The Pearl of Africa

Uganda is known as the pearl of Africa, and it’s not hard to see why. The land is so fertile and there are crops growing literally everywhere. There was hardly a road we drove down that was not lined with maize, beans, or some other crop. Even in Kampala, people had many kinds of vegetables growing in their front yards! There is no shortage of fruit trees either. Papaya trees were the most popular, it seemed, but there were plenty of plantains around as well. I am told they grow avocados and pineapples, but unfortunately I didn’t come across any while we were there. We did see fields of sunflowers (for the oil), tobacco, and lots and lots of corn. I was amazed how tall it grows there since it actually rains rather frequently and it doesn’t get burned up in the 100+ degree heat like it does here in Texas. It seems quite feasible that Uganda could easily supply enough food for its own people as well as another entire country or two, if only they had the infrastructure and knew how to specialize and create sustainable trade routes. One of the most amazing things about RG was just how much of their own food they grow onsite. I was truly convinced that Uganda has no excuse for hungry people with the amount of food I saw during my stay.