My name is Emily and I am an agricultural enthusiast from a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada. I have a background in social justice and community development, which are often interlinked.
For the last 6 months I have been working in Uganda with an organization whose mission is to see "a world free from hunger and malnutrition." In this time, I worked on a project that focused on reengaging youth in the agricultural sector. Interestingly, the same reasons for the growing disinterest in rural Uganda are similar to those I've heard in my home province, as well as during my time in Ghana a few years ago, and throughout my travels across Europe. The reasons? There's no money to be made, the work is too hard/labour intensive, and the belief that there just isn't a future in the sector, to name a few.
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| A small-holder farm owned by a youth farmer in Soroti, Uganda |
One of the activities I was fortunate enough to do was participate in a Hip Hop event, where I was asked to speak about the importance of youth in agriculture. My blurb was short - not quite 5 minutes. But the feedback took me by surprise.
Thinking I'd get booed off the stage for being too preachy, I instead was faced with comments from participating youth unsure of how to get involved. For one, they noted that they lived in the city, and therefore couldn't get involved in food production. Sadly, I wasn't able to respond to these concerns properly. But the reality is - even in an urban setting, it is still possible to grow some of the basics.
In a few months, I will be heading back to Uganda to set up a project I've been working on to reengage youth in the food production process. But until then, I thought it would be important to put my money where my mouth is, and get my hands dirty. Literally. So, I've decided one of my summer time activities while home for this time, would be to try my hand at urban gardening.
So, if you will, I would invite you to follow along the trials, errors and hopefully successes.
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