The biodiversity connection
Sustainable farming practices increase biodiversity in fields, benefiting the environment and livelihoods in Uganda
Biodiversity, whether through diverse local seeds or pollinators that are vital for a range of crops and wild plants, is at the core of agrifood systems. ©FAO/ Helen Lugada
24/02/2025
Whether it’s using indigenous seeds that are more resilient, combining coffee crops with banana plants or restoring pollinator populations, biodiversity is not an abstract concept tossed around by scientists and activists. It is a whole range of concrete practices that farmers put into action in their daily work in a way which is crucial to food security and the environment.
Our agrifood systems rely on thousands of species of domesticated crops, livestock, fish and the varieties, breeds and strains that ensure their genetic diversity. In addition, at least 50 000 wild species are used globally for food, energy, medicine, materials and other purposes. But biodiversity is declining worldwide, driven by changing land use, climate change, and over-exploitation, putting the future of food at risk.
In Luweero District, Uganda, coffee and banana farmer Jane Nakandi Sebyaala, also runs the Twezimbe Kassala Community Seed Bank. Its mission is to preserve indigenous seeds, a foundational element of keeping the range of biodiverse crops in fields. According to Jane, indigenous seeds can be replanted up to ten times, unlike fortified seeds which need to be replaced annually, and can flourish without pesticides or large quantities of fertilizer.
Jane says it used to be hard to find indigenous seeds in the shops and markets. But after the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) organized a training for farmers on the benefits of these seeds, “we began to reach out to village elders to collect these indigenous seeds, and we started planting them.”
Over time, Jane and her fellow farmers were able to grow significant quantities of crops such as indigenous varieties of maize and beans. “The advantage of these indigenous seeds is their resilience. They are disease resilient and less susceptible to pests compared to commercial crops,” she says.
From the FAO trainings, John (left/top) has learned biodiversity-friendly techniques to fight pests. ©FAO/ Helen Lugada
Pests are just one of the problems faced by Ugandan coffee farmer John Kagwa Tujjunge. Spraying pesticides on them is not only costly but also harms biodiversity, including bee populations, other insects and earthworms, not to mention affecting the precious coffee cherries. So, to deal with pests like the black coffee twig borer, which dries out the coffee twigs, “we’ve tried to fight them with traps.”
Learning from FAO trainings, John has also put more emphasis on removing weeds and unproductive branches which provide a breeding ground for pests. Additionally, he uses locally available materials such as soap, water and ethanol to attract pest insects. “Very simple, but very effective,” John says.
An equally significant issue is the longstanding water shortage, exacerbated by deforestation and climate change. “We suffer a lot during the dry season. The coffee nearly dries out. That’s why we dig drainage channels in the garden to preserve water for the coffee during droughts.” He’s been interplanting bananas with his coffee trees as part of an agroforestry system to improve the health and sustainability of his crops.
These banana plants protect the coffee from direct sunshine and keep the soil moist, encouraging small insects, earthworms and other organisms to aerate the earth by tunneling, allowing for simple water percolation even during light showers. Mulch also attracts termites and aids in soil decomposition, which improves soil fertility. In addition, the coffee blooms attract other natural pollinators including bees and butterflies.
All these practices have helped increase the yield from John’s 1.2 acres from roughly 90 kilograms of coffee to between 480 and 720 kilograms of coffee annually. Also, he can harvest coffee pretty much throughout the year, as opposed to just seasonally.
Pollination is also a key preoccupation for Wilson Kabagambe, who leads a beekeeping project supported by FAO in Uganda’s Nakaseke District. Before the FAO Farmer Field School trainings, he says, “You’d find somebody with a big acreage of maize, but with many dented cobs, signifying that there was no pollination or insufficient pollination.”
With coffee, Wilson says, it was a similar story “you could find the berries empty-seeded. That would signify that there was no pollination.” Destruction of the natural habitats of bees and the widespread use of chemicals had reduced the population of bees and other pollinators and the result was obvious.
Addressing this pollination shortage, the FAO project, “Mainstreaming Biodiversity across Agricultural Sectors to implement the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework”, worked to build bee hives, offering artificial breeding nests for honeybees. So far, the project supplied over 500 beehives in the Nakaseke area.
The action to reintroduce pollinators boosted crop production, while the honey and other bee byproducts also provided farmers with an additional income source.
Mainstreaming good practices is key to boosting biodiversity and acknowledging its importance across the global agrifood sector. ©FAO/ Helen Lugada
Biodiversity, whether through diverse local seeds or pollinators that help grow a range of crops and wild plants, is at the core of agrifood systems and at the heart of the work of farmers.
FAO is working to mainstream biodiversity into agricultural policies and practices in various countries including Uganda, the Lao People’s Democratic Republic and Madagascar.
As part of this project on biodiversity, FAO organized a “Learning Journey” to help farmers and agricultural specialists learn biodiverse practices from each other. Standardizing these good practices is key to boosting biodiversity and acknowledging its importance across the agrifood sector globally.
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