“Great, very inspiring farms. This has been extremely informative. It is well organized. Thanks Dr. Katrien for the great power point presentation. I am extremely impressed, well done. “ (Dr. Diana Nambatya Ngubuga: dairy, vegetable and strawberry farmer)
“This has been a great day visiting two farms and I feel this will go a long way in helping us improve this sector in Uganda” (Eddy Morris Ogweng: dairy, goat, fish & honey farmer)
Prize-winning Ugandan farmers on tour
On June 13 a group of prize-winning farmers from Uganda visited two interesting Dutch farms. Aim of the visit: to get to know the lessons learnt in Dutch farming not only in dairy, but also in poultry, pig and bee keeping, strawberry and horticulture production. This visit was commissioned by EMSA Emerging Markets Africa, and linked to the Dutch embassy in Kampala.
After the presentation on the background on Dutch dairy farming (see DutchFarmExperience – EMSA Uganda), all this could be experienced at the extra ordinary two farms visited: Paradise farm and dairy farm de Zandbrink. This organic dairy farm features many special items towards improved cow health, like the cattle genetic four-way crossing and extra herbs in grassland. Labour saving technologies, such as the milking robots were another attraction of the day.
Inter-cultural communication
“Excellent experience! This farm tour was generally much better than I expected. If I’m being honest, I did not have a major interest in farming, but I’m so glad I came today because it was very informative and engaging. Plus the food was delicious!”
This is one of the reactions at the end of the one-day tour on June 8 of a group of American students from Newport University. They were in the Netherlands for a semester on inter-cultural learning, and wanted a Dutch Farm Experience tailor made program which included the experience of the Natural Livestock Farming international exchange program on ways to reduce antibiotic use in dairy farming.
The day started at the Beekhoeve farm of Monique and Koos van der Laan with a presentation on the background of Dutch dairy farming. (see DFE-Newport Univ – 8 June 2016) This was followed by an interesting farm tour and a fantastic lunch with home made cheese, butter and other products. The afternoon was dedicated to the practical case of inter-cultural learning: starting with the film Green Antibiotics on the exchange program between farmers and veterinarians of the Netherlands, India, Ethiopia and Uganda (see also Natural Livestock Farming), the students analyzed this experience through a SWOT analysis.
Reaction of the course coordinator Todd Goen: “This was the perfect case study for everything that we have been learning at out inter-cultural communication class. Exploring the farm and discussing all the elements of culture that come with this business was truly eye-opening!”
