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HEARTBEAT UGANDA

Busia District in Uganda has been an important centre for gold mining and production since 1930. Gold mining is dominated by small-scale mining and workers dig the gold manually. Raw gold, like other minerals, is a limited resource and stocks are continuously dwindling due to mining.  The miners live from hand to mouth and cannot provide for their existence in old age. Since 2013, we have been working closely with the local communities. We have learned that the majority of gold miners work in small-scale mining to enable them to switch to alternative employment. However, since small-scale mining requires a high capital investment and offers little return, a change remains challenging. 

HEARTBEAT HONEY

Liquid gold – with this idea in mind, the community has taken a first step towards a new source of income.

In 2017, the initiative started to turn beekeeping into a business model.

Together with the community and our local partner “The Hive”, we are developing beekeeping and honey production that can replace gold mining in the long term.

Beekeeping is one of the oldest livelihoods in the history of mankind. It is well known that bees make an immense contribution to plant production through pollination and thus significantly improve the ecosystem. With this knowledge, our project partner “The Hive” proposes to set up a Honey Hub to invest in beekeeping. Beekeeping and the extraction of honey provide financial returns while making a significant contribution to environmental protection.

HEARTBEAT Garden

A big challenge is the reuse of the worn out soil. 

A major goal is therefore to demolish mines and create a new use for the land. Permaculture and biodynamic agriculture have proven to be one of the most effective ways to not only reforest the land, but also to create income opportunities.

Permaculture is a proven ecological design science that describes a lifestyle inspired by nature. Its aim is to promote, accommodate and create economic opportunities in an inspiring and environmentally conscious way. It is a philosophy and development strategy that works climate, plants, animals, building design, soil, water and energy management together to create interrelated sustainable social systems. Permaculture applies techniques and principles from ecology, cooperative economics, appropriate technology, sustainable agriculture and indigenous wisdom to create sustainable human environments at home, at work, at play and in our communities. As such, the promise of permaculture goes far beyond food production to explore new potentials and horizons for sustainable living on earth.

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