Kayizzi lived in a mud house, invested in buying land

Name of farmer: Herbert Kayizzi
Location of farm: Kiyunga village, Kyampisi sub-county, Mukono district
Enterprises: Banana and coffee plantations, has a truck for transportation of produce. Building 500-room hostel on the farm
When and how he started: In 2004, he bought an acre of land and cultivated maize, beans, potatoes, cassava, rice and sunflower

Strong point: Won a tender to supply sh20m worth of vanilla vines to farmers in Mukono in 2006 through the State House poverty alleviation scheme. Earned sh2m worth of fertiliser. Farm is used as a demonstration field

Sales record: Sells Matooke suckers at sh2,000 and matooke at sh15,000-sh50,000
Winning formula: Hardwork and perseverance
Contact: 0782557752

By Joel Ogwang
FOR many a commuter using the Mukono-Kayunga highway, the splendour of his spacious matooke and banana plantation intercropped with coffee, cannot go unnoticed.

“It took me four years to get to this level,” says Herbert Kayizzi, a farmer in Kiyunga village, Kyampisi sub-county, Mukono.

As I browse through the visitor’s registration I see names of high profile district officials who had previously visited his farm.

The visits are an indication of the exquisite workmanship and land use on this farm.

Among high profile government officials who appended their signatures in the book are then trade minister, Janat Mukwaya, presidential aide on poverty alleviation, Joan Kakwenzire, and Prof. Gilbert Bukenya, the vice-president, who visited the farm last year.

“Who am I to host the vice-president?” says Kayizzi, as we tour the shamba. “I am not a member of parliament, local council leader or a popular mogul.”

Kayizzi, 55 is a Senior Four dropout who epitomises all virtues of a modest farmer. He is hardworking, skilled and progressive.

When, in 2004, Kayizzi bought and cultivated cash crops and food crops on an acre of land, he envisioned becoming a model farmer.

“I invested sh100,000 every month to plant maize, beans, potatoes, cassava, rice and sunflower. However, having just started, I could realise a meagre sh60,000 after harvest and marketing.”

But, if, as an old axiom goes- hard work pays, then he is a living testimony. Two years later, Kayizzi bought more land, and increased his plantation surface to cover 10 acres.

As was the ‘norm’ in Mukono, Kayizzi also joined the bandwagon of growing vanilla. By then vanilla was the ‘darling’ crop in the district. Suffice it to say, 2006 was the peak of the vanilla price surge. A kilogramme of vanilla fetched sh100,000.

“Every one who grew vanilla was a millionaire,” he recollects. “How could I miss this ‘gold mine’?”

Unfortunately, like most agro-products, the vanilla price soon fluctuated. And when it did drop, it drastically plunged to sh5,000 a kilogramme. Kayizzi, like most vanilla farmers, was distraught.

“Omuzira tegumanyi nyumba mbi (a Luganda adage, literally meaning; a storm knows no poorly built house),” Kayizzi says.

“The price dropped and the situation was aggravated by the fact that there was also no market for vanilla.”

He failed to sell the crop. However, whilst most farmers slashed clean their plantations, the Government, predicting a resurgence of the price, encouraged farmers to grow more because of a hitch in future supply.

For Kayizzi, his lucky stars had not all deserted him. Upon Kakwenzire’s visit, he won a tender to supply sh20m worth of vanilla vines to farmers in Mukono in three months, through a State House poverty alleviation scheme. “That is all I got from vanilla.”

However, with regular attendance of advisory trainings provided by the Mukono National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) extension service providers, Kayizzi was empowered to be the model farmer he is today.

He soon dropped the idea of growing many crops and concentrating on matooke and coffee. “Within a year, my income increased to sh1m.”

However, this positive result was a ‘drop in the ocean’. Kayizzi could not afford to build a better house, he still lived in a mud and wattle house.

With perseverance and support from his wife, Proscovia Namuluta, he bought more land. Today, his arable coffee grows on 16 acres of land.

Upon her visit, Mukwaya, then agriculture minister, promised to boost his productivity with a cow.

“It is now three-years since she made the promise,” a disappointed Kayizzi says. “I made several follow-ups to get the cow, but in vain.”

In 2007, cabinet restructured NAADS, refining the focus of the scheme which had largely become a laughing stock.
The new NAADS vintage point is empowering farmers to earn a minimum of sh20m a year under the Bona Bagaggawale (Prosperity-For-All) scheme.

The Government will support farmer groups classified as demonstration, lead, model and nucleus farmers, says Hillary Onek, the energy minister.

A demonstration farmer is one who hosts a learning centre, while a lead farmer is one who transforms the demonstration into a standard production unit.

A model farmer is one who can generate sh20m annually from selling farm produce while a nucleus farmer is one involved in processing and value addition.

“The Government will also help farmers add value through provision of maize shelters, milk coolers, poultry hatcheries, juice extractors and groundnut paste mills,” Onek says.

In Bulijo parish, Kayizzi was selected as a lead farmer. “I got sh2.5m worth of fertilisers,” he says.

Kayizi’s plantation is used as a demonstration field, with guests coming from all over Uganda. “I also get guests from as far as Kenya, Colombia, Nigeria and Germany.”

The National Agriculture Research Organisation (NARO) also uses his farm for agro-forestry studies.

Today, Kayizzi sells matooke suckers at sh1,000 to sh2,000. He sells matooke at sh15,000 to sh50,000, depending on the size.

“I earn about sh30m a year. But I ‘plough-back’ my profits into modification and maintenance of the farm.”

President Yoweri Museveni will tour Mukono to entrench the Bona Bagaggawale agenda later this year.

“I am preparing my shamba because I know he has to tour my plantation. It is one of the best in Mukono,” Kayizzi says
Kayizzi has built a permanent house.

He has bought a sh17m truck which he uses to transport his products to local markets.

He has embarked on building three hostels for visiting trainees to his plantation.

“I want to build 500 rooms. It is an ambitious project but I can make it.”
He plans to rent out the rooms if the idea of using them as hostels does not ‘bear fruit’.

However, the ‘African’ in him has seen Kayizzi marry more wives. In 2004, he had one wife. This number has since increased to three wives. Kayizzi caters for an extended family of 30 people.

Like Mukwaya, Bukenya promised to buy a cow for Kayizzi upon his visit in 2008, but it is now a year past. “I am still waiting for that cow,” Kayizzi says.

In order to elevate his farm to a professional status, Kayizzi has hired Godfrey Wadika, a Senior Six student, as the farm manager.

He says farming is a lucrative venture all people should embrace. “I did not study up to Senior Six. Neither did I attain university education, but I can employ a University degree holder now,” he says.

Kayizzi advises the youth to discern politics and embrace hard work especially in the agricultural sector.

“Even people with white-colour jobs should stop saying “NRM has brought poverty.

They should venture into agriculture as another source of income. No regime will give them free money to become rich,” he says.

If you know of anyone who has made money through an enterprising venture, nominate them for recognition in the ‘Ugandans making a difference’ project. Write to features@newvision.co.ug or send a fax to 0414232050