Browsing by Author "Bigirimana, Celestin"

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    Community Perception on Weather Variability in the Lake Victoria Basin, Rwanda and Uganda
    (International Journal of Humanities, Art and Social Studies, 2011) Bigirimana, Celestin; Omujal, Francis; Isubikalu, Prossy; Bizuru, Elias; Obaa, Bernard; Malinga, Michael; Agea, Jacob G.; Okullo, John B. L.
    The study was conducted in districts of Bugesera, Kirehe and Nyamagabe in Rwanda and Buikwe, Busia, Kamuli, Masaka and Namutumba in Uganda to explore community perceptions on weather variability. Household interviews and focus group discussions were conducted to document awareness of traditional ways of weather prediction, local indicators of weather prediction, source of knowledge, effects of weather variability as well as communities’ coping strategies. Traditionally, behavior of birds, insects, moon, clouds, and direction of wind has always been the main indicators of rainfall, drought and flood pattern prediction. The main reported sources of information were parents, elders, friends and experience. Poor crop harvest, pests and diseases, crop wilting and extinction, etc, were effects of weather variability. Coping strategies were tree conservation, irrigation, use of manure and fertilizers, use of insecticide/pesticides and anti-erosion activities, etc. Community knowledge is useful and should be integrated with other conventional methods to predict weather variability.
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    Farmers’ Use of Indigenous Fruit Trees to Cope With Climate Variability in the Lake Victoria Basin Districts of Uganda
    (Current Research in Agricultural Sciences, 2022) Okullo, John B. L.; Omujal, Francis; Enuru, Thomas; Bigirimana, Celestin; Isubikalu, Prossy; Agea, Jacob G.; Bizuru, Elias; Obua, Joseph
    The escalating extreme weather conditions has forced rural farmers in Africa to rely disproportionately on Indigenous Fruit Trees (IFTs) to sustain their household food/nutrition security, employment and income generation. This paper analysed farmers’ use of IFTs to cope with climate variability in selected Lake Victoria Basin Districts of Uganda. Data were collected from farmers using questionnaires, key informant interviews and focus group discussions. From 13 most preferred IFTs, focus was on the most popular and highly ranked five: Garcinia buchananii, Vangueria apiculata, Canarium schweinfurthii, Tamarindus indica and Saba comorensis. Preferences for these IFTs were influenced by their uses for food, medicine, timber, compound shade provision and marketability. Age, sex, education, occupation, family size, land size, non-farming activities, period of stay on the same piece of land, and income level significantly (P≤0.05) influenced choice of the preferred IFTs. Majority of the respondents had IFTs planted on-farms, along the roads to provide various goods/services and in marginal lands unsuitable for farming to diversify agriculture as a strategy to cope with climate variability. Given that the uses of IFTs in the five LVB districts are associated with farmers’ efforts to cope with climate variability, the goal of any climate-adaptive farmer-based project should support sustainable use of IFTs, in the short-term and foster innovations such as on-farm planting of IFTs and other fast-growing tree species to meet household demands
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    Nutritional Potential of Myrianthus holstii Fruit of Rwanda
    (Rwanda Journal of Agricultural Sciences, 2020) Omujal, Francis; Okullo, John B. L.; Bigirimana, Celestin; Isubikalu, Prossy; Agea, Jacob G.; Bizuru, Eias
    Myrianthus holstii fruit has been a neglected edible fruit with limited nutritional information. This study evaluated the physical and chemical characteristics of M. holstii fruit of Rwanda. The physical parameters including fruit weight, fruit size, pulp content, seed weight and seed size are reported. The fruit pulp that is acidic pH (3.38±0.04) contained; protein (8.03±0.95 g/100g), dietary fibre (25.64±0.06 g/100g), vitamin C (19.80±2.13 mg/100g), beta carotene (0.99 mg/100g), iron (16.262±0.576 mg/100g), zinc (2.327±0.034 mg/100g) and copper (0.573±0.011 mg/100g). Assessment of these nutrient contribution to the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) showed 100g of pulp can meet 42%, 103%, 79%, 233%, 163%, 49% and 143% for children (4-8-year-old); and 18%, 103%, 22%, 133%, 90%, 29%, and 63% for adults (19-50years) respectively. The seeds had an oil yield of 37.67±1.53% with omega 6 fatty acid (78.92) being the most dominant. The total unsaturation in the oil was 90.91% with 78.92% poly unsaturated fatty acids. Based on the nutritional information, M. holstii can be a good source of beta carotene (vitamin A), iron, zinc and omega 6 fats that are essential in nutrition and health. Therefore, the fruit should be promoted for consumption as a snack and also processed into food products like fruit juice, wine, jelly, jam and vegetable oil to enhance the nutrition, health and income of households.
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    Perceived Availability and Management of Garcinia buchananii Fruit Tree Species in the Lake Victoria Basin Districts of Rwanda and Uganda
    (Journal of Agricultural Research, 2016) Bigirimana, Celestin; Omujal, Francis; Isubikalu, Prossy; Bizuru, Elias; Obaa, Bernard B.; Malinga, Michael; Agea, Jacob G.; Okullo, John B. L.
    This study explored community knowledge on availability and management of Garcinia buchananii in the Lake Victoria Basin (LVB) districts of Rwanda and Uganda. Specifically, it was conducted in Bugesera and Kirehe districts (Rwanda), and Buikwe and Masaka districts (Uganda). Household surveys, key informant interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs) and case studies were conducted to ascertain the availability status, ecological niche(s), propagation techniques as well as management practices of Garcinia buchananii. Garcinia buchananii was reported to be mostly abundant (0.329±0.471) in the garden and wild. The highly reported methods of propagating were by use of seeds (87.8% in Uganda and 85.4% in Rwanda). In Uganda, knowledge on propagation techniques was influenced by occupation (R2 = 0.084; P=0.05) while in Rwanda, none of the socio-demographic characteristics influenced knowledge on propagation of the species. The most common reported practices for managing Garcinia buchananii included weeding, mulching, watering and pruning. Since rural farming communities have always been exploiting indigenous fruit trees for their livelihoods, increased awareness and use of proper extension services plus provision of planting materials could lead to wise use and management of Garcinia buchananii in the LVB districts of Rwanda and Uganda.