Kampala, Uganda: In the beginning the council realized that most of our laws were outdated. We wanted to do a project but were hampered by all of these old laws. So we made a decision to revise all the laws. Each minister took the laws pertaining to his or her ministry and went out to collect the opinions of people, draft new proposals and then bring them back to the mayor’s executive.
When I joined the ministry, I decided I had to influence policy. One of my mandates at the ministry is to help people in their troubles and to equip them with fresh food, which they can use for earning a living. Kampala is a city where people can earn a living, where people can get food, and where people can fight poverty at the lowest cost. So I really feel that I have to fight until I win.
Previously people were farming anywhere, without guidance and we couldn’t guide them as we wanted to because it was unlawful. So now, once the ordinances were completed, it meant that we can tell farmers that they are supposed to farm in places zoned for farming, and not in other places, and we can guide these zones with the health information we receive from researchers.
At the beginning our mayor was so negative because he believed that there was not a good enough case for farming in the city, but now he is the biggest urban agriculture advocate you can find in Africa!