Biggest farmers' Expo opens at Namboole

Feb 14, 2017

The trainings are focusing on 11 key enterprises spread out in 25 different sessions through three days

When farmers visit the Harvest Money Expo starting  today, they will not go back the same. It is planned that they take home vital knowledge in order to start or improve their enterprise. This is why the expo has organised training sessions for the farmers.

 

 

 

 

Hundreds have thronged Namboole for the opening of the farmers' Expo. PHOTOS/Ahiraf Kasirye

ormer akuuto  athias asamba showing ision roup  obert abushenga his coffee plantsFormer Kakuuto MP Mathias Kasamba showing Vision Group CEO Robert Kabushenga his coffee plants

 

Farming training schedules for the Harvest Money Expo have been released. The expo is taking at Namboole Stadium, from this Friday to Sunday.

Selected enterprises include bananas, piggery, poultry, passion fruit growing, fish farming, coffee, urban farming, tips on marketing, irrigation and water for development and livestock management.

One will part with sh20,000 per day for the training and expo tour, but with prior booking. Those who want to only tour the expo will pay sh10,000 per day. The trainings are focusing on 11 key enterprises spread out in 25 different sessions through three days.

Schools have been given a special package, where they will pay sh5,000 per student, but they will have to book prior to the expo. Schools are encouraged to attend the expo on Friday. Booking can be done by calling 0702192718. Schools are also advised to have booked by Thursday.

However, students can still come on any of the other two days although they will have missed on the special activities planned for students on Friday.

Banana farming will lead the way on Friday. The training will run from 9:00am up to 11:30pm.

At the same time, two other trainings in urban farming and tree planting will be going on. The tree planting training will run from 9:00am to 11:30pm and will be led by an expert from SPGS — a leading actor in tree planting. This will help farmers learn how to make money off trees.

The morning session of Friday will have two trainings. This will include one on urban farming by Dr Diana Nambatya Nsubuga. Nambatya was one of the Best Farmers in 2015. She operates her farming enterprises on a quarter of an acre and earns handsomely from the venture. She will train farmers in using a small piece of land and maximise profit.

Poultry training will take place from12:00pm to 2:30pm and will be led by Robert Sserwanga from Agranian Systems.

 

Sserwanga, a Dutch-trained poultry agronomist has vast experience in keeping poultry. At the same time in a different room, there will training in piggery.

This will be led by Emma Naluyima, a veterinary doctor and farmer from Bwerenga on Entebbe Road.

In a different room between 12:00pm and 2:30pm, a motivational talk to entice you to pick up the hoe and go to the farm will be delivered by a team led by Vision Group CEO Robert Kabushenga.

On top of being a motivator, Kabushenga is a medium-scale banana and coffee farmer.

Between 3:00pm and 5:30pm on Friday, there will be training on bee keeping.

This will be led by Eliazar Nsubuga, a beekeeper from Nakaseke. Nsubuga has done tremendous research on apiary. He will take the farmers through the basics of running a successful apiary business.

For those interested in coffee, there will be another training at the same time (3:00pm to 5:30pm). This will be led by the former Member of Parliament for Kakuuto, Mathias Kasamba.

The former MP is a prolific coffee farmer, with a lot of research and experiences from all over the world.

"I have visited countries were one tree produces 20kgs of coffee per year. I will tell the expo visitors how these people do it," Kasamba says.

On Saturday, which is day two of the expo, the day will have training in coffee farming between 9:00am and11:30am, which will be led by experts from the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA). UCDA is the supreme body responsible for the development of coffee in the country.

At the same time, there will be a session in livestock nutrition and management led by Dr Jolly Kabirizi from NARO/NaLIRRI, plus another on market standards and post-harvest handling between 9:00am and 11:30am led by Wilfred Thembo.

Thembo is the former chairman of the Uganda National Agri-dealers Association (UNADA). He has experience in quality standards for grains and other produce.

From 12:00pm to 2:30pm, there will be trainings in passion fruit growing, which will be led by commercial passion fruit farmer. One, Ronald Wasswa, comes from Koome Islands. The other is Bashir Mayiga from Masaka.

Wasswa has 45 acres of passion fruits on Koome Islands.

During the same period, there will be another training in urban farming. This will be led by Harriet Nakabaale, an urban farmer from Kawaala in Kampala. Nakabale is known for setting up tens of vegetable gardens for farmers in small spaces across the country.

In the afternoon from 3:00pm to 5:30pm, there will be three trainings. These include agriculture financing access by dfcu bank. dfcu is one of the leading agriculture financing banks in the country.

There will also be a session on irrigation and another session on tree planting.

There will also be an irrigation training running from 3:00pm to 5:30pm, led by an expert from Netherlands.

Between 3:00 pm and 5:30pm, a session on irrigation will take place. This is particularly important because of the current experience with the dry season.

This session will be led by an expert from Multiple Industries. The session will explain why farmers should no longer depend on rain-fed agriculture and also dismiss the belief that irrigation is expensive.

Sunday, which is the last day of the expo, will open at 9:00am, with training in fish farming. At the same time, there will be training in irrigation.

There will be two other sessions in poultry between 12:00pm and 2:30pm, mainly majoring in modern management, for example poultry cage keeping, led by Chris Magezi and piggery between 12:00pm and 2:30pm led by Dr Joseph Kizito.

The expo will then be ended with another training in livestock led by Dr Jolly Kabirizi and banana farming led by Washington Mugerwa, a banana farming expert.

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