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DeousMary Ekyaligonza

DeousMary Ekyaligonza

Lecturer

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Deous Mary Ekyaligonza is a Lecturer in the Department of Environment and Natural Resources in the Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at Mountains of the Moon University (MMU). She completed a PhD in Natural Resources and Life Sciences from the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU) in Vienna- Austria in April 2023, with funding from the Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR). She also completed a Master of Science in Natural Resources Management from MMU, in 2016 and a Bachelor of Science in Forestry Degree from Makerere University in 2010. Mary’s research interest is in the field of agroecology and natural resources management and has several publications in the same fields. Some of these publications can be accessed via https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1296-3739. Besides these publications, Mary has supervised several undergraduate and postgraduate students with similar research interests. Being in charge of curriculum development and review for her department, Mary speared headed the review of the MSc. Natural Resources Management and the Bachelor of Environmental Sciences. She has also spearheaded the development and review of the MSc. Agroecology, MSc. IWRM and other programmes in the department. In addition, Mary has been involved in the development and implementation of projects related to Agroecology and natural resources management including the APPEAR funded AER I & AER phase II projects, the Dutch funded SFR2CC and Careful Irrigation projects. These projects have involved research, demonstration Farm establishment, community outreach, scholarships for students at master and PhD levels, and the development or improvement of the curricula at MMU.

– PhD in Natural Resources and Life Sciences at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (BOKU), Vienna- Austria. (2023)
– Master of Science in Natural Resources Management at Mountains of the Moon University, Fort Portal- Uganda. (2016)
– Bachelor of Science in Forestry at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda. (2010)

1. Kisakye, V., & Ekyaligonza, D. M. (2026) Metareflections beyond the Daily Research Routine: Could Solutions Lie Within and Without?. Andreas J. Obrecht (Ed.), 33. https://oead.at/fileadmin/Dokumente/appear.at/publications_press/APPEAR_Metareflections_e_book.pdf#page=34.

2. Ekyaligonza, D. M., Tibasiima, T. K., Bwambale, B., Kagorora, J. P. K., & Freyer, B. (2024) Factors influencing adoption of organic matter management on smallholder farms in the Rwenzori region of Uganda. Organic Agriculture, 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13165-024-00465-6.

3. Tibasiima, T. K.; Bwambale, B.; Ekyaligonza, D. M.; Dietrich, P.; Jumba, F.; Kagorora, J. P. K.; Freyer, B. (2023) Re-assembling land degradation: toward a nature-society-inclusive soil erosion management strategy. A case of the Rwenzori region, Uganda. Frontiers in Sustainable Food Systems, 7, 1146222. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2023.1146222.

4. Tibasiima, TK; Ekyaligonza, DM; Kagorora, JPK; Friedel, JK; Melcher, A; Bwambale, B; … Freyer, B. (2023) Impact of Integrating Annual and Perennial Legumes under Coffea rabica on Sloping Land. Sustainability 15: 2453. https://doi.org/10.3390/su15032453.

5. Ekyaligonza, DM; Tibasiima, TK; Dietrich, P; Kagorora, JP; Friedel, JK; Eder, M; Freyer, B. (2022) Short-term trade-offs of organic matter management strategies for smallholder farms. Front. Sustain. Food Syst. 6: 1035822. https://doi.org/10.3389/fsufs.2022.1035822.

6. Ekyaligonza, DM; Kahigwa, TT; Dietrich, P; Akoraebirungi, B; Kagorora, JP; Friedel, JK; Melcher, A; Freyer, B. (2022) Biomass contribution and nutrient recycling of organic matter management practices in tropical smallholder annual farming systems. Acta Agriculturae Scandinavica, Section B — Soil & Plant Science 72(1): 945-956. https://doi.org/10.1080/09064710.2022.2134819.

7. Tibasiima, TK; Ekyaligonza, DM; Bwambale, B. (2022) Can agroecology provide a panacea for sustaining the adoption of soil erosion control measures? A case of smallholder Coffea rabica production in the Rwenzori mountain region, Uganda. Sustainability 14: 13461. https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013461.

8. Hänke, H; Wesana, J; Ahmed, JC; Eichelter, L; Ekyaligonza, DM; Hegeler, F; … & Mutambo, S (2022). Sustainability Hotspot Analysis 2.0. https://scholar.google.de/citations?view_op=view_citation&hl=de&user=JoQZJbwAAAAJ&citation_for_view=JoQZJbwAAAAJ:5nxA0vEk-isC.



9. Delima, G; Jacobs, L; Loopmans, M; Ekyaligonza, M; Kabaseke, C; Kervyn, M; Mertens, K. (2021) DisCoord: Co-creating DRR knowledge in Uganda through interaction in a serious game. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 60: 102303. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102303.
  1. Agro-ecology for sustainable and just groundwater governance (Careful Irrigation)’ funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands under the Water and Development Partnership Programme (WDPP). Total funding amount: EUR 1.4 million. Mary has developed in training manual Agroecology and sustainable on-farm water management and used it in sensitizing communities in the Rwenzori, in addition to supporting the PhD student in developing research in careful irrigation.
  2. 2025-2027: Strengthening smallholder farmer resilience to climate change through Joint learning, development and evaluation of contextualised solutions-A case of the Rwenzori and Kigezi highland regions of Uganda (SFR2CC). Funded by funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands under the Water and Development Partnership Programme (WDPP). Total funding amount EUR 399,918. Mary leads the development of the MSc. IWRM curriculum, selection students for the scholarship and coordinating their fees payments, developing the on-farm water management training manual and applying it to sensitize the communities in the selected hilly areas of the Rwenzori.
  3. 2023- 2026: Common knowledge building for the protection and conservation of freshwater resources in the Mpanga Catchment. This is an MMU consultancy from Joint Effort to save the Environment and Join for Water. Mary conducted the baseline study, developing the criteria for selecting research fund beneficiaries and is supporting the research teams.
  4. 2023-2024: Development of an ecotourism hub at Mountains of the Moon University (MMU) for improved teaching and learning”. This is a 59,949,000/= project that was developed in response to the MMU-research fund call. Mary was a principle investigator.
  5. March 2022 – March 2025: Strengthening of Higher Education, Research and Science Communication in Agroecology in the Rwenzori Region in Western Uganda-Phase II funded by the Austrian Development Agency- 2022 to 2025 Grant Austrian Development Agency (Vienna, AT) GRANT_NUMBER: Project262_AAP Total funding amount Organization identifiers FUNDREF: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100014986 Austrian Development Agency: AT EUR 389,879.6 https://aerproject.org/. Mary was among the people who wrote the project and she lead the Msc. Agroecology program review, developing the monitoring and evaluation framework for the project, developing the criteria for awarding scholarships, and mentoring the students so that they can complete their studies.
  6. August 2023-May 2024: Women River Ambassadors (WORIAs) training course development and delivery in the context of the Land-River Interface. This was a collaboration between Join for Water, Mountains of the Moon University and Joint Effort to save the Environment with experimental Funding from SIDA under the European Union Climate change programme. Funding total was EUR 100,000. Mary was involved in the development and delivery of modules related to sustainable natural resources management and agricultural systems to the WORIAs.
  1. May 2016 – November 2020: Strengthening of Higher Education, Research and Community Outreach in Agro-Ecology in the Rwenzori Region in Western Uganda | AER. This project was funded by the Austrian Partnership Programme in Higher Education and Research for Development (APPEAR), a program of the Austrian Development Cooperation (ADC) that is implemented by Austria’s Agency for Education and Internationalisation (OeAD-GmbH). https://appear.at/en/projects/current-projects/project-websites/project125-aer/. Mary was the team leader for the development of the MSc. Agroecology program at MMU with incorporation of gender aspects and better teaching approaches such as the case study learning approach. It is through the same project that she obtained a PhD scholarship from APPEAR.
  1. One ongoing PhD supervision
  2. Three Master students’ supervision to completion
  3. 12 ongoing Master students’ supervision
  4. Over 20 Bachelors students’ supervision to completion

Consultancies

  1. Conducted an end of Grandmothers Programme (UGP 2019-2024) Evaluation. This programme involved vegetable growing, goat rearing, and supporting grandmothers to mentor and offer scholastic materials for their grandchildren. It was implemented by Rwenzori Center for Research and Advocacy (RCRA) with funding from the Irish.
  2. 2021: Participated in the development of a documentary for sensitizing the youth and children in forest ecosystem conservation. This documentary is called N*Gen “Forest” episode and it can be accessed on https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MilBmXOIEG0.
  3. December 2020- December 2021: Conducted an Ecological baseline study and monitoring as part of the Rakai Environmental Conservation Programme (RECO) where restoration of the degraded sites was the main focus.
  4. 2018 – 2019: Participated in the development of the Nkusi catchment management plan as an expert in sustainable agriculture. This was a consultancy by the Weconsult for the Ministry of Water and the Environment under the Nile Basin Initiative (NBI) – Nile Equatorial Lakes Subsidiary Action Program (NELSAP).
  5. November 2017- January 2018: Participated in the process of carrying out a socio-economic baseline study of Ntoroko district in Uganda for sustained operation of the Gravity flow scheme for livelihood improvement among the smallholder farming community. This was a consultancy by KI limited- Uganda for the Ministry of Water and Environment. I was an Environmental expert under this consultancy.
  6. December 2016- January 2017: Led a team of three people in a consultancy for carrying out a baseline survey for illegal activities in protected areas of Queen Elizabeth National Park and Kasyoha-Kitomi Central Forest Reserve that are neighbouring the Kyambura Hydropower Project. This consultancy was carried out for ZIBA Limited. The results from this baseline were then used in the development of a monitoring protocol for illegal activities during the implementation phase of the project.
  7. July 2016: Carried out participatory research on climate change to determine adaptation strategies and policy responses for the farming communities in Rwenzori Region. This Consultancy was for Kabarole Research and Resource Center and I played a role of a Climate Change Expert.

 

More information

  1. Cofounder of BEMA Agroecology Demonstration Farm
  2. Reviewer of the Springer Nature- Discover Soil journal
  3. Consultant in the fields of Agroecology and Natural Resources Management