Kitgum
Kitgum is Spiralweb's first active AnchorPoint — the place where the ecological kernel first touches ground. Work here is led by Akena Patrick and Kitgum village elders, grounded in trust and relationship built over time. It is not a project delivered to a community. It is a community leading its own stewardship, with Spiralweb as structural support.
The Kitgum field is under drought stress. Planting is being held back by local judgement until rain returns. This is not a pause in the method; it is the method working under real conditions.
The current work is observation, steward viability, community care, and readiness — not forced planting. Gold Before Bloom means that the field is not pushed beyond what water, soil, people, and timing can honestly hold.
The project is highly welcome and with whole heart. They have accepted to give the 10m² and more plots of land for the project. Each and every member is very willing and ready to give a plot of land so that each household is having a Food Forest Farm.
What is being held and prepared here
The community has welcomed the direction of borehole-centred food-forest plots and connecting household practices. The detailed planting design remains conditional. Planting, role allocation and regular observation begin only when rain, local judgement, available species, fencing and field readiness allow.
Schools and intergenerational learning are part of the proposed direction. Specific roles for children, elders and other participants will be agreed locally when a first field cycle is ready; they are not yet an active operating structure.
Kitgum Village Elders
Northern Uganda
Possible syntropic agroforestry
Soil, water & community learning
Meeting notes
Photo and video documentation
13×13 structure (possible later use)
Community meeting · 9 January 2026
The first formal engagement meeting took place on 9 January 2026, with Lars A. Engberg joining online from Denmark. The following decisions were made by the community:
Agreed
Land plots near the borehole were confirmed in January. In July, planting is being held back by local judgement because of drought stress and dry spell conditions. Nursery preparation, soil layering, cloning, grafting, and borehole-supported readiness remain part of the plan, but planting waits for rain and field readiness.
Raised by community
Need for fencing using barbed wire and wood poles to protect against stray animals. Request for training on grafting of fruit plants — mangoes and oranges specifically. Proposal for grassroots leaders to support management alongside Akena as Lead Steward.
First species requested by community
Spiral guild — candidate planting structure
The following spiral guild is a candidate design for local review, not an approved planting plan. Species, centre tree, spacing, layers and stewardship roles will be decided after rain, fencing, available planting material, soil and water conditions, and local experience have been assessed.
Central — canopy
Moringa oleifera · edible leaves · fast biomass · light shade · tended by elders
Middle — shrubs & climbers
Hibiscus (pollinator support) · Beans and legumes (nitrogen fixers, climbers) · Cassava (soil protector, edible mid-layer)
Ground layer
Sweet potato (dense soil cover, edible tubers) · Vetiver grass (erosion control, edge protection)
Pollinator layer
Marigold · Sunflower · interspersed along spiral · tended by children
Outer edge — mulchers & wildlife
Gliricidia · Leucaena · Native grasses · wildlife corridors and micro-habitats · mini-paths maintained for biodiversity
Possible 12-week first-cycle sequence — not yet activated
This sequence is a planning scaffold. Timing, roles and activities may change, be reordered or be set aside through local review and field conditions.
13 Gold Nuggets — draft language for local review
Draft principles and Acholi formulations emerging from the Kitgum initiative. The Acholi wording remains subject to review by Acholi speakers and participating stewards before it is treated as settled field language.
Protocol & infrastructure
A longer-term concept exists for solar-powered connectivity at community locations. It is not a current field priority or an activated commitment. Food, water, steward viability and field readiness come first.
Support mechanism
Any future support will be recorded across three separate streams: field activity and ecology, steward viability, and the coordination and governance required to carry the relationship responsibly. No public support mechanism or plot-based funding unit is active on this page.
Spiralweb publishes only what it can hold with care. This page will grow as field notes, observation logs, and documentation are verified and ready to share.
Kitgum may offer learning for other places; it is not a rigid model.