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recalls. AlthoughKatereggadidn’t have theneeded tarpaulins,
he hired them from the neighbours inorder to fulfil thedesired
quality standards.
He says coffee production has reduced in the countryside
following the outbreak of the coffee wilt disease in almost all
theRobustagrowingdistricts. Farmerswereadvised touproot
andburn theaffectedcoffeeplants to reduce further spreadof
the disease but many ignored it, and the resultswere horrible
and hence abandoned coffee andwent into other ventures.
Before joining Kakindu farmer’s Tukolerewamu cooperative
society, he was required to pay UGX10,000 as membership
fee and an additional sh20,000 to acquire the shares within
the cooperative which he did but the benefits accruing are
enormous which include getting coffee seedlings and other
required farm inputs like fertilisers at subsidized prices.
Sometimesweget themon credit andpay uponharvestingof
our coffee,” he explained.
What should be done to rejuvenate coffee cultivation in the
country?
Kateregga thinks that there is need to deploymore extension
workers in the countryside to advice farmers on how to plant,
prune, spray, harvest, dryand later addvalueon theharvested
coffee. Hismentor, Magezi recalls that in the 1960’s, 70s and
80s, extension workers used to traverse the countryside
advising farmers on the recommended agronomic practices
but this had phased out following the recent disbandment
of the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS)
programme into a non-existence single spine programme.
“These extension workers used to ride on bicycles reaching
almost all farmers in furthest places.
Thosewhomissedout onhomevisitsbenefitted from theslots
thesepeoplehadduringpublicevents likechurches,mosques
and funerals to teach farmers about good practices,” recalls
Magezi.
He says today, there is a very big contradiction as the country
no longer has extension workers following the disbandment
of the NAADS programme at the local governments. “The
ministry of agricultureno longer cares about thepoor farmers.
We had been promised that a recruitment process of new
extensionworkers would be done to fill the existing gaps but
it has never happened,” he said.
25-year-old John Masereka is another coffee farmer and
an employee of Bukonzo joint, a coffee organisation that
promotes cultivation of organic Arabica coffee in Kasese
district. He believes that youths can fully embrace coffee
cultivationprovided there is a special programme designed to
support them. “It isdifficult tofindorganisedyouthsengaged in
different agricultural undertakings.Coffeecultivation issuchan
expensive venturewhich requiresdedicationandcommitment
of the supported farmers,” he says.
Masereka points out that many projects in the countryside
that claim to be supporting youths don’t have the required
resources to meet all farmer’s demands. We need special
agricultural projects that will support youthwho are interested
in investing in agriculture as a business,” he explained during
the interview.Masereka explains that farmers need support to
beable toaccess farm inputs likeplantingmaterials, chemicals
and later linkages toprofitablemarkets.
JulietNyakisoma,who lives inNyapeavillage inZombodistrict,
is a graduate of public administration from Uganda Christian
University,Mukono. The22-year-old, ownshalf anacreof land
which she has dedicated to coffee cultivation. “I got this piece
of land frommyparentsbutmyplan is toacquireat least three
more acres for coffee production,” she explained during the
interview. A resident of Zombodistrict, Nyakisomabelongs to
Ayuda youth and women farmer’s association and works as
the business developmentmanager. She says theirmajor role
is to train their members to adopt the good farming practices
which include planting coffee in lines, applying fertilisers,
pulping it immediately after harvesting among others. “Youth
are interested in thecultivationofcoffeebut they lack resources
toenable thembuyseedlingsandother related farm inputs like
chemicals, tarpaulins, pulpers and acquire storage facilities
for their produce,” she explained. Juliet says they have over
400memberswith youth constituting the biggest percentage
(60%). “These are seriously engaged in coffee cultivation,”
she pointed out. Adding that, “This seasonwe had a bumper
harvest andasa resultwestill haveabout 10 tonneswhichwe
are trying to sell to theUSmarket.”
Nyakisoma believes that the future of Uganda’s coffee sub-
sector was on an upward trend as more players continue to
show interest in organizing farmers into groups.
She said organisations like the National Union of coffee
agribusinesses and farm enterprises (NUCAFE) supported
their association by establishing a coffee nursery in the area
to enable farmers get access to clean planting materials.
“Members acquire seedlings at UGX 400 which is slightly
lower thanUGX500 that non-memberspay,” saidNyakisoma.
On his part, Richard Ssemakula, one of the country’s finest
coffee experts who conducts his coffee trade from Bukalasa
sub-county, inLuweerodistrict, concurswithmostof theviews
that have been advanced by the young farmers. Ssemakula
who has mastered the art of producing both elite and clonal
coffee cuttingswhich he sells out to ordinary and commercial
farmers in the countryside, says coffee is the only cropwhich
shouldbe embraced toboost household incomes.
Upon his graduation with a bachelor’s degree in agriculture
at Makerere University, Ssemakula joined the agricultural
sector in 1978 as an agricultural officer in charge of Luweero
district before rising through the ranks to become the
assistant director of coffee farming systems. The directorate
was at the time headed by the current agriculture minister,
Tress Bucyanayandi and Ssemakula served as his assistant.
Later, when Bucyanayandi was appointed commissioner for
agriculture, Ssemakula, replaced him as the director of coffee
farming systems. “Although I still provide advisory services
to farmers who need to improve their coffee shambas, my
major focus for the last 10 years, has been producing coffee
seedlings through the nursery gardens located inKikoma and
Bukalasa villages,” he explained.
Ssemakula who boasts of producing about 100,000 cloned
coffee seedlings and 300,000 elite coffee seedlings, advises
that to be successful in coffee seedlings multiplication
business, site selection is very important, and farmers should
pay more attention to access to the market and water. He
