It takes a village -

BFFF Commitment

Renewing Relations with Land, Water and People

“We need more local champions,
because these are the people who will become
decision-makers for their communities and countries”
(Dr. Gladys Kalema-Kikusoke, Uganda’s first wildlife veterinarian)

“It Takes a Village” to Raise a Food Forest…

Bunyonyi Food Forest Foundation is Committed to Kashekye, Batwa/Kyevu, & Forest Communities:

The intrinsic dignity of every person, their values and rights regardless of gender, ethnicity, religion or politics
The status, voice and visibility of women and young people in sustainable agriculture, conservation, and agribusiness
The inherent power of women and young people to create, nurture and transform
Gender equality, knowing that positive, sustainable change needs to include the sharing of decision-making, advocacy, and power of all genders
Respecting, acknowledging, and including Indigenous voices and decision-making when planning, implementing, and disseminating, while refraining from acting “for” or “in the best interests of”.
Environmental Rejuvenation. The building of relationships with other living systems (of which human survival depends upon) is at the core of BFFF

Kashekye Community

Bunyonyi Food Forest Foundation (BFFF) recognizes the foundational role that Kashekye Village members play in sharing the history, needs, and visions for Food Security, Gender Equality, and Youth Education in this region. Kashekye Women, Youth, and Men are the key drivers and implementers of the various programs and initiatives on BFF Land.

“There is immense power when a group of people with similar interests gets together to work toward the same goals” (Idowu Koyenikan)

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Indigenous - Batwa (Kyevu) Community

We understand that the wellness of Kashekye community goes hand-in-hand with the promotion of biodiversity, environmental relations, and mutually beneficial relationships with Nature and neighbouring Batwa community(ies).

The work of BFFF includes acknowledgement of truth, building of trusted relationships, and cultural rejuvenation based on Batwa voices, decision-making, and responses to historic and current inequities.

           “The songs of the “Pygmies” are the oldest to continually be sung, and their relationship to their forest represents
                                               the oldest and one of the very few truly sustainable societies on Earth….
                                                               We are the children of the forest… When it dies, we die”
                                                                           (Henley & Tumwesigye, Batwa: Exiles of the Impenetrable Forest, p. 139)

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Forest Community

Bunyonyi Food Forest Foundation recognizes that the health of human communities is incomplete without Nature Relations. We commit to the interdependent health needs of land, water, air, and people that bring mutual, long-term benefits for current and future generations.

“In ecological economics, the focus is on creating an economy that provides for a just and sustainable future in which both human life and nonhuman life can flourish” (Valerie, cited in Kimmerer, R., 2024, p. 74)

BFFF depends on the foundational relationships that have been built within the Kashekye, Batwa (Kyevu), and Forest communities, along with the support and inspiration of many other individuals and organizations within Lake Bunyonyi and beyond.

As a community model, hub, and demonstration site, BFFF also recognizes its role in expanding ideas and practices across the Lake Bunyonyi region and beyond.