Nankya owes her success to working on others' farms

By Andrew Masinde

I had no option but to work; little did I know I was preparing myself for a future as a model farmer

Nankya is a professional agriculturalist who has been in the field for 22 years. When she started farming she worked with several NGOs in Mityana and Mubende districts, until she settled in Mpigi with the goal of helping women in farming.

Nankya mobilised them and with the skills got from her educational background and the different NGOs she taught people.

She hails from a humble background that took her and all her 12 siblings to school until she reached tertiary education in the UK for 4 years. 

Her projects in Mpigi were partly donor funded to the tune of 70% of the money while group members contributed 30%.

How she started

Nankya’s love for farming started in 2000, when she worked with several NGOs in Mityana and Mubende districts, until she settled in Mpigi with the goal of helping women in farming.. “I used to see people grow food on dry land and get good yields. When I returned to Mpigi, I was surprised to see people cry that their land was dry and it could not be utilised for food production,” she says.

The 52-year-old mobilised seven women from Nakirebe parish, Mpigi district, whom she started training in improved farming methods. She offered half of her land for the training as many did not want to try the new farming methods on their land.
 

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Piggery is a major enterprise among the members

Nankya started by teaching women how to use their compounds to make money. Rather than plant flowers, she encouraged them to plant vegetables, since they beautify the compound and can be eaten or sold to generate income. “For trial purposes, we planted onions and tomatoes on a quarter an acre of land. The crops yielded well. We sold them and invested the profits in growing other crops,” she explained.

Nankya also made seedbeds for the different crops and started distributing planting materials to each member of her group. She went to everyone’s home to help them create gardens and would supervise them.

Formalising the group
 

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The group adds value by drying produce, which fetches more

In 2006, Nankya realised that the group was growing big. She registered it under the name Skill Oriented Development Initiative (SODI).

She also ventured into growing passion fruits, pawpaws and pineapples and started an orchard where farmers come to learn how to grow fruits.
“I train people from all parts of Mpigi. I created groups in every village where I monitor their activities,” Nankya explains.

SODI currently has 417 members from 19 groups in Mpigi, each having 25 to 30 members.


Introducing tanks

“Many farmers’ crops were failing due to lack of water. So we hired men to construct for us tanks with a capacity of 10,000 litres for harvesting rain water. We used money from our gardens to pay for the tanks. Each member now has a tank at their home,” Nankya adds.

May Mwogezi, a beneficiary from the tank project, says with the water tank, she is able to grow vegetables all year round. “I also got a loan from SODI savings scheme and bought two pigs.

The pigs have multiplied to 27. I also have 15 goats and 50 local chicken. I have managed to pay school fees for five of my children,” Mwogezi says.  She adds that she has been able to build a permanent house and acquire six acres of land using money she gets from the farming projects.


Starting a savings scheme

Nankya says some members used to complain that their men were taking away their money to buy alcohol. To avert this, she asked them to save their money with SODI. “I asked them to save at least sh3,000 so that I could deposit it in the group’s account that I had opened in the
bank,” Nankya says.

She, however, notes that the members initially resisted. So she invited financial experts from the Microfinance Support Centre to train them on the importance of saving. Having heard testimonies from women who were enjoying the benefits of saving, the members soon picked interest and started saving their money with SODI.

“I realised that the money was lying idle on the account, so I asked members to start borrowing it at a small interest rate. This helped them to start other projects that would bring in more money. We lend the money under strict rules to minimise cases of defaulting,” Nankya explains.

Margret Nakawungu, a beneficiary, says she never wanted to be part of SODI Savings and Credit Cooperative Organisations as she had lost her money to other SACCOs in the past.

However, having listened to testimonies from trainers from the Micro-finance Support Centre, she joined SODI. Today, she is full of praises for SODI SACCO.

“I started saving sh3,000 per month, but today, I save sh30,000. I have shares in the SACCO, so I get dividends every end of the year,” Nakawungu says. Like most of her colleagues, Nakawungu borrowed money from the SACCO, which she used to buy land, set up a poultry farm, a piggery and to engage in goat rearing. She also grows mushrooms at her home.

Mushroom-growing fetches the group an extra buck

Vocational training

SODI started a vocational skill training school to train the youth in computer skills, electronics and catering. The members hire professionals in these fields who teach the youth. Upon completion of their certificate courses, SODI helps them to get jobs.

SODI also engages in winemaking and juice production to help members who grow passion fruits and pineapples earn more from their projects.

“The members process their fruits from my home. However, we are only processing wine on a small scale due to lack of enough resources,” she says.

Solar dryers

Nankya also encouraged members to buy solar drying equipment to preserve their produce. “They dry all crops, including bananas and cassava, which they sell around the village,” Nankya explains.

Innovations

Nankya has set up a bakery and she plans to teach members how to bake. However, due to lack of enough resources, she built an earth oven. “This mud-and-wattle oven will buy us an improved one when we get electricity in the area,” Nankya says.

Challenges & plans

Lack of electricity in the area is a major challenge to SODI members because they cannot buy electric machines to ease their work.

However, Nankya plans to start a modern bakery when electricity is connected to the area. She also dreams of seeing the entire land in the area being put to good use, saying this will be the only way to kick poverty and hunger out of Mpigi.