Ntungamo’s Money Making Weed

Dec 09, 2002

IT was once an infamous weed that the farmers of Ntungamo used to curse, burn and uproot. Now it is being cultivated and nurtured as Ntungamo’s green gold.

The oil from lemon grass, a notorious weed, fetches high prices in markets in Europe and the US

By Gerald Tenywa

IT was once an infamous weed that the farmers of Ntungamo used to curse, burn and uproot. Now it is being cultivated and nurtured as Ntungamo’s green gold.
Lemon grass, was formerly known to farmers as a notorious weed that withstands harsh, dry weather conditions, and easily germinates after being burnt, making it virtually impossible to destroy.
The wild grass is now cultivated by the Ntungamo Women’s Efforts to Save the Environment (NWESE), under the lemon grass project, for its oil.
The project launched in Ntungamo last week by Uganda’s First Lady, Janet Museveni, is funded by the Canada Fund and the Global Environment Facility Small Grants Project(GEF), under the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
About sh100m has already been sunk into the project that has helped the women of NWESE master the art of extracting oil from the weed.
The oil from lemon grass is used in the making of perfumes, cosmetics, flavouring, medicines, herbal teas and ointments that fetch hefty prices in markets in Europe and the US.
Under the banner of NWESE, lemon grass is being exploited with hope of improving the livelihood of the residents of Ntungamo, while conserving the environment.
Over 30 women proposed the idea about three years ago. They have used the project funds for training and to acquire a distillery for processing the oil.
A milling factory surrounded with demonstration gardens has been set up on a seven-acre piece of land, in a suburb of Ntungamo town.
Out growers have already planted 23 acres of lemon grass and are expected to plant more, depending on its demand.
Janet Museveni herself is no stranger to the weed. Her husband, President Yoweri Museveni, pioneered the making of Nile Toothpaste a herbal toothpaste made from omuteete a wild grass related to lemon grass, a few years ago.
Omuteete is chewed by the locals to freshen breath and contains chemicals that whiten the teeth.
There are many species of the wild grass. The women group is promoting two, one of which is widely used as a beverage locally known as kisubi, in Luganda.
The lemon grass project is in a pastoral area suitable for the savanna ecological system, says Abu Wandera the national coordinator of GEF.
“Besides generating income and providing employment, lemon grass will help conserve the environment if planted on the bare hills of Ntungamo”, says Beatrice Rwakimari, the Women MP for Ntungamo.
Experts from the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology(ICIPE), who are working closely with the farmers, say the roots of lemon grass hold the soils together, preventing soil erosion on the hills.
ICIPE scientists also claim that the lemon grass repels mosquitoes.
“We now know the wonders of lemon grass and how to inter-crop it with food crops,’’ says Bonny Tumwine a member of NWESE, who has benefited from ICIPE training programmes.
Maria Mutagamba, the state minister for water, praised the initiative saying that the protection of the bare hills of Ntungamo, has been an unsolved issue for a long time whose solution has come from the women.
“If two tea spoonfuls (10 millilitres) of the oil from the lemon grass fetches as much as $5, how much shall we earn by 2015?. Our plan is to reduce poverty,’’ Mutagamba stated.
One of the outcomes of the Earth Summit held recently, was to implement Agenda 21, a blue print for sustainable development and poverty reduction.
“The lemon project is a pilot project, which can become national. We shall look for the resources to support it,’’ said Dan Temu, of the UNDP. Ends

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