From scratch, Adyeri now collects 2,500 trays daily, employs 450
COUNTING egg trays with her accountant and the farm veterinary officer, every five minutes, Julian Adyeri Omalla looks on as workers walk into the two store rooms of about 10ft by 15ft with half dozen trays.
By John Kasozi
COUNTING egg trays with her accountant and the farm veterinary officer, every five minutes, Julian Adyeri Omalla looks on as workers walk into the two store rooms of about 10ft by 15ft with half dozen trays.
“Make sure that each carton contains 40 trays of eggs. Each box should be well packed and sealed to prevent the eggs from getting damaged while in transit to Southern Sudan,†Adyeri, the managing director, Senge and Kidefa Poultry Farms tells her employees.
She then continues to check on the layers in one of the poultry storied structure (cage), extreme south of the 20-acre farmland rooms with one of the farm managers .
As Adyeri, also proprietor of Delight Uganda Limited (manufacturers of Cheers drink), examines the layers’ droppings at the entrance, she reveals that about four factors drove her to take up agriculture and agro-processing. The 13% exorbitant excise duty tax, the current sky-rocketing dollar exchange rate, increase in cheap substandard soft drinks, business diversification and poverty among women.
“It is why I am scaling down on juice (Cheers) processing to farming. You cannot compete with dealers in juice on the black market. They evade taxes. This has led to low sales,†Adyeri explains.
Adyeri began by working for her brothers, while she saved to start her own business as a small trader. She wanted to prove that even women could manage business .
On top of having a certificate in food science, she had been taught how to process local fruit by her mother. So she had the technical background. Adyeri was, however, so aggressive that she took advantage of the gap in the market.
But memories of how she nearly lost everything 13 years ago are still fresh in her mind. Her business partner disappeared with the money she had given him to purchase stock. She remained with only a wheelbarrow to take fruits to the market and a red dress she wore during day and washed at night.
Adyeri started all over again, pushing fruits in her wheelbarrow to the market and saving the proceeds. Soon she had saved enough money to travel to Kenya to buy other goods.
“I would take the overnight bus and stand all the way in order to get a 50% fare discount. My aim was to start a commercial juice processing factory, not a small one,†she narrates.
Total strength of the mind to succeed kept Adyeri going. Production began when she managed to save sh200,000 from her business trips to Kenya.
Adyeri took her products for testing to the Government chemist at Wandegeya by foot because she could not afford the fares.
“My only means of transport was my wheelbarrow. The local market responded positively to my juice products and I could see my dream coming true,†she explains.
Adyeri also registered and licensed her business. She remembers how cumbersome and complex the exercise was — visiting numerous offices, asking her for unclear requirements and paying a high fee of sh.500,000 to the lawyer.
Currently Adyeri owns one of the largest juice processing factories (Delight Uganda) in the country with an annual turn over of sh8bn.
Because of the experience she went through when her friend vanished with all her money, Adyeri has learnt not to keep her eggs in one basket.
Once she felt her juice operation was running smoothly, Adyeri considered diversifying to agriculture. But funds for expansion became a major obstacle.
“The financial institutions always wanted collateral which few women have in Uganda. And under the customary law, women in Uganda do not inherit land. So it was only through savings and retained earnings that I could finance business expansion,†she asserts.
Adyeri adds: “Farming beyond fruit processing seemed a good business prospect and would involve rural women to use their land to grow crops especially millet and maize for a poultry project. I envisaged that this would make me avoid sourcing for big capital,†says Adyeri.
With over 100 female members of Bunyoro Grain Farmers Association through their membership of women’s cooperatives, “Till and Feed the Nationâ€, Adyeri took on large scale commercial poultry farming in Senge, Wakiso, Kidefa and Tororo districts.
The women’s groups are based in Kyangwali and Balwanya in Hoima and Kibale districts. The Uganda Women’s Entreprenuership 2004 award compelled her to help uplift fellow women economically.
Adyeri coordinates the grain sales for the cooperative societies and created her own processing and packing operation called ‘Global Food Securities’.
The flour and porridge products are packed in 5kg, 25kg and 50kg packs under the brand name of “Mummy’s Choice.†She also makes her own poultry feeds.
The products are exported to Tanzania, Southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. In Uganda, they are distributed on order: “Soon we shall unveil soya and rice products on the market,†Adyeri reveals.
Adyeri is among the first Ugandan business people to take advantage of the Southern Sudan’s market after the war. About 50% of her exports find their way to the country.
The Senge or Farm bite A in Wakiso district is located on 20-acre piece of land. It started in 2006 while the Kidefa Demonstration Farm in Tororo, or Farm B was started in 2004.
“Currently, Farm A (Senge/Farmbite) and Farm B (Kidefa) have 40,000 and 20,000 Essex Brown layers and cocks respectively,†says Emmanuel Balikigira, the farm veterinary manager.
Each farm at present produces about 550 trays of eggs a day. About 50% of the young ones will start laying eggs in February. Adyeri’s target in the first half of this year is to have about 2,500 trays per day from both farms.
The eggs collected from Senge are exported to Southern Sudan. while those from Kidefa are sold in eastern and northern Uganda though some find their way to eastern Kenya.
The poultry structures are zoned from cage A to I. Each cage has an attendant. Senge has five poultry structures comprising of a one-floor structure and four structures, each with one-storeyed (one-upper) floor. A sixth structure with two-storeys (two-upper floors) is under construction.
Adyeri says that putting up one-floor structure cost her about sh30m while each of the one-upper structure cost her roughly sh60m. The two-upper structure is estimated to cost nearly sh80m.
The Senge farm relies on underground water which is pumped into five polyfibre tanks, each of 5,000 litres.
The Senge and Kidefa farms have 32 permanent and 59 part-time workers of which 10 and 26 are females respectively. Tororo farm gave birth to Senge farm.
Adyeri has now diversified into a range of business activities such as poultry, flour milling, a bakery in Sudan and a student’s hostel that accommodates around 400 students.
Adyeri’s businesses in total employ 450 people. She says some of the problems she has faced are husbands refusing their wives to work. “Their husbands must give them permission to join a farmer group. Men have a right to cash earned by their wives’.â€
“The money is at times taken by their husbands to buy alcohol or another wife, which is painful. Meetings held in these areas have proved it is not easy to change their husbands’ attitudes,†she adds.
“This is one the reasons why most of the rural women businesses have failed to prosper. Others monitor their business on remote. The owner of the business has to be devoted and be in constant touch with his or her workers,†explains Adyeri.
Adyeri is now the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kampala region chairperson and director, Kampala central. She is also a member of the Uganda Gender and Growth Coalition, a group of seven women’s groups advocating for improvement in business regulation.
Last year, Adyeri was among the six women in Africa to be honoured for her Entreprenuership by the World Bank. In 2007, the World Bank ‘Doing Business Project’ team started a book that recognises top performance by women entrepreneurs starting in Africa. The successful women entrepreneurs are cited in this publication showing that success is possible even in difficult conditions.
The case studies appearing in this publication tell the stories of African women entrepreneurs who have overcome such legal barriers to achieve economic success.
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@newvisi on.co.ug, or send a fax to 0414232050
COUNTING egg trays with her accountant and the farm veterinary officer, every five minutes, Julian Adyeri Omalla looks on as workers walk into the two store rooms of about 10ft by 15ft with half dozen trays.
“Make sure that each carton contains 40 trays of eggs. Each box should be well packed and sealed to prevent the eggs from getting damaged while in transit to Southern Sudan,†Adyeri, the managing director, Senge and Kidefa Poultry Farms tells her employees.
She then continues to check on the layers in one of the poultry storied structure (cage), extreme south of the 20-acre farmland rooms with one of the farm managers .
As Adyeri, also proprietor of Delight Uganda Limited (manufacturers of Cheers drink), examines the layers’ droppings at the entrance, she reveals that about four factors drove her to take up agriculture and agro-processing. The 13% exorbitant excise duty tax, the current sky-rocketing dollar exchange rate, increase in cheap substandard soft drinks, business diversification and poverty among women.
“It is why I am scaling down on juice (Cheers) processing to farming. You cannot compete with dealers in juice on the black market. They evade taxes. This has led to low sales,†Adyeri explains.
Adyeri began by working for her brothers, while she saved to start her own business as a small trader. She wanted to prove that even women could manage business .
On top of having a certificate in food science, she had been taught how to process local fruit by her mother. So she had the technical background. Adyeri was, however, so aggressive that she took advantage of the gap in the market.
But memories of how she nearly lost everything 13 years ago are still fresh in her mind. Her business partner disappeared with the money she had given him to purchase stock. She remained with only a wheelbarrow to take fruits to the market and a red dress she wore during day and washed at night.
Adyeri started all over again, pushing fruits in her wheelbarrow to the market and saving the proceeds. Soon she had saved enough money to travel to Kenya to buy other goods.
“I would take the overnight bus and stand all the way in order to get a 50% fare discount. My aim was to start a commercial juice processing factory, not a small one,†she narrates.
Total strength of the mind to succeed kept Adyeri going. Production began when she managed to save sh200,000 from her business trips to Kenya.
Adyeri took her products for testing to the Government chemist at Wandegeya by foot because she could not afford the fares.
“My only means of transport was my wheelbarrow. The local market responded positively to my juice products and I could see my dream coming true,†she explains.
Adyeri also registered and licensed her business. She remembers how cumbersome and complex the exercise was — visiting numerous offices, asking her for unclear requirements and paying a high fee of sh.500,000 to the lawyer.
Currently Adyeri owns one of the largest juice processing factories (Delight Uganda) in the country with an annual turn over of sh8bn.
Because of the experience she went through when her friend vanished with all her money, Adyeri has learnt not to keep her eggs in one basket.
Once she felt her juice operation was running smoothly, Adyeri considered diversifying to agriculture. But funds for expansion became a major obstacle.
“The financial institutions always wanted collateral which few women have in Uganda. And under the customary law, women in Uganda do not inherit land. So it was only through savings and retained earnings that I could finance business expansion,†she asserts.
Adyeri adds: “Farming beyond fruit processing seemed a good business prospect and would involve rural women to use their land to grow crops especially millet and maize for a poultry project. I envisaged that this would make me avoid sourcing for big capital,†says Adyeri.
With over 100 female members of Bunyoro Grain Farmers Association through their membership of women’s cooperatives, “Till and Feed the Nationâ€, Adyeri took on large scale commercial poultry farming in Senge, Wakiso, Kidefa and Tororo districts.
The women’s groups are based in Kyangwali and Balwanya in Hoima and Kibale districts. The Uganda Women’s Entreprenuership 2004 award compelled her to help uplift fellow women economically.
Adyeri coordinates the grain sales for the cooperative societies and created her own processing and packing operation called ‘Global Food Securities’.
The flour and porridge products are packed in 5kg, 25kg and 50kg packs under the brand name of “Mummy’s Choice.†She also makes her own poultry feeds.
The products are exported to Tanzania, Southern Sudan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda. In Uganda, they are distributed on order: “Soon we shall unveil soya and rice products on the market,†Adyeri reveals.
Adyeri is among the first Ugandan business people to take advantage of the Southern Sudan’s market after the war. About 50% of her exports find their way to the country.
The Senge or Farm bite A in Wakiso district is located on 20-acre piece of land. It started in 2006 while the Kidefa Demonstration Farm in Tororo, or Farm B was started in 2004.
“Currently, Farm A (Senge/Farmbite) and Farm B (Kidefa) have 40,000 and 20,000 Essex Brown layers and cocks respectively,†says Emmanuel Balikigira, the farm veterinary manager.
Each farm at present produces about 550 trays of eggs a day. About 50% of the young ones will start laying eggs in February. Adyeri’s target in the first half of this year is to have about 2,500 trays per day from both farms.
The eggs collected from Senge are exported to Southern Sudan. while those from Kidefa are sold in eastern and northern Uganda though some find their way to eastern Kenya.
The poultry structures are zoned from cage A to I. Each cage has an attendant. Senge has five poultry structures comprising of a one-floor structure and four structures, each with one-storeyed (one-upper) floor. A sixth structure with two-storeys (two-upper floors) is under construction.
Adyeri says that putting up one-floor structure cost her about sh30m while each of the one-upper structure cost her roughly sh60m. The two-upper structure is estimated to cost nearly sh80m.
The Senge farm relies on underground water which is pumped into five polyfibre tanks, each of 5,000 litres.
The Senge and Kidefa farms have 32 permanent and 59 part-time workers of which 10 and 26 are females respectively. Tororo farm gave birth to Senge farm.
Adyeri has now diversified into a range of business activities such as poultry, flour milling, a bakery in Sudan and a student’s hostel that accommodates around 400 students.
Adyeri’s businesses in total employ 450 people. She says some of the problems she has faced are husbands refusing their wives to work. “Their husbands must give them permission to join a farmer group. Men have a right to cash earned by their wives’.â€
“The money is at times taken by their husbands to buy alcohol or another wife, which is painful. Meetings held in these areas have proved it is not easy to change their husbands’ attitudes,†she adds.
“This is one the reasons why most of the rural women businesses have failed to prosper. Others monitor their business on remote. The owner of the business has to be devoted and be in constant touch with his or her workers,†explains Adyeri.
Adyeri is now the Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Kampala region chairperson and director, Kampala central. She is also a member of the Uganda Gender and Growth Coalition, a group of seven women’s groups advocating for improvement in business regulation.
Last year, Adyeri was among the six women in Africa to be honoured for her Entreprenuership by the World Bank. In 2007, the World Bank ‘Doing Business Project’ team started a book that recognises top performance by women entrepreneurs starting in Africa. The successful women entrepreneurs are cited in this publication showing that success is possible even in difficult conditions.
The case studies appearing in this publication tell the stories of African women entrepreneurs who have overcome such legal barriers to achieve economic success.
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@newvisi on.co.ug, or send a fax to 0414232050