Aloe vera boosted my income - Kamya
The late Dr. Israel Kibirige Ssebunya is long gone but to John Kamya, a police officer, the former agriculture minister is still alive. Kibirige Sebunya was well known for hitting at poor people, saying the majority invite poverty through being lazy. One
By Agnes Kyotalengerire
The late Dr. Israel Kibirige Ssebunya is long gone but to John Kamya, a police officer, the former agriculture minister is still alive. Kibirige Sebunya was well known for hitting at poor people, saying the majority invite poverty through being lazy. One evening in 2004, Kamya heard the minister on radio telling people to stop complaining about poverty and instead produce something to sell and make money.
“Though I was assured of a monthly salary, I realised that I needed some money to supplement it as Kibirige was advising†recalls Kamya.
Taking the minister’s advice seriously, Kamya bought seven acres of land in Butende, Masaka at sh200,000 per acre and started to grow aloe vera as the Uganda Aloe Vera Association was promising ready market.
Later he grew more five acres of aloe vera on his mother’s land nearby, making a total of 12 acres.
“By then seeds were very costly. I had to part with sh3.5m for the seeds and first planted one acre, the mother garden,†explains Kamya. After four months the aloe vera had produced suckers which he planted and expanded to the remaining acres of land.
At 18 months, the aloe vera was ready for harvest but there was no ready market as the Association had promised. Many other farmers who had grown aloe vera were stranded with it. Kamya found himself stranded with 12 acres of mature aloe vera and the leaves started rotting.
Determined not to make a loss, he started surfing the internet for information about aloe vera processing, and he got plenty of it. Though he had the knowledge, he still needed someone who was skilled in processing and packaging of the products. “I consulted the head of department, food science and technology at Makerere University on how to get juice out of Aloe Vera leaves. I was referred to Daniel Mugwanya, a fresh graduate of Food Science and Technology whom I employed immediately,†explains Kamya.
Kamya bought five blenders for crushing the succulent leaves, a plastic drum, a water purification system and bottles. He also consulted NOGAMU, a company promoting organic products, for training on how to seal the bottles and was advised on how to preserve the juice using natural preservatives like honey. He was sold bottle seals at sh170 and corks at sh150. Kamya bought a sealing machine from Katwe at sh250,000.
At the beginning of 2007, he registered his business in the names of UNIK Aloe Vera Health and Beauty products and started production. He took his first sample of products to the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and the National Chemotherapy laboratory for testing and they passed the test.
Today UNIK produces aloe vera sweetened and natural juice pure gel, skin care cream, soap and syrup. They have since broadened their range of products to include passion fruit juice. The products’ prices range between sh2,000 and sh10,000.
“After production, I would use every opportunity to market the products to my friends and colleagues at work,†says Kamya. Later, he employed a marketer.
Daily sales have grown from an average of sh30,000 during the early days to between sh300,000 to sh400,000 today, making a net profit of about sh3m per month.
Since his interest is to see the company expand, Kamya ploughs back all his profits. The company is self sustaining. It pays the 15 workers and buys materials to sustain production.
However, like any other business, Kamya has challenges. For example materials like bottle seals, corks and plastic containers, run out of stock at the factories and this lags his production and delays his delivery of orders to his customers. Secondly, some people think home-made aloe vera products are inferior to the imported ones.
So far all the production is done in Kamya’s backyard room, which he has partitioned into production and packaging rooms. His kitchen works as a store room and one of the boys’ quarters’ rooms as an office.
“This deprives my family privacy but with consistent savings, I hope to build premises for this business,†he explains.
Kamya uses his personal car as a distribution van. “I tinted the back wind screen of my car with UNIK Aloe Vera- Kigajji. After I drive to office my salesmen pick the car and use it to deliver products†Kamya explains.
Besides his Aloe Vera business project Kamya is a loyal civil servant, who works as the assistant commissioner of Police Training Unit. “I make sure my business does not interfere with my job, I do my work with satisfaction especially the training part,†he explains.
Kamya advises that the trick of juggling work and business lies in good time management. He notes that in Kampala people waste a lot of evening time hanging out and yet they can do something profitable. He uses his evening and weekend time for monitoring the production and packaging processing. He also gets involved in the work, from harvesting aloe vera to marketing. To achieve this, he wakes up at 5:00am and goes to sleep at about midnight.
Though the production industry is competitive, Kamya emphasizes quality.
For instance UNIK won the 2008 award for best aloe vera juice, organised by Kampala City Traders’ Association, Uganda National bureau of Standards and National Drug Authority.
The late Dr. Israel Kibirige Ssebunya is long gone but to John Kamya, a police officer, the former agriculture minister is still alive. Kibirige Sebunya was well known for hitting at poor people, saying the majority invite poverty through being lazy. One evening in 2004, Kamya heard the minister on radio telling people to stop complaining about poverty and instead produce something to sell and make money.
“Though I was assured of a monthly salary, I realised that I needed some money to supplement it as Kibirige was advising†recalls Kamya.
Taking the minister’s advice seriously, Kamya bought seven acres of land in Butende, Masaka at sh200,000 per acre and started to grow aloe vera as the Uganda Aloe Vera Association was promising ready market.
Later he grew more five acres of aloe vera on his mother’s land nearby, making a total of 12 acres.
“By then seeds were very costly. I had to part with sh3.5m for the seeds and first planted one acre, the mother garden,†explains Kamya. After four months the aloe vera had produced suckers which he planted and expanded to the remaining acres of land.
At 18 months, the aloe vera was ready for harvest but there was no ready market as the Association had promised. Many other farmers who had grown aloe vera were stranded with it. Kamya found himself stranded with 12 acres of mature aloe vera and the leaves started rotting.
Determined not to make a loss, he started surfing the internet for information about aloe vera processing, and he got plenty of it. Though he had the knowledge, he still needed someone who was skilled in processing and packaging of the products. “I consulted the head of department, food science and technology at Makerere University on how to get juice out of Aloe Vera leaves. I was referred to Daniel Mugwanya, a fresh graduate of Food Science and Technology whom I employed immediately,†explains Kamya.
Kamya bought five blenders for crushing the succulent leaves, a plastic drum, a water purification system and bottles. He also consulted NOGAMU, a company promoting organic products, for training on how to seal the bottles and was advised on how to preserve the juice using natural preservatives like honey. He was sold bottle seals at sh170 and corks at sh150. Kamya bought a sealing machine from Katwe at sh250,000.
At the beginning of 2007, he registered his business in the names of UNIK Aloe Vera Health and Beauty products and started production. He took his first sample of products to the Uganda National Bureau of Standards and the National Chemotherapy laboratory for testing and they passed the test.
Today UNIK produces aloe vera sweetened and natural juice pure gel, skin care cream, soap and syrup. They have since broadened their range of products to include passion fruit juice. The products’ prices range between sh2,000 and sh10,000.
“After production, I would use every opportunity to market the products to my friends and colleagues at work,†says Kamya. Later, he employed a marketer.
Daily sales have grown from an average of sh30,000 during the early days to between sh300,000 to sh400,000 today, making a net profit of about sh3m per month.
Since his interest is to see the company expand, Kamya ploughs back all his profits. The company is self sustaining. It pays the 15 workers and buys materials to sustain production.
However, like any other business, Kamya has challenges. For example materials like bottle seals, corks and plastic containers, run out of stock at the factories and this lags his production and delays his delivery of orders to his customers. Secondly, some people think home-made aloe vera products are inferior to the imported ones.
So far all the production is done in Kamya’s backyard room, which he has partitioned into production and packaging rooms. His kitchen works as a store room and one of the boys’ quarters’ rooms as an office.
“This deprives my family privacy but with consistent savings, I hope to build premises for this business,†he explains.
Kamya uses his personal car as a distribution van. “I tinted the back wind screen of my car with UNIK Aloe Vera- Kigajji. After I drive to office my salesmen pick the car and use it to deliver products†Kamya explains.
Besides his Aloe Vera business project Kamya is a loyal civil servant, who works as the assistant commissioner of Police Training Unit. “I make sure my business does not interfere with my job, I do my work with satisfaction especially the training part,†he explains.
Kamya advises that the trick of juggling work and business lies in good time management. He notes that in Kampala people waste a lot of evening time hanging out and yet they can do something profitable. He uses his evening and weekend time for monitoring the production and packaging processing. He also gets involved in the work, from harvesting aloe vera to marketing. To achieve this, he wakes up at 5:00am and goes to sleep at about midnight.
Though the production industry is competitive, Kamya emphasizes quality.
For instance UNIK won the 2008 award for best aloe vera juice, organised by Kampala City Traders’ Association, Uganda National bureau of Standards and National Drug Authority.