PINE TREES ARE KATWERE’S FUTURE
THE mow of cows, the clucking of chicken in their shelter and the bleating of goats welcome you to this homestead.
BY JOSHUA KATO
THE mow of cows, the clucking of chicken in their shelter and the bleating of goats welcome you to this homestead.
Located at Bubeke on the Katikamu-Kikyusa Road, Katwere’s mixed farm sits on 15 acres.
With coffee drying on a stand plus other ready root crops and vegetables maturing in the garden, Katwere’s mixed farm provides him with a steady source of income.
“This farm is my daily office. I work and earn here just like the average office worker,†he says, adding that he earns enough to live a relatively comfortable life.
But while most farmers look at the present day, Christopher Katwere looks at the future also.
On the last three acres of his farm lies the future of his agriculture ambitions. He has planted three acres of pine trees there. He got the seedlings from nearby Wobulenzi market.
“I call this the future because they take many years to mature,†he says. Pine trees take 20 years to mature. However, the earnings from each are huge. At the moment, a mature tree, sold for timber, costs around sh600,000. Pines produce some of the best timber in the world.
For Katwere, it is not only about earning in future, but also keeping the environment safe. “When I was born, I found mature trees around, but did I plant them?†he asks. “Like our grand parents planted trees, so should we plant trees that the future will find,†he says.
Managing pine trees is not easy. Katwere bought his trees from a tree bed at Wobulenzi in 2005. “I manually irrigate them during the dry seasons,†he says.
Katwere also thinks about the present. His home and farm at Bubeke is a mixed collection of everything. chicken, cows, root crops, goats and of course the pine trees. Katwere is also the chairman of the farmers’ forum in his area.
“I also grow rice,†he says. He grows the rice in the swampy area near the bottom of the farm. Until four years ago, rice was not a major crop on this area. “I was skeptical about rice growing well here, but after my second season, I realised I was wrong,†he says. Upland rice is now produced across Kikyusa, Katikamu and Wabusana sub-counties on a fairly large scale.
Katwere also produces food crops on a large scale. Every year, he grows potatoes on three acres, cassava and maize on another three acres.
He sells the food to markets and schools around the area. Some of the big schools include Katikamu SDA secondary school. Wobulenzi town is only three miles away from his home, so he also sells some of his produce there.
“Farmers should be able to produce for markets around them before thinking about the markets beyond,†he says.
Katwere also grows vegetables like sukuma wiki, which is not common in Uganda.
Katwere and his wife, Nalongo, also keep chicken. “We keep an average of 1,000 layers at any one time,†Nalongo explains. The 1,000 layers produce an average of 30 trays per day. However, poultry farming is constrained by expensive feeds. “Sometimes we think about abandoning this venture because of these expenses,†Katwere says.
The cost of a 50kg sack of feeds has risen from around sh45,000 to around sh90,000. Chicken are also attacked by diseases. However, Katwere says there is no scarcity of markets for the eggs. “That is what keeps us going,†he says. At the moment, a tray of eggs costs sh5,000 in the area.
Katwere says he is happy with the earnings from his farm. “I educate my children from these earnings,†he says. Farming has also gotten him friends across the district. When the farmers wanted to elect a farmers’ forum chairperson, Katwere was their choice. “Success should not be only in financial terms. Even this recognition from the community is a result of this success,†he says.
THE mow of cows, the clucking of chicken in their shelter and the bleating of goats welcome you to this homestead.
Located at Bubeke on the Katikamu-Kikyusa Road, Katwere’s mixed farm sits on 15 acres.
With coffee drying on a stand plus other ready root crops and vegetables maturing in the garden, Katwere’s mixed farm provides him with a steady source of income.
“This farm is my daily office. I work and earn here just like the average office worker,†he says, adding that he earns enough to live a relatively comfortable life.
But while most farmers look at the present day, Christopher Katwere looks at the future also.
On the last three acres of his farm lies the future of his agriculture ambitions. He has planted three acres of pine trees there. He got the seedlings from nearby Wobulenzi market.
“I call this the future because they take many years to mature,†he says. Pine trees take 20 years to mature. However, the earnings from each are huge. At the moment, a mature tree, sold for timber, costs around sh600,000. Pines produce some of the best timber in the world.
For Katwere, it is not only about earning in future, but also keeping the environment safe. “When I was born, I found mature trees around, but did I plant them?†he asks. “Like our grand parents planted trees, so should we plant trees that the future will find,†he says.
Managing pine trees is not easy. Katwere bought his trees from a tree bed at Wobulenzi in 2005. “I manually irrigate them during the dry seasons,†he says.
Katwere also thinks about the present. His home and farm at Bubeke is a mixed collection of everything. chicken, cows, root crops, goats and of course the pine trees. Katwere is also the chairman of the farmers’ forum in his area.
“I also grow rice,†he says. He grows the rice in the swampy area near the bottom of the farm. Until four years ago, rice was not a major crop on this area. “I was skeptical about rice growing well here, but after my second season, I realised I was wrong,†he says. Upland rice is now produced across Kikyusa, Katikamu and Wabusana sub-counties on a fairly large scale.
Katwere also produces food crops on a large scale. Every year, he grows potatoes on three acres, cassava and maize on another three acres.
He sells the food to markets and schools around the area. Some of the big schools include Katikamu SDA secondary school. Wobulenzi town is only three miles away from his home, so he also sells some of his produce there.
“Farmers should be able to produce for markets around them before thinking about the markets beyond,†he says.
Katwere also grows vegetables like sukuma wiki, which is not common in Uganda.
Katwere and his wife, Nalongo, also keep chicken. “We keep an average of 1,000 layers at any one time,†Nalongo explains. The 1,000 layers produce an average of 30 trays per day. However, poultry farming is constrained by expensive feeds. “Sometimes we think about abandoning this venture because of these expenses,†Katwere says.
The cost of a 50kg sack of feeds has risen from around sh45,000 to around sh90,000. Chicken are also attacked by diseases. However, Katwere says there is no scarcity of markets for the eggs. “That is what keeps us going,†he says. At the moment, a tray of eggs costs sh5,000 in the area.
Katwere says he is happy with the earnings from his farm. “I educate my children from these earnings,†he says. Farming has also gotten him friends across the district. When the farmers wanted to elect a farmers’ forum chairperson, Katwere was their choice. “Success should not be only in financial terms. Even this recognition from the community is a result of this success,†he says.