In a world racing toward industrial agriculture, BARO (Bridge Africa Research Organisation) is taking a bold step in the opposite direction … back to the roots. Through its Farmwise Project Information Booklets, BARO is building a living archive of indigenous and agroecological farming knowledge, one crop and one animal at a time.
These booklets aren’t just manuals … they’re guardians of wisdom, designed to guide anyone, from seasoned farmers to curious first-timers, through the entire value chain of specific crops and livestock. Whether you’ve never planted the crop or raised livestock, these booklets will walk you through it … step by step, soil to table.
The first volumes, banana farming and cattle rearing, are already complete. And they’re not your average farming guides. They blend traditional practices with climate-smart techniques that restore soil health, rebuild ecosystems, and reclaim food sovereignty. Think of them as farming with memory and foresight … honoring the past while preparing for a resilient future.
But this is more than a publishing project. It’s a rescue mission. Across Uganda and beyond, elders hold priceless knowledge about how to farm without chemicals, how to read the land, how to work with nature, not against it. As these elders pass on, their insights risk disappearing forever. BARO is determined to make sure that doesn’t happen. As they put it: “The library must not burn.”
And here’s the best part: these booklets are free. No strings attached. Anyone can download them from BARO’s website: 👉 https://bridgeafricaresearch.org/our-progrms/climate-change-green-economy/
BARO is also calling on farmers, researchers, and agroecologists to contribute. If you know a method that’s not yet documented … whether it’s a planting rhythm, a pest control trick, or a soil restoration technique, share it. It will be added to future editions. This is a collective effort to build a pan-African farming library, one that reflects the continent’s diversity, resilience, and ingenuity.
So what’s next? More volumes are on the way … covering everything from millet to goats, cassava to compost. Each one will be a tool for empowerment, a seed of knowledge, and a step toward restoring Africa’s agricultural identity.
In the age of climate change and ecological collapse, Farmwise is a quiet revolution. It’s about farming with dignity, with wisdom, and with the land, not just on it.
Because when the soil heals, communities thrive. And when knowledge is preserved, futures are secured.
