Bogere's passion for farming turns him into village hero
Sep 22, 2020
BEST FARMERS|
After his parents failed to push him further to the university, Paul Bogere,51, the director of Eden Farm - Buwala in Buwala village, Butagaya sub-county, Jinja district decided to venture into farming.
He started from scratch by hiring a swamp at sh50,000 to grow rice.
Having registered a miserable first harvest, he abandoned rice and shifted to hot pepper, which paid off when he harvested three bags (of 65kgs each) and got sh156,000.
He then linked up with a hot pepper trader who advanced him with sh400,000 to routinely supply him pepper.
He then became more serious, starting with a half an acre off his father's land, before he expanded to the current family-owned 5.6 acres, in addition to 30 hired acres where he practices mixed farming today.
He now rears five heifers on zero-grazing, operates a piggery with 100 pigs, rears birds (layers, broilers, turkeys). He also has a three-acre banana plantation intercropped with coffee, beans, cassava, maize, and fruit trees.
Using the proceeds from the produce and livestock, he also established a destitute children's home __St. Paul & Rose Orphanage Center, which takes care and pays tuition for 70 orphans and vulnerable children.
Background
Born in 1969, he is the fifth son to Mzee Samwiri Kizza (RIP) and Merida Ndyesinga of Buwala village, Butagaya Sub County in Jinja district.
"I started my education at Buwala Primary School, where I did my PLE, before joining Jinja SS for my "O" and "A" levels. I expected my parents would push me further, however, they could not afford to pay my tuition at the university. I was baffled and worried how I would survive in this modern era," he says.
He decided to till the land, having been born and grown up in a peasant family.
"Within my heart, I asked, ‘If my parents who were illiterate managed to educate me to this level, why can't I exploit the knowledge I have acquired and move on? I praised God for enabling them to give birth to me without any disability, implying that with my brain, normal hands and feet, I could do wonders and supersede them," he says.
Getting started
In 1993, Bogere declared war on poverty when embarked on rice growing however, the family land was small to accommodate the members, forcing him to hire an acre of swampy land at sh50, 000, from a resident.
"The rice-growing craze was high. I started the tedious tasks of clearing waterlogged swamp, bushes, tilling, planting, and weeding," he told Harvest Money.
"At the flowering stage, I faced the task of chasing the notorious birds, however, the harvest was below my desired goal."
He harvested 40 unshelled bags, which he processed and got 12 but painfully, the price had dropped from sh800 to sh400 per kg.
He got sh2.4m as opposed to the targeted sh6.5m, imagine the six months' tedious work, the wasted energies, and the funds injected in seeds and labour.
"I had to clear debts, so I borrowed from the shops and friends, besides the sh850, 000 bank loan, leaving a miserable balance of sh50,000.
"With a startup of the above cash, I quit rice and ventured into vegetable growing. I bought tomato seeds, a spraying pump, and pesticides, paid half tuition for my children to start a new chapter,"
Vegetables pay off
In 1994, he set up a half an acre vegetable garden behind the family's backyard; where he planted eggplant, ntula, cabbage, dodo, spinach, bbuuga, sukuma wiki, etc.
Meanwhile, the hot pepper growing craze had taken Busoga by storm, with a kg at sh500 and ready market at Amber Court- market, in the suburbs of Jinja town.
"I bought two tins of Holland seeds at sh18,000 for planting on the half-acre of the family land. The first harvest paid off, earning me sh40,000," he says.
He was delighted. For the next season, he bought nine tins of seeds and enlarged the garden to two acres by hiring from the immediate neighbour.
"Having learnt the dynamics, I bought enough pesticides, before the friendly climate drew in, bringing bumper yields," he says.
He took six bags (64-67kgs each) to Amber Court market, where Kampala traders jostled for the crop at sh800 per kg __ beyond the targeted sh500.
He bagged sh316,800 and was more excited! In the 90s, this was a lot of money. To put it into perspective, a kg of sugar at that time cost sh500, while school fees in some of the best schools for a single child was around sh80,000.
"In fact, this is the crop that sailed me through poverty to wealth, having bumped into the cash "gap" that birthed the current progressive farm.
Before leaving, one trader struck a deal with him, requesting that he supplies him weekly.
"Can you supply me at least twice a week?" he asked, to which I replied, yes I can because I have two acres,"
He advanced him with sh400, 000 and gave him a free mobile phone. He also stopped him from ferrying the crop, opting to pick it himself from the farm.
Mobile phones had just been introduced in the country and having it turned Bogere into a celebrity.
"He then taught me how to press "yes" to answer whenever he calls."
The following week, he supplied him with twelve bags, earning sh850, 000. "I started counting big monies and by the end of the season after three months, I had earned a gross of sh14m from the two acres," he says.
In 1995, having been inspired by a friend, he hired two more acres to venture into tomato growing. The project paid off, as he got sh6m.
The good earnings from the pepper and tomatoes set him to a path that turned into the big farm that he owns today. "I can say that hot pepper and tomatoes pushed me out of the yoke of poverty, to the Eden Farm I own today," he says.
Going for livestock
In 1996, he was inspired by a friend, Bata Mugongo, who reared two heifers and birds.
Back home, he also bought 20 local chickens, which multiplied to 120 in eight months. "I sold them and added some money to buy twelve local female goats and two males, to start a goat farm," he says. By 1998, the goats had multiplied to 60.
In 2000, he sold some goats and bought a local cow at sh650, 000, which produced a calf between 2000 and 2004. In 2004, with a dream of going for zero-grazing, he sold three of the four local cows, including the mother, and used the money to buy the crossbreed heifer at sh2m.
"In 2005, I used the remaining cow to wed my dear wife, Rose Bogere, owing to the way she persevered through the years of hard times," he says.
The same year, I bought another heifer at sh2.4m from a resident who was stuck after failing to service a Bank loan. He used money earned from his vegetable growing.
At the moment, he has 5 adults and three calves. "For reproduction and better breeds, I use artificial insemination (AI)," he says.
The cows are fed mainly on grasses that are grown on the farm.
Milk production
There are six milking cows at the moment. From these, he gets 50 liters per day. "I get sh200,000 per week and sh800,000 per month," he says.
This enterprise also contributes dung and urine to get organic manure, which is applied to the banana plantation and vegetable gardens.
The piggery unit
In 2012, Bogere noticed cash opportunities in the piggery.
"This was when the then NAADS program officials combed Butagaya Sub County in search of piglets and failed to get them," he says.
He then decided to start a piggery unit. He constructed a pigsty, using iron sheets and wood.
For the start, he bought six females and a male. Each of these costs him sh50,000.
The females started delivering after 6months and by the close of 2013, he had 68 piglets.
The piglets multiplied to 200 at the end of 2014. "This is when I got a tender to supply the NAADS program," he says.
With the tender, he decided to improve the quality of his pig houses. He spent sh14m on the expansion of the piggery structures.
The pigs are fed on a combination of maize bran and steamed farm foods like cassava and sweet potatoes. At the moment, the piggery has a total of 150 animals and still counting.
"I sell the piglets between sh100,000 and sh150,000each, (two to four months old), and the adults sh800, 000 to sh1m," Bogere says.
From the piggery, he bags a gross of sh18m per year.
Expanding land
Luck came his way when he started expanding the family land from two acres to five, which he bought from the immediate neighbours. In total, the land expansion cost me sh5.7m.
This created space to accommodate the poultry, turkey and goat farm, the heifer section, the piggery and agriculture __ birthing "Eden Farm -Buwala."
Bogere also rears turkey, the modern way using the caging system, where birds lay and hatch their eggs to avoid congestion and ensure safety.
Extensive farming
To achieve more of his dreams, Bogere embarked on setting up big maize, beans, and cassava gardens, however, the five acres could not accommodate them.
Using the proceeds from the poultry, goat farm, and the piggery, he opted to rent huge chunks of land in Buyende district, about 60kms away.
"I hired thirty acres of land in Gumpi village, Bugaya Sub County to grow cassava, maize, and beans to energize commercial agriculture," Bogere says.
He hires each acre at sh70,000 per season.
"I would wake up at 05.00am and come back after sunset. I also hired labourers to help me in clearing the bushes, planting, weeding and harvesting," he adds.
Back at home, his wife, Rose Bogere, looks after the enterprises while consulting him on phone on technical matters and the updates of the projects.
"At times I am away for a week, only to come back to settle some farm issues then rush back," he says.
The above projects (cassava, maize, beans) energized Bogere's income fourfold, with cassava bringing in 14,000 kgs per year, earning him sh14m.
From maize and beans, he harvests 18,000kgs which gives him sh21.6m and 3,000kgs which gives him sh6.2 m, respectively.
To achieve more, Bogere stores the produce in the silos for few months and sells at higher prices in times of scarcity, which often pays off.
"In November 2016, I stored maize worth sh5.5m, before the previous famine set in. In March 2017, I sold it and got sh15.5m, which I used to buy my new Premio car," he boasted.
Management
To ensure the smooth running of the farm, he does not work alone, but with his entire family.
"My wife, Rose Bogere, is the farm secretary as well as the supervisor of all the enterprises, regardless of my presence or absence while away in Buyende," he says.
The children also offer labour, in addition to the five casual labourers. The workers are paid between sh50,000 and sh80,000, depending on the work done per month
"We meet weekly to assess the performance of the farm, the profits secured, identify the challenges before forging the way forward. We then decide and prioritize in regard to demand and the available finances," he says.
At times they buy items including seeds, pesticides, veterinary drugs, weed killers in advance to dodge hiked prices.
In case of livestock diseases and plant pests attacks, the field officer, Mustafa Kawuba, who works with the National Poverty Alleviation Department, is hired to provide technical advice.
Establishing orphanage
In 1996, Robert Mukiibi, Bogere's brother died of AIDS, leaving behind three orphans, whose mother also died later.
Bogere and his wife, Rose offered to look after the orphans, in addition to their three children, after all, they had a lot of food and other farm resources.
This big heart excited the locals, who appreciated and started requesting them to take over orphans whose parents had died of AIDS around the village.
"Whenever a resident died of AIDS, the relatives would kindly request us to take the orphans," says Bogere.
Touched by their increased number, coupled by not attending school, Bogere predicted that the children would, in the future become social misfits and a menace to the community.
"I predicted that if these kids are not brought up well and educated, they would be a problem to the community, that's why we decided to set up the orphanage," Bogere says.
Bogere's big heart became viral, to the extent that once at a funeral of a parent who had died of AIDS in Mayuge district, the relatives released two orphans.
The increased number of orphans, the hospitality, and public confidence birthed the establishment of St. Paul and Rose Orphanage Center-Buwala.
Bogere added that caring to the needy is God's call, that if it was his arrangement, he would abide and provide for us to prevail with the children.
Having started with three orphans in 1996, the institution now looks after 70 children between the age of four and twenty years.
In 2012, the residential house could no longer accommodate them, which called for the construction of two more buildings.
"We support them single-handedly with scholastic materials (books, pens, pencils, uniforms etc) and tuition," Bogere says.
They also add 4kgs of maize for porridge and milling fees to each beneficiary and also pay medical dues whenever they fall sick, the expenses are charged on the farm accounts.
The area MP for Kagoma County, Moses Walyomu Muwanika said of the couple that they braved the odds to care and educate non-biological children, that's why God blesses them with surplus bumper harvests to feed them.
Bogere said since inception, the orphanage has survived on the farm food and proceeds, save for a few incidents when individuals, MPs, and briefcase NGOs donate a few items and vanish.
"We are blessed that despite financial challenges, we have prevailed with the children, and some of them recently qualified as professional tailors, hairdressers, ICT, and carpenters," Bogere says.
Innovations and technologies
"Since inception, this farm has thrived on innovations, and this is why it has prevailed and progressed through the years," Bogere says.
Among these include using improved, early maturing seed varieties and for the livestock, he researches and consults to get the best pigs and heifer breeds.
The technologies applied include collecting chicken droppings, cow and pig dung, and mix it to make manure, which is applied to the banana plantation, the beans, maize, and vegetable gardens.
Bogere`s wife Rose, says they practice crop rotation, leave some portions of land to fallow, in addition to shifting from old improved seed varieties to the latest ones. "We realized that commercial farming cannot be practiced using ordinary farm inputs," she says.
Mustafa Kawuba, the Field Officer with the Poverty Alleviation Development, also a farmers' trainer, said, "The Bogeres are first learners but above all, they put what they are taught into practice,"
Social impact
Owing to the steady progress, the orphanage, and having prevailed through the times, the community has given a nod to the farm not only in Buwala village but also Butagaya Sub County and Jinja district.
"In total, the farm employs five people on a permanent basis, while the livestock projects (pigs, zero grazing, goats, birds etc ) give indirect jobs to traders and farm suppliers," Mustafa Kawuba told Harvest Money.
The farm produce does not only benefit the proprietors but the entire community in terms of food security. Eden Farm is a resource center, where farmers groups, individuals, and organizations trickle to get farm tips and inputs.
Sustainability
Asked if the farm can prevail even when he dies, Bogere, boasted of having his hardworking wife, who is versatile with the farm activities, so she can sustain it.
"I at times spend a week on the farm in Buyende but she runs the farm like I do, alongside the manager," Bogere said, adding, " I can say the whole family is addicted to farming."
"Being the farm secretary means that I know the dynamics of keeping the farm thriving, even after my demise," his wife says.
Bogere keeps farm records on expenditure, sales, and the performance of the heifers and piggery.
He also invests in knowledge by consulting veterinary specialists, visits agricultural fairs, and never missed The New Visions' Harvest Money pullout and Bukedde's newspaper's Enkumbi Terimba.
Mistakes that I made and learnt from
"I wasted time rearing local goats, which were unproductive and took so long to add weight, yet I injected a lot of resources in the venture," he says.
This also applied to the local pig that he started with, and the "so-called" white modern cocks, which consumed a lot of maize brand, water and drugs and counted losses.
"I learnt that for quicker returns, the use of modern technologies in agriculture and livestock farming is the way to go," he says.
His journey in figures
sh50,000- The money Bogere started with, in 1994.
Sh16m - The money Bogere got from hot pepper.
Sh18m-The cash from the piggery project per year.
08 - The animals on the zero-grazing enterprise.
13,000 ---the kgs he gets from cassava every year
70 - The vulnerable children Bogere takes care of in the orphanage