Demo farms: From bottle irrigation to the market

PHOTO: President Museveni demonstrating how bottle drip irrigation can be effectively applied on the farm. This was on one of the demonstration farms in Luwero

When he launched a demonstration farm in Kawumu, Luwero district in 2016, President Yoweri Museveni grabbed a jerrycan and rode a bicycle through an expansive 24-acre area and fetched water from a well.

Then, using recycled plastic bottles, he demonstrated how farmers can employ drip irrigation to manoeuvre the scorching drought that was destroying crops at the time.

Many laughed, but the President explained that the demonstration farm was to show farmers that even with limited space, one can maximise output and earn profits.

He described the demonstration farm as a springboard for the transition of the 68% Ugandans depending on subsistence agriculture into commercial farming.

Similar presidential demonstration farms have been set up in Kityerera in Busoga region and Baralegi in Otuke district, Lango sub-region. Here, the focus is on using a four-acre model, to demonstrate how one can make money from agriculture.

During the launch of the Baralegi demonstration farm in April last year, Museveni said: "It is unacceptable for the majority of Ugandans to live in poverty in a country that is gifted with good soils, enough rains and excellent climate."In establishing these farms, Museveni said, he wanted to personally get involved in commercial agriculture and set an example.

Commercial agriculture

Four years later, the Kawumu Presidential Demonstration farm has become a learning centre for citizens and visitors, who want to replicate the four-acre model that Museveni said would be the magic bullet for people with limited space for farming. Under the four-acre model, the President says, one can grow an acre of bananas (matooke), an acre of fruits (oranges, pineapples, mangoes, etc).

The third acre can be for coffee then rear animals such as pigs, Friesian cows for milk, goats and even poultry in the backyard and then plant grass to feed the animals on the other acre. Changing the mindset of Ugandans was the main goal of these demonstration farms and are bearing fruit. 

For instance, in Kityerere in Mayuge district, an area known for sugarcane growing, residents have started to emulate the Museveni four-acre model. Growing sugarcane is good, Museveni said, adding that for one to make commercial sense out of the crop, they need to grow it on a large scale and not on four acres or less.

For the 68% of the population that is stuck in subsistence farming to jump out of the trap, Museveni says, they must engage in commercial farming. Tying in with the Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) programme where soldiers are distributing free farm inputs to citizens, the four-acre model plan, if implemented well, could change the household income of citizens, especially the 68% of the population that largely live in rural areas with expansive chunks of land to utilise.

How the model works

Poor households are trained on how to use their small pieces of land to transform through commercial farming and improve household income. According to Charles Kiwuuwa, the Presidential Private Secretary on Agriculture, who manages the demonstration farms, over 517 homesteads have been assisted by State House to improve their household income through the four-acre model system. Kiwuuwa said there are four presidential demonstration farms located in Kawumu, Baralegi, Kityerera in Mayuge and Gili Gili in Arua, West Nile region.

So far, officials say, State House through President Museveni's demonstration farms, has achieved over 51% of its target of helping poor homesteads to boost their incomes through commercial farming. The four farms are also open to the public. 

Daily, teams of students, researchers, farmers and business people to learn modern agriculture practices. The President through his demonstration farms, Kiwuuwa said, also shares with local farmers the latest agricultural research, gives out free seedlings. 

Local farmers are also taught good practices such as mulching, drip irrigation commonly known as bottle irrigation and other essential farm inputs. These interventions enable farmers to kick-start their transformational journey from traditional or subsistence agriculture to commercial and profit-making ventures. 

The target of Museveni is for every household to at least earn sh20m per year through the modern farming techniques on the four-acre model system