About BOS
About Our Founder and the Journey Behind the BOS Community Learning Model
In 2007, I stood on a piece of land in Senga Village, in Luweero District of central Uganda.
The five-acre plot was bare. Only one old mutuba tree stood tall, and the soil looked exhausted from years of overuse.
I remember asking myself a difficult question: Can this really work for me?
The land was about 50 kilometres from my home. I had no car, and I could not afford one. The road was rough murram, riddled with potholes and so narrow in places that even a small car would struggle to pass.
Still, my desire for farmland outweighed my doubt.
So I paid the money.
Today, that same land tells a very different story.
Where there was once bare ground, there is now a mini forest, thriving crops, insects, birds and other forms of life. The soil is alive again.
What began as a risky decision has slowly become a living laboratory — where indigenous knowledge meets agricultural science, and where ideas about environmental restoration, healthy food and regenerative farming are tested, learned from and shared.
When my former employer and long-time mentor, the late Bart Hilhorst, visited in July 2025 — his second visit in as many years — he looked around and said:
“It is really fantastic. I am so happy that you are doing this. This shamba will be a paradise — created by you.”
Those words capture the spirit of this place: a work in progress, grounded in hope, learning and growth.
Who I Am
My name is William Odinga Balikuddembe. Bill of Senga, or BOS, simply means William (Bill) of Senga Village.
I am a science journalist, research communicator and farmer.
For more than twenty years, I have reported on agriculture, water, the environment and rural livelihoods across Uganda and beyond. My work has taken me into communities, research institutions and development programmes, where I have worked alongside farmers, researchers, policymakers and civil society organisations.
Alongside journalism, I practise regenerative agriculture — transforming a small piece of land into a living space where knowledge, ideas and innovation grow alongside trees, crops, birds, animals, insects and other forms of life.
The Story of Senga
When I bought this land, the soils were tired and overworked, and most of the trees had long been cleared.
In 2009, I allowed nearly an acre to regenerate naturally, leaving it largely untouched.
Slowly, life returned.
Today, the space has its own living rhythm — a cool, shaded ecosystem filled with the hum of insects and the songs of birds. Anyone who passes by can see and feel the difference. Each time I stand quietly there, I am reminded how much can return when we simply give nature a chance.
As the land changed, so did the relationship between the farm, the surrounding community and myself.
At first, some neighbours worried that I had simply grown a bush that would harbour snakes. I would jokingly tell them I had set it aside for the snakes — unless they preferred to host them in their own houses.
But with time, concern turned into appreciation.
The forest became part of the community landscape. Today, if I even suggest cutting it down, there would likely be resistance from many of them. Some neighbours now collect firewood and medicinal herbs from it, and the community has even given it a name: Balikuddembe Forest.
The name Balikuddembe loosely translates to “they are at peace.” That is exactly what the forest has become — a place of quiet balance between people and nature. This small forest is now both a shared resource and a living classroom.
It has also shaped one of my central ideas: the Tree Billionaire Generation — a future where people grow wealth by growing trees, nurturing them because they sustain life.
Trees provide oxygen, food, medicine, fibre and shelter. They create fertile soils, provide habitat for countless organisms, restore ecosystems and capture carbon dioxide. All of that is wealth. Like Balikuddembe Forest, our trees can become sources of life, learning and prosperity for generations.
When we care for the land, the land cares for us.
The Journey Behind the BOS Idea
My journey in science journalism began in 2002 through environmental reporting training at Makerere University and the mentorship of Dr. Elizabeth Birabwa, then Chairperson of the Environmental Journalists Association of Uganda (EJAU).
That same year, an article I wrote about the Nakivubo Channel for The Sunrise newspaper became a runner-up in an international journalism competition jointly organised by the World Bank Institute and the Government of Japan. The recognition took me to Kyoto in 2003, where I covered the World Water Forum. Later that year, I received the Best Reporter on Water and Sanitation award from the African Ministers’ Council on Water (AMCOW) for an article on rainwater harvesting, published by The Sunrise.
Over the years, my work took me deeper into questions of water, food, agriculture and the environment.
Between 2006 and 2008, I worked as a Scenario Researcher with FAONILE, a project of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), under the mentorship of the late Bart Hilhorst. This deepened my understanding of water and food systems and laid an important foundation for my later work in sustainable agriculture.
In 2014 and 2015, while working as Africa Producer for Wild Dog Ltd, I contributed to a media consultancy for the Global Water Initiative East Africa (GWI-EA). It was during this work that I encountered the concept of the “Champion Farmer” — a farmer whose practices can inspire and guide others.
A key focus of the project was Water Smart Agriculture (WaSA): producing more food with less water. Lessons from communities in Otuke in Uganda, Dera in Ethiopia and Same in Tanzania were particularly influential.
Later, through my work with the Danish Development Research Network (DDRN) and research initiatives at Gulu University, I became increasingly interested in the relationship between scientific research, indigenous knowledge and vulnerable communities. My engagement with researchers, farmers and communities reinforced a belief that modern science and indigenous wisdom can — and should — work together.
These experiences shaped the idea behind BOS: a place where knowledge is openly generated, put into practice, tested, adapted and shared.
What This Platform Is About
BOS is an open community learning model for regenerative agriculture.
It enables communities to generate, test, adapt, document and openly share knowledge that restores ecosystems, strengthens livelihoods and builds resilient knowledge systems.
This is a space for practical ideas and real-world insights on:
- Soil health and regenerative farming
- Water management at the farm level
- Energy efficiency
- Climate-smart agriculture
- Zero-waste systems
- Tree nurturing and environmental restoration
- Smart and sustainable villages
- Urban agriculture and greener cities
BOS is about learning from the land, learning from each other, and using that knowledge to build more resilient and sustainable communities.
What began with one piece of land in Senga is now growing into a community learning model — one that brings people together to learn, experiment, share knowledge and find practical ways of caring for the land while improving their livelihoods.
The journey began with one farmer.
The future belongs to all of us.