Monday 10 January 2022

Support climate-smart family farming in Uganda with Aton Wellness

Email: tonnyabet@gmail.com

Aton Wellness (AW) is a social enterprise that is accelerating the adoption of climate-smart agricultural practices among family farmers in Lango sub-region, northern Uganda.   

Registered with the government of Uganda in 2016, AW has a demonstration farm in Lira district for teaching farmers. It also works with partners to conduct radio programmes that are centred on improving knowledge of farmers, enterprise selection and market linkages.

The enterprise was started by Tonny Abet and it is built on the passion of making agriculture work as a viable business and ensuring food security for over 70 percent of the 2.3 million people in Lango that depend on it.

Lango, the area that is racing to recover from 20 years of Lord’s Resistance Army insurgencies, has found itself in another roadblock of climate change which is increasing vulnerability among its largely youthful population.

The use of rudimentary farming technologies, poor agricultural production practices, limited access to finances and technical assistance, emerging pests and diseases, increases the climate change vulnerabilities in family farms. Women and youth who primarily run these family farms are the most affected in the farming that relies on rain-fed agriculture.


Aim of Aton Wellness

To raise a breed of climate-smart family farms in northern Uganda.


How we do it


Aton Wellness is promoting climate-smart agriculture through;

Being practical/demonstration farms

Aton Wellness has set demonstration a demonstration farm and it also works with elite farmers to introduce farmers to climate-smart farming, teach them effective pest and disease prevention and control in a production setting, how to maximise yields such as fertiliser use and good post-harvest handling methods. The farmers are also linked to markets in addition to enterprise selection advisory.

Northern Uganda: Excited women in an engagement

Science engagement

Here, modern farming knowledge, products and innovations are presented to rural farmers in local language. Complex scientific words are broken down into locally comprehensible and relatable local language phrases. We use platforms like radio stations, community dialogues and print to engage rural farmers. We also appreciate that a number of young rural farmers are on social media so we also have a customised packages for them.

Behaviour change and persuasive communication

In its transformative model, Aton dispenses farming as a business, away from the existing 'subsistence approach' practiced by over 90% of rural farmers in northern Uganda. Every rural farmer is made to reconsider themselves as business person capable of causing tremendous difference and rising beyond limits when they equip themselves with most current knowledge and skills to excel in farming as a business. We use the platforms as in the above to realise this.

Cassava: Participants taught value addition


Leading in local innovation

Aton works with a number of talented young men determined to transform agriculture sector in the country. We have products like solar egg incubators (EazeHatch) and Solar fruit dryers locally made in Uganda. The products are high quality and durable already being used by a number of farmers in Uganda.

Linkage agent

 We are able to make farmers access more of these technologies and innovations through serving intermediatory roles between them and input companies or produce buyers. This strategy is a success because we have a rich network and trust of farmers that offer markets for agro-inputs and also meet supply demand for agro-commodity buyers. 

Family farmers taught financial management
Locally-made fruit dryer excites a child
Radio programme at Voice Lango Fm reaches farmers


Support our current projects

Village chicken project

Quick pigs project


Definitions

Climate-smart agriculture is an integrated approach to managing production landscapes –cropland, livestock, forests and fisheries -for sustainable production that guarantees food security and curbs climate change shocks such as unpredictable rainfall. It focuses on increasing production, enhancing resilience to climate change shocks like shortened seasons, and reducing emissions that accelerate climate change.

Family farming is an organized agricultural production that is managed and operated by family members and largely relies on family capital and labour.


SEE OUR PARTNERS

Monday 21 March 2016

Aton Wellness

Previously: Reaching out to a group of women in Gulu district

Registered in Uganda in 2016, Aton Wellness is a fast growing youth-led social enterprise influencing decisions of tens of thousands of farmers every week through radio program and engagements in a number of onground activities. 

These engagements are centered on improving knowledge of farmers, all this geared towards one selfless aim of raising the next breed of self-reliant commercial farmers in northern Uganda  empowered enough to curb the raging poverty and hunger that continue to affect the community. 

Those we have worked with


MAAIFVOLEASEEDRADIO WA

GLOFORD
CONTACT:+256774633876 OR +256703002378
Email CEO Aton Wellness: tonnyabet@gmail.com
P.O Box 94,
Lira, Uganda.
Physical Address:
Ayere Village,
Barapwo Parish,
Lira sub-county
adjacent to Lira University.

Past Activities and Innovations






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Saturday 19 March 2016

MARKET YOUR HEALTH BRAND AND PRODUCT IN AFRICA WITH ATON WELLNESS



Aton Wellness is a social enterprise working
with over 10,000 (70% are youths) rural farmers in Northern Uganda through creative collaborations with for-profit and not-for-profit partners. We work with 10 prominent farmer associations/cooperatives in Northern Uganda. Aton Wellness employs business model to solve some of the greatest puzzles humanity is facing; poverty and hunger. 
We believe every rural farmer is a business person capable of causing tremendous impact when equipped with relevant knowledge and skills to rise and excel in farming as a business. 
Upon his graduation from Makerere University in 2016, Tonny Abet at 24 years of age concieved Aton Wellness. Tonny was that bright boy from a very poor family who drew the attention of a local charity organization, Lango Development Forum, the organization that paid him in his studies. With his live experience being supported by local people, Tonny was convinced Africa has a great potential which when well coordinated can yield unmatched global impact. And the rural farmers were at the center stage to him.


Core Purpose of Aton Wellness



Catalyze adaptation of agriculture innovations capable of animating return from farming among rural farmers in Northern Uganda.




CORE INTERESTS
1.      Mobilizing rural farmers into groups, associations and cooperatives.
2. Strengthening the management capacity of existing farmer associations.
3.  Linking local farmer associations and cooperatives to different private sector partners in agriculture value chain especially market and agro inputs.
4. Strengthening the capacity of farmer associations in fundraising.




Our Business

Manufacture and sales of solar egg incubators and solar fruit dryers. Engagement into large scale commercial fruit farming. Crowd farming. Brokering relations between large farmer associations and manufacturers of quality agro-inputs and large market providers for farm outputs.

Partners we Collaborate with




 YPARD
MAAIF
 ALFCO
 VOL

EASEED
 RADIO WA


 IPI

 GLOFORD


CONTACT:

ABET TONNY
+256774633876 OR +256703002378
Email CEO: tonnyabet@gmail.com

Lira, Uganda


Some of Our Past Activities and Innovations














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