CELAC knowledge Fair in luweero !

Several farmers from various Districts participated in the one-day event named ‘CELAC knowledge fair’ in Luweero at New Eden primary school Wobulenzi.

This year’s theme was the role mobile telephony to grass root farmers in rural Uganda .The Key objective was to enable farmers explore new market opportunities for their products, expose them to alternative ICT methods used by CELAC project and also enable them have face to face discussions with fellow farmers from other districts and be able to relate thereafter.
The other objective was to encourage farmers to have a sense of competition to realize better quality and more produce.

The CELAC knowledge Fair was organized by BROSDI in close collaboration with the CELAC Luweero Agricultural Network.
A broad range of activities where covered which included an exhibition with face to face interaction with farmers, learning sessions and discussions with farmers, buyers and several guests who attended the fair.
Other activities included debate, mock radio program and a knowledge-sharing forum where participation and management was mainly by farmers.

The event brought together farmers from the districts of Luweero, Masaka, Bushenyi, kabale, Tororo, Apac, Sironko ,Manafwa, Kasese, Pallisa Mayunge and lira, involved in farming bananas, orange fleshed sweet potatoes, cassava, tomatoes, millet ,beans ,groundnuts ,maize, Irish potatoes ,onions ,green pepper ,chicken ,turkey, ducks ,guinea fowl, pigs. Sheep and bees.

Farmers started off with a debate that was mainy derived from the day's theme and the topic was how the mobile phone has improved the lives of the rural grassroot farmers.
Many farmers appreciated the use of the mobile phone especially in helping to provide current market prices through sms that they recieve through CELAC,though it was noted that this mobile phone technology is a cause of family breakdowns and disputes as farmer' s also use it as a tool to ease communication in their other relationships.

Later the farmers where ushered into a radio mock program where they had to agree or diagree whether the grassroot farmer was mean't to remain poor and later into a knowledge sharing forum.

The major attraction of the day was the exhibition where these farmers had carefully arranged their stalls and here, they clearly explained the process and demostrated how to grow a given crop up to the time it is harvested.
There was also plenty of information about rearing various poultry and animals.

I came accross the stall which had the orange fleshed sweet potatoes which contain vitamin A and besides it were various products that had been made out of these sweet potatoes such as the herbal soap and Vaseline and also various baked products such cakes ,doughnuts etc .

On the side, there was another farmer from luweero who was encouraging farmers to use traditional /local medicine to treat poultry instead of the modern ones.

The farmers appreciated the role of CELAC project which has helped them achieve their dreams through relayed market prices on their mobile phones via sms messages.
‘Through the mobile phone message I can be able to sell my produce at a reasonable price since I have the prevailing market price.’ say Mrs. Kambuggu a farmer from Masaka.
They also appreciated the role of radio programmes and the literature given to them in form of how to guides from CELAC project.

Most of them expressed their hatred for middlemen who buy their produce at a very low price and later selling it in other Markets instantly at a higher price.
'The middlemen take advantage of our situations such as the urgent need to pay school fees, lack of transport and buy our produce at a very low price,we have no option but to sell to them in order to fulfill our demands.’say's Evelyn a farmer from Apac.

They expressed their need to form more stronger farmer associations that can help find markets for their produce instead of losing out to middlemen.

This exhibition was summed up with a price awarding ceremony and the best exhibitors where the farmers from Masaka,then Bushenyi farmers happened to take the second place and Luweero came third.

It was really an excellent opportunity where farmers expressed their views on various issues that affected them and looked forward to the next knowledge fair.

Ministry of Agriculture advises farmers on rainy season

In his message ,the Minister Eng Hillary Onek advised farmers to prepare for the first season that runs from march to May 2007.
he said that according to the information provided by the department of meterology,probabilities of normal to above normal rainfall favour most parts
of lake Victoria basin,central,western and central northern Uganda and on the other hand, there is an increased likelihood of normal to below rainfall over most parts of eastern, north eastern and south western Uganda.

He informed farmers that in areas where normal to above normal rains are expected, they should watch out for development of certain fungal and bacterial diseases especially for vegetables, tomatoes Irish potatoes and beans.

Landslides are expected in vulnerable highland areas of western -central, which pause a high risk of destroying peoples lives, crops and infrastructure.

Soil erosion, depletion and flooding are also expected during the season and therefore farmers in the country where advised to take note of the hazards and depending on the location be able to , plant improved crop varieties of short duration , avoid planting in lowlands and swampy areas where flooding is expected,avoid practises that encourage soil erosion such as planting down slope and rather engage in contour planting (across the slope),be ready to spray crop diseases and apply fertilizers where feasible to ensure maximum production.

Farmers where encouraged to abide to the advice so that the expected rains this season have a positive impact and an increase in production.

Agricultural information centres vital for farmers

Domestic food crop production and marketing in Uganda can be characterized as ad hoc. There remains a chronic unavailability of reliable information on the value chain for various produce as well as activities in the general market. This has resulted in the poor performance of farmers (and other players in the market) when conducting marketing transactions.

These farmers have limited access to information so as to make informed choices such as appropriate inputs (such as seeds and chemicals) and technology, and generally have to rely on the distributors of these products (middlemen). In this scenario, small farmers are characterized as existing at the mercy of these middlemen who manipulate the market by withholding retail prices and also demanding unreasonable credit.

In response to these types of situations faced by the farmers there is a need for more information centres so as to cater for these farmers who are ever being cheated by middlemen.For example, in Mbarara, they buy Matooke between Ugshs 1000- Ugshs 2000 from farmers who spend a lot of time caring for the crop before it is harvested and later sell the Matooke instantly in markets like Ruti between Ugshs 5000 and Ugs 7000,thus making a profit of between Ugshs 4000-5000 per bunch.

These information centres play a vital role when it comes to distribution of information to the farmers.

They also create a direct linkage to existing markets for closer working relationship between these buyers and the farmers.

Provision of accurate information to farmers on the most adequate farm supplies for their specific needs is also another vital area when it comes to information centres .

They also go along way and Supply the farmers with details of the specific quality and volume requirements of various target markets for their produce.

However most of the information in the centres is disseminated using ICT based methods and given the low literacy levels among farming communities, there is need to sensitise the farmers about the use of these information centres.

Community cereal banks enhance food security

A cereal bank is a community-based institution involving a village that stocks and manages the process of acquiring, pricing and supplying the grain.
The main reason for their formation is to improve food supply in hungry season especially during dry spells.
Cereal is bought from the village or from other markets at a cheaper price especially during harvest season and later sold to the villagers at a reasonable price when their granaries run dry.

The farmers are paid a better price for their grain, when the market prices are low and get money to pay for school fees and other basic necessities at that time.
Then when there is scarcity, the market price shoots up and the villagers turn to cereal banks as a source of grain. They purchase their grain from the cereal banks at a price they can afford, so they don’t have to move long distances to look for grain.
The banks in turn make a profit while also taking care of those in the community who would have bought the grain at a much higher price somewhere else.

A cereal bank determines how much cereal will take the village through the hungry season; the price at which it buys the cereal can be lower than the market price and when it buys from trader the price is not more than the market price.
Whenever there is scarcity, everyone buy from the bank and since more people may be having money to buy the grain, a cereal bank regulates the buying and selling such that those who don’t have much money can also buy the grain.

Cereal banks allow each member to buy a certain amount of grain thus determining how much each family can buy. This prevents individuals who might want to resell and make profits.
Through this cereal bank, I have been able to educate my children and even make some savings’ said Napio a member of a women’s cereal bank in northern Uganda.

Cereal banks can also allow people to buy on credit on condition that it works out a way of how to deal with people, who do not pay their debts.
In general cereal banks enhance food security and economic independence to rural communities especially the very poor.