which is a natural multi-purpose medicine as well as food nutrient) at affordable rates if produced locally as compared to most imported products. The bees also help in the pollination of the crops during the flowering stages, which has direct environmental and ecological benefits.
In order to attain a long term food security and reduce on food wastage, construction of silos for storage of food grains and cereal crops such as maize, wheat, beans, soybeans and rice. This would also create an efficient supply chain through which farmers can directly sell their produce to the silos agents or operators, who then later sell them to the markets or direct consumers.
As the world experiences new records of weather extremes, the effects are worst felt by the farmers. Planting specifically more fruit trees in public open spaces would help to capture more carbon dioxide from the atmosphere while providing fruits to the communities.
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