In Uganda’s Mityana District, agroecology is spreading not through top-down policies but through farmers teaching farmers. At the heart of this movement is the Rural Community in Development (RUCID), an agroecological training centre founded in 1994. Once a small local hub, RUCID is now a continental Centre of Excellence under AFSA’s Healthy Soil Healthy Food (HSHF) initiative.
In 2021, RUCID launched a bold Trainer-of-Trainers (ToT) program with 30 farmer leaders, known as “farmer champions.” Each was required to train others in their communities, document their work, and share experiences through WhatsApp. This cascading model quickly expanded, and by 2024 more than 5,500 farmers across nine districts had been trained—over two-thirds of them women. Even schoolchildren and youth joined as agroecology ambassadors, bringing fresh energy into households and communities.
The impact has been remarkable. Farmers now produce and sell biofertilizers locally, practise 365-day soil cover, revive disappearing seed varieties, and freely exchange them to strengthen seed sovereignty. A culture of equality and shared responsibility has taken root, with every trainer—regardless of background—teaching and learning alongside others.
RUCID’s influence now extends nationally. Public exhibitions, radio shows, and farm camps are inspiring communities, while government leaders explore ways to scale the model across Uganda. Challenges remain, such as trainer dropouts and resource limits, but the movement’s momentum is unstoppable. At its core is a simple but powerful belief: “Everyone can teach, everyone can learn, everyone can unlearn.”
