Sustainable Agriculture in the Context of High Burden of Disease: A One Health Approach

In July 2025, the Public Science Collaborative research team conducted two weeks of fieldwork in the Busoga region of Eastern Uganda to investigate how cocoa farming practices intersect with environmental and health risks related to mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria. This work builds on a growing body of research that links landscape features and agricultural practices to the transmission of vector-borne diseases, aligning with the One Health framework promoted by the World Health Organization. PSC visited 16 farms affiliated with the CSRL farmer network, each with active cocoa production, and conducted semi-structured interviews with farmers and household heads. PSC also mapped each of the farms and the Mpirigiti Rural Training Centre. The 17 maps included in this report visualize key features of each farm, including total acreage, cocoa cultivation area, and proximity of homes to potential health risks.