the Humanist view

“You have one acre, two acres, three acres, four acres. You should not engage in farming enterprises that are low-income earners, unless in a large-scale production. Such enterprises are suitable for the rich. “What are those enterprises? Sorghum, rice, maize, cotton, sugarcane, those are for rich people to farm,” PM Nabbanja advises.

Great advice from Prime Minister (PM) Robinah Nabbanja. Her advice on farming enterprises is inspirational for us who own and or have access to small portions of farm land.

Very suitable advice, indeed, for Uganda’s smallholder farming economy, the backbone of Uganda’s economy.

PM Nabbanja backed her advice with indicative factors of production analyses for farming enterprises she is engaged in on her 10-acre farm in Kakumiro:

“If you plant a one-acre banana plantation, it is possible for you to earn 12 million shillings, according to calculations by experts from the Ministry of Agriculture,” PM Nabbanja pointed out.

Whereas, PM Nabbanja did not state the time frame when the money begins to come in, and what the inputs are, her advice on matooke growing enterprises is apparently spot on.

A bunch of matooke

An analysis by NSIGOTECH Tissue Culture Laboratory, “Doing banana farming as a business,” as published int the Monitor e-paper, supports the PM Nabbanja’s projections.

According to the Laboratory, after 12 months from the day of planting matooke, it is feasible for a farmer to harvest 450 bunches from a one-acre plantation.

Sold at a farm-gate price of 12,000 shillings per bunch, the first harvest can bring in 5.4 million shillings gross income. Of which, 1.73 million is profit.

In subsequent years, according to the Laboratory, a farmer, for example, in the second year, can harvest a total of 1,350 bunches of matooke from a one-acre plantation; and make a profit of 10.2 million shillings.

It is valid, therefore, to deduce PM Nabbanja’s projection of 12 million shillings from a one-acre matooke plantation is net profit within the first two years; and subsequently annually.

If you plant one acre of onions, within three months you can earn 30 million shillings and more. Mine which have been managed by experts, I shall get 50 million shillings and above. Onion production is labour intensive, but if you succeed, it pays.” celebrated PM Nabbanja.

Again, he projections for onion farming are supported.

For example, a farmer’s testimony, “Iga earns 30m from growing onions on one acre,” published in New Vision. As was pointed out by PM Nabbanja, and according to Iga’s testimony, onion production is labour intensive and requires significant expertise.

Iga testified onions need a lot of water, among other factors of production. He particularly credits his onion production success on his use of irrigation, soil boosters, fertilizers (nitrogen phosphorus potassium (NPK)); and weeding.

Iga’s testimony and PM Nabbanja’s advice on onions align the testimony of Oyuku, a beneficiary of the CPAR Uganda Training of Self-Reliant Participatory Development Change Agents in Business Capital.

Oyuku and his onions – images he shared on WhatsApp

Asked by his peers on a WhatsApp chat, Oyuku credited his success in onion production on his use of “water and supper agro fertilizer for bursting temperature” – containing the negative impact of hot and dry weather.

“What has brought me here to my garden today, is to harvest onions for use during the President’s functions. I already booked to be the one to cook the rice. Like we did in Pallisa. We shall cook rice, meat, everything is there. We need a lot of onions,” PM Nabbanja happily shared.

Yes, even Iga in his testimony revealed existing demand for onions within Uganda and beyond. Iga, apparently, exports his onions to other East African countries and to Europe as well. The market is there.

So, how do we get the message out to smallholder farmers to diversify away from monocropping low-value crops and to engage in high-value farming enterprises on small holdings?