He reaps sh40m from coffee
AGRIBUSINESS<br><br>HE did not go to university to study agriculture nor has he got any basic education in it. At first glance you would mistake him for a casual worker on his farm.
AGRIBUSINESS
By Arthur Baguma
HE did not go to university to study agriculture nor has he got any basic education in it. At first glance you would mistake him for a casual worker on his farm.
Frank Mwijuka prefers to identify with his workers. Indeed, we almost passed him. He is a 44 year-old man of medium size and dark complexion with a farm in Omwitaba village, 30km out of Rukungiri town. Like most successful farmers, venturing into agriculture was a last resort when everything else had failed.
“Going into farming was a last resort after I was robbed of my money in Kampala,†the dark skinned man says. Pacing up and down his vast farm, he occasionally speaks on phone. His phone conversations are about coffee and how much they are offering him per kilo. At one moment, he cuts short his phone conversation to refute allegations that agriculture is for failures in life. Mwijuka talks passionately about the farming.
After a brief chat, we get on to his pick-up and head to the sugarcane plantation. The new pick-up was donated by President Museveni. Mwijuka is one of the model farmers the President visited last year.
Mwijuka’s farm is a bee hive of activity. Phoebe Kyomunda, a mother of two, has worked on the farm for six months. She says the job has helped her buy basic necessities. She is not the only beneficiary of this farm. Moses Mugarura supplies dry grass for mulching.
Frank Mwijuka was born in 1964 in Ndere parish in Ruhinda Sub-county in Rukungiri district. He attended Kazunzu primary school before enrolling at Kyamakanda secondary school where he completed his O-level studies in 1989.
After O-level, he couldn’t proceed to A-level due to lack of school fees. He instead ventured into tomato and onion growing on a small scale. In 1992 using tomato and onion proceeds, he started buying coffee and selling it to middlemen. From the coffee proceeds he went to Kampala and put up a retail shop in Namuwongo.
In 1993-1996, he saved some money which he used to buy 600 acres of land in Omwitabo village.
But misfortunes hit him in 1998. He was robbed at gun point of sh48m. But with his 600 acres of land un-utilised, he decided to put it to use.
He traveled back to Rukungiri empty handed and immediately ventured into Robusta coffee growing on part of his land. By the time he was robbed he had two cars, a shop and cows. He sold off all this to clear the debt.
In 2001, National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) gave him Robusta coffee seedlings to grow, which was resistant to pests and diseases. He got 100,000 stems. He gave 60,000 to the residents and planted 23,700 on 25 acres.
Also on the same 25 acres, he planted matooke. He has two acres of sugar cane as well. Although he started with 100 workers, he now employs only 10 and pays them a daily wage of sh2,500. He earns sh40m per year from the coffee sales. In 2010, he expects to earn about sh120m from the coffee. He sells his coffee to middle men, mostly from Kampala.
The President gave him sh15m which he used to purchase a small pick up truck. Several people have benefited from his generosity; workers from the neighbouring village have managed to put up their own farms while others have been able to pay school fees.
Fact file:
Name: Frank Mwijuka
Farm location: Omwitaba village- 30 kms from Rukungiri town
Enterprises: Coffee, Bananas, Sugarcane
Starting resource: 600 acres of land
Sales record: He sells to middle men mostly from Kampala
Annual earnings: Sh48m
Estimated annual earnings by 2010: Sh120m
Contact: 0777389384
[If you are a farmer or if you know of someone who has gained from farming and is ready to share his/her experience, please write to business@newvision.co.ug or call 0414-337000]
By Arthur Baguma
HE did not go to university to study agriculture nor has he got any basic education in it. At first glance you would mistake him for a casual worker on his farm.
Frank Mwijuka prefers to identify with his workers. Indeed, we almost passed him. He is a 44 year-old man of medium size and dark complexion with a farm in Omwitaba village, 30km out of Rukungiri town. Like most successful farmers, venturing into agriculture was a last resort when everything else had failed.
“Going into farming was a last resort after I was robbed of my money in Kampala,†the dark skinned man says. Pacing up and down his vast farm, he occasionally speaks on phone. His phone conversations are about coffee and how much they are offering him per kilo. At one moment, he cuts short his phone conversation to refute allegations that agriculture is for failures in life. Mwijuka talks passionately about the farming.
After a brief chat, we get on to his pick-up and head to the sugarcane plantation. The new pick-up was donated by President Museveni. Mwijuka is one of the model farmers the President visited last year.
Mwijuka’s farm is a bee hive of activity. Phoebe Kyomunda, a mother of two, has worked on the farm for six months. She says the job has helped her buy basic necessities. She is not the only beneficiary of this farm. Moses Mugarura supplies dry grass for mulching.
Frank Mwijuka was born in 1964 in Ndere parish in Ruhinda Sub-county in Rukungiri district. He attended Kazunzu primary school before enrolling at Kyamakanda secondary school where he completed his O-level studies in 1989.
After O-level, he couldn’t proceed to A-level due to lack of school fees. He instead ventured into tomato and onion growing on a small scale. In 1992 using tomato and onion proceeds, he started buying coffee and selling it to middlemen. From the coffee proceeds he went to Kampala and put up a retail shop in Namuwongo.
In 1993-1996, he saved some money which he used to buy 600 acres of land in Omwitabo village.
But misfortunes hit him in 1998. He was robbed at gun point of sh48m. But with his 600 acres of land un-utilised, he decided to put it to use.
He traveled back to Rukungiri empty handed and immediately ventured into Robusta coffee growing on part of his land. By the time he was robbed he had two cars, a shop and cows. He sold off all this to clear the debt.
In 2001, National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) gave him Robusta coffee seedlings to grow, which was resistant to pests and diseases. He got 100,000 stems. He gave 60,000 to the residents and planted 23,700 on 25 acres.
Also on the same 25 acres, he planted matooke. He has two acres of sugar cane as well. Although he started with 100 workers, he now employs only 10 and pays them a daily wage of sh2,500. He earns sh40m per year from the coffee sales. In 2010, he expects to earn about sh120m from the coffee. He sells his coffee to middle men, mostly from Kampala.
The President gave him sh15m which he used to purchase a small pick up truck. Several people have benefited from his generosity; workers from the neighbouring village have managed to put up their own farms while others have been able to pay school fees.
Fact file:
Name: Frank Mwijuka
Farm location: Omwitaba village- 30 kms from Rukungiri town
Enterprises: Coffee, Bananas, Sugarcane
Starting resource: 600 acres of land
Sales record: He sells to middle men mostly from Kampala
Annual earnings: Sh48m
Estimated annual earnings by 2010: Sh120m
Contact: 0777389384
[If you are a farmer or if you know of someone who has gained from farming and is ready to share his/her experience, please write to business@newvision.co.ug or call 0414-337000]