In 2011, Rose Lanyero, a former market vendor in Gulu city, made a decision to venture into farming.
She bought pieces of land in Gwengdiya parish, Awach sub-county, Gulu district for the enterprise.
“For over a decade, I have been a supplier of different fruits and grains, not only to those in business, but also my neighbours,” said the jolly 59-year-old.
Lanyero grows fruits and cereals like sorghum and millet.
She also has livestock, including goats, pigs, cattle and birds.
During dry spells, she relies on drip-irrigation using plastic bottles fi lled with water and placed on the ground alongside the plants i.e. passion fruits, eggplants and bananas.
Lanyero’s capital was sh1.5m, which has since turned into sh5m annually.
From her earnings, she is paying tuition for her two grandchildren in Gulu and Kampala schools. She says her plan is to set up an inheritance for her two grandchildren so that they have a good start in their future.
All of Lanyero’s enterprises are on four acres, as she is practicing a concept initiated by President Yoweri Museveni in 2019, during his regional tours focused on skills development and capacity building in commercial agriculture.
Challenges
Theft and burglary remain Lanyero’s biggest challenges. In February, she lost her crops and produce amounting to sh4m.
She said she lost six hens, six goats, half a sack of sesame and two sacks of pigeon peas, adding that other items were destroyed and stolen from the gardens.
About four-acre model?
The four-acre model, according to the President, is a magic bullet for smallholder farmers.
These constitute the majority of the farming population in Uganda, but are most prone to the consequences of climate change and land fragmentation.
The model envisions that a household with at least four acres of arable land should partition it into sections, with each having a different enterprise.
That is, one acre set aside for a perennial crops, another for pasture, a third for seasonal quick-maturing food crops and the last for settlements with backyard projects such as poultry, piggery or fish ponds for those near wetlands.
At least five households in Paicho sub-county have embraced the four-acre model — three from Awach and two from Omel sub-counties.
Other households are either yet to embrace it or are engaging in other large-scale farming with specific crops such as cassava and soybeans.
Climate-smart agriculture
Climate-smart agriculture is emphasised with the four-acre model.
The primary reason for this approach is to ensure good yields and the ability to produce food amidst climate change challenges, accordingto Dr Alfred Obia, a soil scientist and climate-smart agriculture expert.
“To achieve our primary target, we need to carefully use fertilisers, high yielding crop variety, general crop management, drought-tolerant varieties and mulching to increase yields per unit area,” said Obia, who is also a lecturer at Gulu University’s faculty of agriculture and environment.
However, he cautioned that if climate change is not stemmed, farmers might be forced to abandon fast-maturing and high-yielding varieties of crops such as sorghum, pigeon pea and millet in favour of the traditional varieties.
This, he noted, will be to achieve the primary target of producing and having food amidst climate change challenges.
Farmers reaping big
David Lukungu started practicing a four-acre model in 2019, earning about sh36.5m from his farm annually.
The resident of Wilul village, Omel sub-county, Gulu, invested sh500,000 on his farm, where he grows bananas, cassava and fruits.
He also keeps poultry and rears exotic pigs.
“I have one acre of matooke with four different varieties (mpologoma, mbwazirume, musakala and kisansa), as well as one acre of cassava (TME-19), all of which are drought-resistant,” he said.
Regarding climate-smart agriculture, Lukungu employs mulching, organic manure, minimum soil disturbance and intercropping (cassava-maize).
“It is not the size of land that makes one rich, but rather employing the correct approach to climate-resilient and smart agriculture that matters,” noted Lukungu.
The major challenge on the farm, he said, is unfavourable weather conditions such as dry spells. To mitigate this, Lukungu has embraced irrigation.
He believes once his macro irrigation project becomes operational, it will help to address this challenge that he and other farmers are facing.
Okello’s story
Lanyero showing off some of her passion fruits. All her enterprises are on four acres mulching, organic manure, minimum soil disturbance and intercropping (cassava-maize).
“It is not the size of land that makes one rich, but rather employing the correct approach to climate-resilient and smart agriculture that matters,” noted Lukungu.
The major challenge on the farm, he said, is unfavourable weather conditions such as dry spells. To mitigate this, Lukungu has embraced irrigation.
He believes once his macro irrigation project becomes operational, it will help to address this challenge that he and other farmers are facing.
LEAD PHOTO CAPYION: Lanyero showing off some of her passion fruits. All her enterprises are on four acres.
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