Despite Uganda’s fertile soils, we are almost under siege with regard to unsafe farm chemicals, increased taste for processed foods, use of unsafe oils/fat/sugar; which could lead to several health and other challenges.
FEMRITE – Uganda Women Writers Association, with support of the McKnight Foundation, is running a poetry award for Youths on sustainable Agro-ecological Food Systems. Various changes have taken place in the farming sector over time, yet, the human body, which is the recipient, has not changed.
This call is a result of a need to use the arts, to contribute to better food and food systems in our communities. And what better way to do this, than through poetry! Arts have the power to tap into people’s innermost emotions and empathy for action.
According to UBOS, the National Population and Housing Census 2024 report, Uganda is an agriculture-based economy, with a high youth population of 22.7% of the total population.
This therefore is an invitation to youths, to turn their pens unto the one important human need; food, and its journeys from the garden or factory to the plate and into our bodies. It is an invitation to youths to be part of candid conversations around food and food systems in Uganda.
Pick Poetry and Engage!