To demonstrate that organic family farming on the Kibale Forest buffer zone can produce diverse food and income while coexisting peacefully with chimpanzees and elephants. Alex learned from CRF how to convert bush and waste into manure, conserve water, sort waste, plant buffer crops like tea to deter elephants, and use beehives as natural elephant deterrents. His purpose extends to the next generation through his son who is pursuing a master’s in environmental science and will continue teaching the community about conservation. Alex envisions developing the farm into an eco-tourism homestay where global visitors experience traditional life on the forest edge.
I want to make Alex's Cocoa Farm Campsite where visitors from all over the world come here and experience different culture systems, the way people have lived, traditional meals, and learn about conservation on the forest edge. My son is taking environmental science for his master's degree, and when I am gone he will continue teaching the community about conservation. My vision is to continue keeping Uganda green and my area green so the next generation can see the good of what we have done. I want more beehives to deter elephants so we can live peacefully with animals. I want a solar irrigation system so we can farm throughout the year. I want my neighbors to stop spraying chemicals. I have already changed several minds and I will keep teaching until every farmer understands that you can prosper without poisoning the land.
Organic farming demonstration eliminating all chemical herbicides and pesticides, using only animal manure and local herb-based pest management. Beehive fence system along the forest boundary deterring elephants while producing honey and pollinating crops. Tea buffer crop planting to create zones elephants avoid. Water conservation through tank collection. Waste sorting and composting. Transition from bush clearing to permanent diverse agroforestry canopy over 30 years.
Community teaching in six languages to neighbors, refugees, and visiting farmers on organic methods and wildlife coexistence. Conversion of neighboring farmers from chemical spraying to organic practices. Intergenerational conservation education through Alex's son pursuing environmental science. Development of Alex's Cocoa Farm Campsite as a homestay and cultural tourism experience. Circular economy model using all animal waste as soil amendment.
Alex serves as a community encyclopedia, with neighbors regularly visiting for guidance on organic farming and wildlife coexistence. He teaches in six languages reaching Bakiga, Baganda, Banyankole, and Congolese refugee communities. He has converted several neighbors from chemical spraying to organic methods, with three holdouts remaining. His farm functions as an informal demonstration site within the CRFF pioneer farmer network. CRFF provided seedlings, garden tools (wheelbarrows, shovels, hoes, slashers), training, and demonstration farm visits that transformed his farming approach.
Family farm economy integrating diverse income streams: cocoa, coffee, and macadamia as perennial cash crops, honey from six beehives, diverse food crops for household consumption and local sale, and planned eco-tourism income from Alex's Cocoa Farm Campsite homestay. Tools and seedlings provided by CRFF. Animal manure eliminates fertilizer costs. Organic methods eliminate chemical input costs. Vision for solar-powered irrigation to enable year-round production. National grid electricity expected within the year.
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Ecosystem Unity:
Victoria Basin Forest-Savanna at the interface with Kibale tropical moist forest, a living demonstration of how smallholder organic farming can function as part of the forest-savanna mosaic rather than in opposition to it.
Tropical moist climate with equatorial modification at approximately 1,200 meters above sea level on the Kibale Forest edge. The microclimate is influenced by the nearby Rwenzori Mountains and the forest itself, supporting year-round agricultural production with bimodal rainfall.
Bimodal rainfall with long rains March to May and short rains September to November. During dry spells elephants increase their visits to the farm seeking water and food, intensifying human-wildlife conflict. Alex identifies the need for pond construction and solar-powered irrigation to maintain crop production year-round.
Temperatures moderated by altitude, ranging from approximately 15C (59F) at night to 27-30C (81-86F) during the day.
Part of the Katonga River catchment draining into Lake Albert, within the broader Nile Basin. The farm lacks running water but Alex has installed a water tank for conservation, learned from CRFF demonstration farm visits. He envisions constructing a pond for water storage and solar-powered irrigation.
No running water on the property. Groundwater accessed through the western Ugandan plateau aquifer system. Water conservation through tank collection is a practice Alex adopted after CRFF training. A pond for water storage and solar-powered pump irrigation is planned if funding becomes available.
The farm integrates diverse species in an organic agroforestry system: cocoa, coffee (Robusta), macadamia, papaya, tea (as elephant buffer crop), beans, corn, diverse vegetables, and fruit trees. Livestock includes chickens, ducks, and goats whose manure feeds the soil cycle. Six beehives produce honey while providing pollination and elephant deterrence. Wild visitors include elephants (twice weekly), chimpanzees (daily, attracted to sugarcane), and diverse bird species. Earthworms are present in the soil particularly during rainy season near goat paddocks, completing the decomposition cycle.
Rolling hills characteristic of the Kibale Forest edge landscape, with the farm situated in a valley position. The terrain transitions from the dense tropical forest of the national park to the open agricultural plateau.
This land lies within the wider territory of the Toro Kingdom and the Kibale Forest buffer zone. Alex, a Mukiga by tribe, has farmed this land for 30 years, building deep knowledge of the landscape and its wildlife. The farm represents the experience of communities who have chosen to remain on the forest boundary despite elephant conflict, learning to coexist rather than migrate away.
The farm represents the evolving cultural landscape of the Kibale buffer zone, where families are transitioning from conflict-based relationships with wildlife to coexistence models. Alex's vision to develop a homestay and eco-tourism campsite reflects the emerging cultural identity of conservation-minded farming communities on the forest edge. His son's pursuit of environmental science represents the intergenerational transfer of this new conservation-agriculture culture.
Alex has farmed this land for 30 years, witnessing the transformation from bush clearing and conventional practices to organic agroforestry through his partnership with CRFF. Before CRFF's intervention, he had no water tank, did not sort waste, and used conventional methods. The foundation's demonstration farm visits and training transformed his approach. He is now one of 10 pioneer farmers working with CRFF, using his farm as a community teaching site and planning expansion of the homestay and eco-tourism vision.
The farm functions as an active wildlife corridor on the Kibale Forest boundary, with elephants passing through twice weekly and chimpanzees visiting daily. Alex's beehive fence and tea buffer crop model demonstrates how farming can maintain corridor function while protecting crops, contributing to the broader Kibale-Budongo-Bwindi ecological connectivity.
Bigodi village nearby. Fort Portal Tourism City approximately 30 km northwest. Kamwenge town approximately 40 km southeast. National grid electricity 5 km away.
