A Dutch company will soon introduce the world’s first floating dairy farm

By Ella Imms

Cows will soon be walking on water in Rotterdam, Netherlands. Yes, you read that correctly.
Dutch company Beladon, led by husband and wife team Minke and Peter van Wingerden, are bringing the world’s first floating dairy farm to the waters in the city of Rotterdam.
The farm will be a multilevel, high-tech facility that will keep 40 cows and produce 800 litres of milk per day, a volume typical of small dairy farms found in the Netherlands.
The idea was conceived after the couple witnessed the devastation of Hurricane Sandy in New York in 2012 while on a business trip.
Fresh produce was impossible to come by in the weeks following the storm due to food delivery trucks being unable to reach their destinations. The Van Wingerden’s believed that there must be a better way to produce food closer to “the heart of communities”.

Construction begins. (Beladon)

The self-sufficient floating farm will also do more than just house and milk cows.
“Although it’s strange and not very logical perhaps for some people, we think that on the water there is still space for growth and also space to look at new opportunities for technology,” van Wingerden told Business Insider.
The three-tiered facility will certainly boast some of this new technology. The cows, situated on the second level, will be milked by robots (cool, no?), and the bottom level will house machinery for processing and packaging. And the top? Beladon will grow its own clover and grass for the cows to eat.
The cows will also be fed using various waste products from the city like grains and by-products left over from mills and factories, and their manure will be sold as fertiliser. They are determined to recycle as much as possible.

An artist’s depiction of what the farm will look like once completed. (Beladon)

Not everyone will be on board with an idea that takes animals from their natural habitat, but even the most diehard of animal activists can’t dismiss that this is a far better alternative to factory-farming-butcher-houses. In fact, it even looks a little like a cow-cation.
Other concerns have been raised about the noise that will be made by the cows, but there is only so much Beladon can do about that.
“Some people are afraid what’s going on, but on the other hand there are also [those] who cannot wait until the first cows come in,” Van Wingerden says.
“They are very much looking forward to see a cow here in the harbour.”
Going forward, Beladon is looking at building floating chicken farms and floating vertical farming greenhouses. They hope to expand into Singapore and China as a natural extension of rooftop farms and other similar concepts that are already in place.
You can keep up with the progress of the floating farm by following Beladon on Instagram.
Lead image: Beladon

TB compensation: Changes after pregnant cow discrepancy

 

The rule change follows a 12-month evidence gathering exercise

Image copyright VT Freeze Frame

Farmers wrongly declaring their TB-infected cattle were pregnant before slaughter has led to a change in compensation rules.

The Welsh Government said of the 7,418 cows declared as pregnant, post-mortem examinations found only 4,601 were.
This led to an additional £459,000 in compensation payments over 12 months.
From November written proof of pregnancy will be requested at valuation stage, which a farmers union called an "additional burden".

• Badger cull 'must happen' to protect cattle say Welsh farmers
• Bovine TB risk map outlined in new Wales approach
• No guarantee from May on farm cash after Brexit

The announcement follows a 12-month evidence gathering exercise carried out by the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and the Food Standards Agency (FSA).
Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs Lesley Griffiths, said: "Cattle owners are rightly paid compensation for cattle slaughtered because of TB.
"However, we had concerns that some cattle were potentially being valued as in calf when they were not.
"The study by APHA and FSA shows that this is a real issue and that is why I am introducing changes to the valuation and payment of in-calf cattle, with written proof of pregnancy diagnosis now being required at valuation stage."

'Difficult time'

But NFU Cymru Milk Board chairman Gareth Richards said: "Those in the unfortunate position of losing cattle to bovine TB work with valuers and inform them of those cows and heifers they genuinely believe to be in calf at the time of slaughter, having either been running with a bull or artificially inseminated.
"Whilst we understand Welsh Government's concern following the results from this commissioned work, we have stressed that this is an additional burden at a very difficult time for those losing cattle who are reactors.
"We ask that the process of submitting pregnancy diagnosis results to Welsh Government is made as easy and trouble free as possible."

37 Million Bees Found Dead After Planting Large GMO Corn Field

Millions of bees dropped dead after GMO corn was planted few weeks ago in Ontario, Canada. The local bee keeper, Dave Schuit who produces honey in Elmwood lost about 37 million bees which are about 600 hives.“Once the corn started to get planted our bees died by the millions,” Schuit said. While many bee keepers blame neonicotinoids, or “neonics.” for colony collapse of bees and many countries in EU have banned neonicotinoid class of pesticides, the US Department of Agriculture fails to ban insecticides known as neonicotinoids, manufactured by Bayer Crop Science Inc. 
Two of Bayer’s best-selling pesticides, Imidacloprid and Clothianidin, are known to get into pollen and nectar, and can damage beneficial insects such as bees. The marketing of these drugs also coincided with the occurrence of large-scale bee deaths in many European countries and the United States.
Nathan Carey another local farmer says that this spring he noticed that there were not enough bees on his farm and he believes that there is a strong correlation between the disappearance of bees and insecticide use.
In the past, many scientists have struggled to find the exact cause of the massive die-offs, a phenomenon they refer to as “colony collapse disorder” (CCD). In the United States, for seven consecutive years, honeybees are in terminal decline.

US scientists have found 121 different pesticides in samples of bees, wax and pollen, lending credence to the notion that pesticides are a key problem. “We believe that some subtle interactions between nutrition, pesticide exposure and other stressors are converging to kill colonies,” said Jeffery Pettis, of the ARS’s bee research laboratory.

The collapse in the global honeybee population is a major threat to crops. It is estimated that a third of everything we eat depends upon honeybee pollination, which means that bees contribute over 30 billion to the global economy.

A new study published in the Journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences revealed that neonicotinoid pesticides kill honeybees by damaging their immune system and making them unable to fight diseases and bacteria.

After reporting large losses of bees after exposure to Imidacloprid, banned it for use on corn and sunflowers, despite protests by Bayer. In another smart move, France also rejected Bayer’s application for Clothianidin, and other countries, such as Italy, have banned certain neonicotinoids as well. After record-breaking honeybee deaths in the UK, the European Union has banned multiple pesticides, including neonicotinoid pesticides.

Madhvani Foundation launches Sh700m 2018/19 scholarship program

Gerald Ssendawula, the Chairman Madhvani Foundation officially hands over a placard unveiling the 2018/2019 scholarship fund worth sh700 million to Anthony Butele, the chairman of the scholarship committee at Madhvani Foundation (Left).

Madhvani Foundation has invested six billion shillings so far in Uganda’s University Education

Kampala, Uganda | JIMMY SIYA | The Madhvani Foundation on Wednesday announced the 2018-2019 Scholarship annual award worth Sh700 million . The Initiative reintroduced in 2003 has so far offered over Sh6.5 billion and supported over 2000 Ugandan students studying both scientific and technical courses.

Speaking at a media briefing, the Chairman Madhvani Foundation-Board of Directors, Gerald Sendawula said “We are proud to have supported over 2,000 underprivileged Ugandan students from different Ugandan universities across the country. I get emotional to see the business community display such a great sense of giving back to the communities in which they operate”.

The Foundation has registered success in the growth of the beneficiary numbers. One hundred seventy six (176) students were granted the award last year, which was the highest record of awardees compared to previous years.

The Scholarship disciplines open for sponsorship are Agriculture, Biology, Chemistry, Actuarial Science, Architecture, Veterinary Medicine, Commerce, Hotel Management, Pharmacy, Nursing, Engineering, Food Science & Technology, Information Technology, Environment, and Medicine.

Also in attendance were two alumnus who testified of their appreciation and experiences of the Madhvani Foundation Scholarship. Innocent Agonza lost his parents at a young age and had to fend for himself and his young siblings to survive, the scholarship gave him an opportunity to study and complete a Bachelors Degree in Agro-business Management, at Makerere University.

In his second year as medical student, Richard Mugahi was desperate when both his parents lost their jobs. He took a chance to apply for the scholarship and was fortunate to receive the award. Today he is a Public Health Specialist working as a District Health Officer in Fort Portal Western Uganda, and is the current President of the Madhvani Foundation Scholarships Alumni Association.

The Scholarship Sub Committee Chairman, Anthony Butele, urged the students to apply for the scholarship for which he explained “the application process is transparent and the beneficiaries are selected on merit as long as they have the requirements as stipulated on the application form”.

*******

The Application form for the 2018/2019 Scholarship can be freely downloaded from the Foundation website at www.madhvanifoundation.com and hand delivered to Madhvani Scholarship secretariat – Muljibhai Madhvani Foundation offices, Plot No. 96-98, Business Park, 5th street, Industrial Area, Kampala .The closing date for submission of completed forms is the 31st May 2018.

How to construct best goat shelter

By Beatrice Nakibuuka

Goats whether raised for meat or milk, need basic protection from the elements such as wind, rain and heat.
Provision of a simple shed with low cost housing materials in dry areas may be enough for goats to produce efficiently especially milk.
To keep your goats safe, there is need for you to provide them with that perfect shelter.
How elaborate your goat shelter is depends on where you live, how many goats you plan to have in the shelter and how much you can afford.
If you have or plan to rear many goats, you need to make sure you have a large structure or plan to build more shelters over time.
In other words you may need to have a relatively big piece of land because different groups such as bucks, does and kids to be weaned need separate housing areas.
Miriam Ankunda, a vet assistant at Shimmer Africa, warns that if they are all kept together, they may be fighting for resources such as food which will cause non uniformity in their growth as some may be weak and not get enough feeds.
You need to have a store place where you keep the goats’ feeds and care tools.
A suitable goat shelter should be well-lit with natural lighting and have adequate ventilation, but it needs to be free from breezes, particularly at ground level. Some of the things to consider when deciding to build a goat shelter include:

Kithinji Musyoka tends to goats in a raised shelter. PHOTO by Edgar Batte

Flooring
Gravel floors are the best option for goats although some people prefer wood. The dirt in the gravel absorbs urine and when the gravel is covered with straw, it helps keep the goats warm.
Sheds with mud floor may be suitable except in places where high rainfall is observed such as central and western Uganda.
Ankunda says, “Farmers should therefore avoid concrete flooring because it is cold and hard on the goats’ bodies even though it is easier to clean. Farmers should also remember to keep the floor of the shelter dry always because dampness can be a breeding place for various diseases among your goats.”
The shelter should be constructed in an elevated area or slightly slanting to prevent water and urine stagnation.
This also helps with drainage in your shed which should be good, to counteract any buildup of smells and urine.

Bedding
Regardless of type of flooring, you need to use some sort of bedding for warmth and comfort.
If you have to use a concrete floor, make sure to put down three to four inches of saw dust to insulate the goats with enough warmth while they sleep.
Dr Paul Zziwa, a freelance vet, says goats can be deep littered, with the bedding being topped up regularly then being mucked out completely every month. You need about 20 square feet per goat for sleeping space.

Fencing
Goats are notorious for getting out of enclosures, so you will need some tight shelter to protect them from bad climate but also a considerably strong fencing for them.
“Fencing is important for the safety and health of your goats. Fencing for goats needs to be secure, not just to keep them in, but to keep predators like dogs out. You will need perimeter fencing around the entire goat area or your property boundary, and then cross fencing within the goat area to keep goats separated from each other,” Ankunda says.

Kidding place
If you plan to breed your own goats, you will need kidding enclosures and the number of cages you will need depends on how many goats are kidding at a time.
“The kids may be left with their mother for the first three days but afterwards isolated into a special cage where they are bound to receive special attention. The same place should have bedding for the kids,” Zziwa says.
Also, regardless of the breed, you need an area for doing routine care, such as hoof trimming or clipping. If you are keeping dairy goats, you can use the same space for milking.

Costs
Of the two common types of goat shelters, experts at Give A Goat Farm advise farmers to invest in a raised goat house as opposed to the pen type.
The farm which was established in 2013 by American Scott Panella helps prospective and active goat farmers by providing housing, fencing, food, medical care, and education.
According to Panella the cost of a simple goat house, including material, two to three days of labour and transportation for all is approximately Shs800,000.
“Great dairy goats tend to produce more milk and live healthier when the proper treatment and management is in place. By building the raised goat house the risk of worms is less and the droppings can be used as fertiliser in gardens. Goat houses consist of one male/buck room and one or two female rooms depending on how many goats have been provided,” read in part guidelines authored by Panella.

Goat perimeter (Fencing)
Panella says one way to keep goats safe is by building a fence. “Fencing has been a successful way for us to keep the goats healthy and happy. We also bring in a mound of stones and bricks for them to climb on as a “play” area which can also help with hoof care. Fencing cost can vary depending on the size of the fence and the area we are separating for the goats, but the average cost including labour is approximately Shs575,000,” Panella says.

Dimensions
Considering the height and width of the shelter, goats need to have about 15 square feet of housing if they also have an outdoor area. Make sure that your building is in an area with good drainage and, if it is open, that it faces away from the prevailing wind.
Zziwa says, “During the building process, it is important to consider how easy it will be to muck out old bedding. Having to bend over or stretch a long way while mucking is uncomfortable and hard on your back. The shelter should therefore be built a little taller than you are for easy mucking.”
When creating goat housing, consider where you will store feed, straw or other bedding, and other goat-related equipment.
Zziwa advises that goats should not be tethered while they are in the shelter except if they are outdoors. The roof should be strong enough not to leak when it rains.
Feeding & drinking place
You need to have space for feeders and drinkers, which will keep things cleaner and prevent wasting of feed. All animals should be able to eat or drink at one time.
Having easy access to water for your goats while they are in the shelter is important. This will prevent you from the hustle of transporting the water to the goat’s shelter all the time.

Okello tasting sweet money from honey

By TOBBIAS JOLLY OWINY

He is a man from the classroom; however James Okello Alele put his thoughts together and went back to his village to start keeping bees since chalk work was not yielding fruits any longer.
At the moment, Okello’s Akilo apiculture farm located at Ogur trading centre, 27 kilometres north of Lira town along Kitgum Road, boasts of a total 168 beehives, a honey processing plant, 30 cows, coffee, eucalyptus woodlot and goats.
At the entry into his home, a disclaimer which reads; ‘do not make unnecessary noise, bees are busy’ reminds one that bees do well in a silent environment, exactly what his home is.
Okello 60 revealed on Monday that he has discovered a goldmine in adding value to honey.
“I get a gross average of Shs8.5m to Shs10m per month from the bee keeping project,” he said.

Okello shows off his honey product. Photo Tobbias Jolly

How he started
“What I got from class could not allow ends meet 10 years ago because three of my 12 children needed to go to institutions of higher learning I baked an idea to invest in bee keeping so that I can earn from it to educate my children,” he said.
The Church of Uganda in 2007 came up with a project to support bee farmers, a factor that prompted him to register and get seven bee hives to start.
It was not easy at the beginning since he needed to balance between farm work and classes.
“That year I fetched Shs600,000 from honey sales. Half of the money was spent on restocking with the balance paying tuition for my children.”
However his income projection was not yet coming as he expected, this made him register his enterprise with Naads a year later as a CBO with 25 other bee keepers.
He says after forming a group, it became easier for them to look for better markets.
“We received training from Naads. After the training, we were appointed to train other prospective farmers and in return I was paid Shs6.5m. This was my turning point for I invested the money in my beehive project,” he said.
Using the money, he bought a motorcycle to help him mobilise bee keepers, look for market as well as expand land and buy 30 modern bee hives and metallic stands.

Innovation, value addition
After realising a profit of Shs35m at the end of 2015, Okello says he needed to shift to another level in bee keeping and honey business.
“Several field visits to central and western region to bee keepers opened my eyes and made me realise that I was losing a lot of money in selling raw honey. I then invested in a honey press that cost me Sh3m and other equipment totaling to Shs5m,” he said.
Using the new equipment, no part of his products would be thrown away as wastes.
“We now extract the honey, grade and package them into classes before sell. We use the wax for making candles, this significantly doubled my earnings from bee keeping,” he noted.
According to his records, Okello earned a gross income of Sh113m from the project in 2016 which he used to establish other enterprises.
“My profits were big compared to 2015 when I earned only Shs35m as gross income. The money I got last year has helped me to put up a new permanent structure at Sh50m, buy cows and introduce two acres of banana and coffee plantation combined,” he said.

Market
Okello says he has readily available market for the products and that on several occasions he is overwhelmed by the demand.
“Golden Bee and Natural Bee companies in Kampala are some of my clients. I also supply supermarkets in Lira town, Jinja, Kampala that provides my biggest share of the market as well as in South Sudan,” he said.
A kilogramme of processed and packed pure honey costs Shs20,000, while a five-litre jerrycan goes for Shs100,000.

Vision
Akilo apiculture farm now employs six people who attend to the apiary.
“I pay each of these workers Shs100,000 per month and the earning has had a great impact on their lives,” he narrated.
Okello revealed that he has been able to settle tuition of his children, build a new home, drill a borehole as well as establish a coffee plantation and livestock.
He said that he now plans to establish an apiculture demonstration unit at the farm to train prospective bee farmers in Lira District.
“I drilled a borehole and my plan is to grow crops in the dry season through irrigation whose flowers can provide forage to bees throughout,” he noted.

Irrigation for increased crop production

By Michael J. Ssali

Unpredictable weather conditions are on the rise and farmers must resort to irrigation in case of prolonged droughts when crop production can prove very difficult.
Due to the favourable climatic conditions we have enjoyed in Uganda irrigation sounds a new idea among farmers but in other countries such as Egypt crop production has never been possible without it.
Irrigation and water conservation are among the strong measures being taken to increase agricultural production for a fast growing population amid climate change conditions.
For plants to grow well there has to be sufficient supply of water in the soil all the time.
Normally this need is fulfilled by rain but when there is inadequate rainfall and insufficient water within the rooting zone of the crops they wilt and die.
To sustain plant growth during times of rain scarcity the farmer must artificially supply water into the root area of the crops.
The water may have to be carried in containers and poured over the root area of the crops such as young coffee or passion fruit seedling or it may be carried in pipes to be sprinkled over the crops.
In situations where irrigation water is scarce, the water is put into containers like plastic bottles or cans which may be placed slightly above the rooting area of the plant.
A tiny hole is made at the bottom of the container to allow small drops of water out of it into the ground to keep the plant’s root area moist. This kind of irrigation is referred to as drip irrigation.
The farmer must closely monitor the amount of water in each container and ensure that more water is made available when the containers are dry.
Some farmers put fertilizers in the water to enhance soil fertility. In other cases of drip irrigation the water is supplied through pipes to the plants where a small nozzle lets out drips of water into the plants’ root area.
It is important to ensure that the water used for irrigation does not contain plant damaging chemicals or high salt concentrations. Drip irrigation does not support weed growth.

E-mail: ssalimichaelj@gmail.com

The success story of a city farmer

By Edwin Nuwagaba

Behind Shell petrol station on Jinja Road, and across the road near the railway line is a stretch of land. On it, there is a man digging. As other people pass by the wire fence that separates his garden from the pavement, others stop and call him.
He immediately drops the hoe and goes to sell them vegetables which are always available on his farm stall. Digging and attending to these customers is Charles Kwebingira’s typical day.

When he, with several workers, were laid off from the Uganda Railways Corporation, he did not walk away cursing. Instead, he approached the management and asked them to rent him part of the railway land for cultivation. It was easy, because while he still worked with the railway line he used a small part of the company’s land for farming.

“They charged me Shs1m for two years and I started working, but they did not charge me fees the third year because they realised I had helped them cut the expenses they used to pay salaries to people who were slashing the land,” he says. Kwebingira’s job before leaving the company was to slash the grass and shrubs along the railway line.

While there are other farmers on this land, Kwebingira is the one who does full-time farming and on a relatively large scale. His garden sits on two acres. Most of the food items on his farm gate are freshly harvested. They include egg plants, bitter tomatoes, sukuma wiki, greens like gobbe, doodo, tomatoes and other vegetables. “People like buying from me because I sell them fresh vegetables,” he says.

His customers range from passersby, who usually are returning home, to stall owners in his neighbourhood like Kibuli, Namuwongo and other places. He is lucky because he does not have to involve middlemen as all his customers find him here. He makes about Shs10,000 every day. And he is not bothered by Kampala City Council because he sells his products within the fence of his garden.

One thing that keeps a smile on his face is that, he is not limited by seasons. Vegetables are available at his stall every day of the week. It works this way; as one egg plant is germinating, another is flowering and the other one is ready for harvesting.
That happens because he plants in stages. “There are even times when they are so many that they get wasted,” he says. He adds that bitter egg plants which are enjoyed by many city dwellers, can last up to two years, while he picks them on a daily basis.

Not only does Kwebingira reap financially, he also returns home with food for his family. His home is in Kibuli, close to his garden so he doesn’t spend money on transport to and from his home, or when going downtown to the Container Village to buy farm inputs.

He is happy. “I get some money to use on a daily basis. I am paying school fees for my five children and I also bought a piece of land at Shs4m in Kabale which I hope to develop very soon.” He is currently developing another garden on the other side of the railway line.

Kwebingira sells produce directly to his customers thus eliminating the need for middlemen or transport costs to the market. PHOTO BY ISMAIL KEZAALA

Improved farming methods
Two years ago, like many farmers in Uganda, Kwebingira’s methods of farming were poor. His harvests and profits were largely dependent on the weather. But now he has gotten wiser.

He has just finished digging a small dam from where he will be fetching water to spray his crops. In recent months also, he started applying fertilisers to enrich the soils. “Ever since I started applying fertilisers, my profits have increased,” he says.
Much as almost everything appears blissful for this city farmer, there are a couple of challenges he faces. Because his garden is within the city centre attracts many thieves. A private security guard for a nearby bank has been helping him patrol his garden, but thieves still keep coming. “Whenever I got them and took them to police, policemen always asked me to feed them until the time they would be remanded to Luzira prison. And I had to pay Shs10,000 for their transportation to the prison. If I didn’t, police would release them and they would come back to my garden,” he says. But now the incidences of theft have reduced a bit.

More to that; “Because customers see that I grow the vegetables myself, they always want me to sell them many things cheaply. But I always tell them that I have to sell at the market price because farm inputs are very high.”

However, since most of these are his daily customers, he has to compromise. He sells five egg plants at Shs500, greens at Shs200, tomatoes range from Shs400, Shs500 and Shs2000 and about a bunch of about 20 bitter tomatoes at Shs200.
Kwebingira says he has been farming a long time, and he has become weak. He wants to acquire capital and start up a business. Nevertheless he does not regret venturing into farming, and urban farming at that.

Well, as food prices and other commodities rise, it would make sense for city dwellers with access to any size of land to start practicing urban agriculture. It doesn’t have to be to the size of Kwebingira’s garden.

Homeowners willing to put some effort into this, can be sure to keep the cost of their grocery bills down, as well as earn money by selling their surplus produce. The Ministry of Agriculture could also step up and encourage urban agriculture to boost food security.

Farmer finds goldmine in local breed chicken

By DAVID MAFABI

Steven Mukweli, a resident of Bungokho in Mbale, is a self made millionaire.
A dropout at 17, Mukweli decided to venture into poultry farming.
The man who started with just seven birds, today boasts of over 20, 000 exotic and 1, 600 local breeds.
“Farming was the only option. I started with a handful of free-range birds but today the story is different,” he said.
Mukweli, who has gone a step further into breeding, says anyone can make it. In the tips below, the farmer shares how best one can make cash from eggs, hatching and chicken sales.

The farmer is pictured holding a water container for his exotic birds. PHOTO by David Mafabi 

Egg hatching
Mukweli who two years ago graduated into the business of hatching chicks at his farm says for proper results, farmers should provide nests for laying hens and that the nests should be close to each other in a slightly darkroom.
According to him, hatching chicken eggs is an extremely rewarding experience, which requires good planning, dedication, flexibility and observation by the farmer.
“Put some soft material such as dry grass or coffee husks in the bottom and use sand, soil or small stones to support the nests so that they don’t collapse or drop the eggs as the hens enter and leave,” advised Mukweli.

Egg selection
Mukweli says that at this stage a farmer needs to choose eggs which the hen can comfortably sit on and hatch as anticipated.
He says the right eggs one should select for hatching must have no cracks, avoid too big (twins), too small, too pointed, too oval and too spherical.

Conditions
Mukweli explains that he has over five cocks and advises that each farmer must have a cock on the farm that mounts the hens. According to Mukweli each cock should be given eight to 10 hens to avoid competition and fighting.
He says during laying and hatching, the chicken house and the nests should be free from parasites such as lice and mites as these might make the hen abandon the eggs.
Zainabu Muyobo, also a poultry farmer in Manafwa district advises famers to prioritise good health saying the birds should be feeding very well.
“You need to provide enough water and feeds at this time because the hens will stay on the eggs to warm them for hatching for 21 days,” says Muyobo.

Profits
The farmer explains that ideally hens are bred domestically mainly for eggs and meat but investing in massive production is a viable business idea because you can get meat, eggs, and hatch more chicks, which can also be sold at one’s wish.
“And the revenue potential for this kind of business investment is estimated at about Shs50m annually and in order to achieve this, one should have at least an initial capital investment of about Shs3.5 million,” he said.
Mukweli says that chicken droppings collected daily have enabled him get free manure for his gardens where he has also embarked on fruits and banana growing.

Market
According to Mukweli the birds especially from his farm are on high demand.
“Custormers find me at my farm,” he says.
He earns about Shs500, 000 weekly from the sale of local chicken and eggs, which has enabled him transform himself from a poor rural farmer to a model farmer in Bungokho.
“I also earn Shs700, 000 from selling broilers and exotic eggs in Mbale municipality hotels and businessmen, so all together I earn more than a million shillings a week from my farm when the chicken begin laying eggs,” Mukweli revealed.
Mukweli says as a poultry farmer he has earned a lot of money from the sale of local chicken eggs because they begin laying eggs after about five months and have a long laying period.

Management
Mukweli says although the chicken are locally bought within the community, his birds undergo nine different vaccinations.
He also disinfects his chicken houses every time new birds are brought in.
He explains that visitors on the farm are limited because some of the diseases are transmitted by humans.

Incubating guidelines
Keep the temperature between 98 and 101 fahrenheit (The optimal temperature that you are striving for is 98.5).
Keep the humidity between 55 and 70 per cent.
It will take 21 days for the eggs to hatch.
Gently rotate the eggs 1/4 to 1/2 turn three times a day for the first 18 days
For the last three days of incubation do not rotate the eggs.
Don’t wash the eggs before putting them in the incubator, leave them as they are.
The eggs for incubation must be bought from from somebody that raises chickens, ask for fertilised eggs because you want to incubate them.
There is no way to guarantee fertilisation but the chicken raiser will give you good eggs that have probably been fertilised.
Keep the humidity on the low end of the scale 55-65 for the first 15 days but try to get the humidity up to around 65-70 for the last few days. This will help the hatching.

Hatch
A hatch generally requires specific design and specifications for handling the parental stock together with the cocks, brooders, young chicks and feeds.
The bottom of the nest can be dusted with ash to prevent parasites from co-habiting the facility.
The parasites normally suck blood from the brooder hen on top of disturbing the peaceful settlement of the hen on the eggs.
Local chicken
Mukweli says hatching health local chicken starts with procuring disease free birds and that this requires the buyer to be every observant while buying birds.
“For instance they should not have falling feathers, running nose, red eyes, fallen comb, pale comb, and bloody comb. And these symptoms might be a pointer of Newcastle disease, fowl pox and coccidiosis,” said Mukweli.
He explained that to improve the quality and output of poultry, a farmer is advised to cross breed their chicken and that in cross breeding, one cock should mount not more than 10 hens.

Facts about indigenous chickens
• Meat and eggs are tastier and preferred by most consumers to those obtained from commercial breeds
• Initial investment is less than that needed to keep commercial breeds
• More tolerant of harsh conditions, including diseases, than commercial breeds
• Can be fed on cheap, locally available feeds
• When allowed to range freely, they need little feeding or other care
• Women and youth often control income from chickens
• Local markets are readily available for both eggs and chickens
• Droppings are rich in nutrients: can be used for compost making, pond fertilising and as feed for livestock.

Mugisha is an agro-ecologist in the middle of degradation

Mugisha has managed to conserve over 30 varieties of beans on her farm.

x

Mugisha showing the award she won from National Agriculture Research Organisation. Photos by Christopher Ahimbisibwe

“You are welcome to my farm,” Joy Mugisha says with a beaming smile. We are in Ngoma-Nungi, Kiziba ward, Kagango division in the new municipality of Sheema in Sheema district.

Mugisha’s house is sorrounded by over 100 acres of well utilised land that contains 20 acres of banana plantation, five acres of coffee trees (both robusta and clonal); 25 acres  of a cattle farm, 10-acre garden of beans and 10 acres of eucalyptus trees.

The 54-year-old Mugisha, an agro-ecologist, who only holds a certificate in agriculture (pest and disease), has made her home an island of conservation and productivity in the middle of the degraded hills of Kagango.

“I use my little knowledge of conservation and environment protection for improved productivity and sustainability”. 

She says that she started farming in 1986 and currently practises mixed farming.

High productivity and sustainability

Because of her research and best practices, she has seen her banana plantation improve in productivity

“When I planted my banana plantation 20 years ago, I used to harvest bunches of bananas weighing four kilogrammes, the yield improved to 10 and now I harvest bunches weighing between 35 to 40 kilogrammes” she says.

She plants over seven varieties of bananas including improved varieties and other local ones.

“I like local varieties because they are easy to manage. That is why I have more of them than improved varieties’.

“I plant trees because I know they are important in the rainfall cycle. I also get poles from the forest to support my climbing beans and also for fencing my farm. I remove all polythene bags in my farms to allow easy movement of water in the soil. These are some of the reasons why I won an award with the National Agriculture Research Organisation for best local practices’.

She says she practices super stem cutting, chopping banana suckers and mulching the plantation to get good and improved yields on her farm.

“In order to have high yields, I rear animals so that they can supply me with cheap and sustainable organic manure for use in my banana plantation and all other crops,” she says, adding that most farmers struggle buying manure and using synthetic manure, which degrades the soil.

Seed conservation

Probably what has made Mugisha stand out is her seed conservation efforts. She has managed to conserve over 30 varieties of beans on her farm.

Mugisha's bean varieties

 “I love to look at the varieties. They are beautiful, nutritious and a rare combination of qualities. I want to preserve them for posterity,” she says.

She has some of the most sought after local bean varieties, which are resistant to climatic conditions such as kasiriira, kanyarwanda, mahega, gantagasize, kishoga, kanyamunyu, kanyobwa, kiribwa ogwejegiire and kankurye-mbarukye.

 Farmer-to-farmer networks

Mugisha has become a centre of attraction for both local and national farmers who come to her farm to learn how she has managed to maintain high productivity, stability and sustainability. She has also formed a women’s association group called Kiziba Women’s Group who have constructed a seed bank for their produce.

Risk management

While soil erosion and sedimentation are wreaking havoc to agricultural yields in Uganda, Mugisha says that she has surrounded her farmland with trees which help against soil erosion and also act as wind-breakers.

She says that the greatest risks on her banana plantation and her coffee plantation is the banana wilt bacteria that affects her bananas. As a researcher she has tried to control such risks by cutting the affected plantations and also using acalacides that can kill the virus and also control the spread.  

She says farmers need to know the seasons so that they can reduce on the banana leaves. "The more leaves on a banana tree the more heavy it becomes  and the more easy it is to be felled by the wind and the reason for putting  plant support on each tree," she says.

Post-harvest handling

For sustainability purposes, Mugisha says that she has been able to use local technology such as a crushing machine, moisture meter to measure the amount of water in the harvested crops and use of a weighing scale to measure the weight of the banana bunches.

After harvesting, she sorts the seeds for easy marketing and conservation.

In the garden, every plant is marked according to the botanical name and class. This has helped her to know the different bean varieties.

Plans

Mugisha says that she wants to start a demonstration farm for farmers to teach people how to practise modern farming.

She wants to install an irrigation system which will help her during the dry season. With an irrigation system, I will be able to have continuous seasons throughout the year.

Invest in agriculture

Mugisha says she earns over sh4m monthly from her. "People should invest in agriculture and food production because it pays well," she says.

By Deusdedit Ruhangariyo

Roundup: FAO chief warns of soaring hunger in Africa

Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) Director-General Jose Graziano da Silva gives a speech during the official World Food Day ceremony in Rome, Italy, Oct. 14, 2016. (Xinhua/Jin Yu)

ENTEBBE, Uganda, Sept.4 (Xinhua) -- The head of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization Jose Graziano da Silva has warned that there is increasing hunger in Africa due to factors including prolonged drought, floods and conflicts.

Graziano da Silva said this on Thursday while concluding a three day visit to Uganda where he held discussions with the government about advancing sustainable agriculture and strengthening collaboration and strategic partnership for a hunger-free country.

He told reporters here, 40 km south of the capital Kampala, that over the last three years hunger has increased in Africa and yet it is decreasing in other parts of the world.

He said the agency would in about two weeks announce new figures of the hunger situation.

Graziano da Silva was speaking after meeting Uganda's Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Vincent Bamulangaki Sempijja.

Sempijja said that although Uganda is not yet facing a food crisis, it faced a shock after it was invaded by the Fall Army Worms which destroyed crops, especially maize.

He said the attack came shortly after the country had undergone a prolonged dry spell which reduced production.

Sempijja added that the influx of South Sudan refugees into the country exerted more pressure on the food situation.

"We would be having a lot of food but we now have over 1.5 million refugees. This is a big challenge of top of challenges like drought," he said.

Since fighting broke out in South Sudan in late 2013, more than 1 million refugees have crossed into Uganda. Other refugees are from neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda and Burundi among others.

FAO earlier this year announced that in Africa, famine had broken out in Nigeria, Somalia and South Sudan.

Last month, FAO and the World Food Programme in a food security report said the rising violence and displacement in the Democratic Republic of Congo was pushing the country to near famine levels.

Integrated Food Security Phase Classification analysis said 7.7 million Congolese face acute hunger - a 30 percent increase over the last year.

Zimbabweans receive food ration from a World Food Programme (WFP) distribution center at rural Mupinga area in Chiredzi, Zimbabwe, Oct. 6, 2015. About 60 million people across Sub-Saharan Africa are at risk of acute hunger as food production situation is set to further worsen with the looming El Nino, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) said on Monday. (Xinhua/Stringer)

To relieve the pressure on Uganda regarding the refugees, FAO said in the last several years it has implemented more than 3 million U.S. dollars' worth of projects to support the refugees in Uganda.

Some of the support includes providing them with locally-adapted and diversified seeds to grow quick-maturing, high-nutrientfoods as well as with kits for livestock treatment, poultry production and micro-irrigation.

During Graziano da Silva's visit to Uganda, he also signed a memorandum of understanding with the agriculture ministry. Key issues in the agreement include ensuring food security, creating jobs for women and youths through agriculture and adapting to climate change.

Africa's largest silent crisis

The influx into Uganda of South Sudanese people fleeing violence – one million since July last year – has become the fastest growing refugee crisis in the world.

It is Africa’s biggest human exodus since the 1994 Genocide against the Tutsi.

Despite the sheer scale, it is largely a silent crisis not covered by many major media outlets. We must not ignore this emergency.

This week, I am in Uganda to meet some of those who have recently arrived – the majority of whom are women and children – and to reaffirm the support of the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations (FAO) to the Government of Uganda in its refugee support efforts.

Those efforts are truly exceptional: Refugees are not only being provided with land to build shelter and grow crops but are also granted freedom of movement, the right to work, and access to health care and education.

In addition to South Sudanese, many people and families who have fled conflicts in the Democratic Republic of the Congo are benefitting from this.

It’s a unique approach that goes right to the heart of effective refugee protection, which must involve finding long-lasting solutions that enable people and families to live in safety, reestablish their livelihoods, and reclaim their lives.

FAO believes that agricultural support to build rural livelihoods is key in achieving this goal in Africa. This is why in recent years we have implemented USD 3.6 million-worth of projects to support South Sudanese refugees in Uganda, providing them with locally-adapted and diversified seeds to grow quick-maturing, high-nutrient foods as well as with kits for livestock treatment, poultry production and micro-irrigation.

Other projects have created new income opportunities and helped address home energy issues by teaching people how to convert waste into fuel that can be burned in energy efficient stoves.

And our flagship approach in Uganda – Farmer Field Schools and Junior Farmer Field and Life Schools – have been pivotal in helping integrate refugees into host communities, by allowing them to acquire new agricultural skills and know-how.

FAO is also working with Uganda’s national Resilience Measurement Unit to ensure that the Government can accurately assess refugees’ resilience dynamics, generating “knowledge for action” that can guide funding decisions and help to ensure that support reaches the most vulnerable.

Greater donor support is needed if we are to intensify these efforts to effectively respond to the scale of this crisis.

It is vital that funds be mobilized so that refugees can provide food for themselves sooner rather than relying on food aid, and so that refugees and their host communities can have a real opportunity to lift themselves out of hunger and poverty and build a sustainable future for themselves and their families.
By: JOSÃ GRAZIANO DA SILVA
The  Director-General of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. 
Copyright: Project Syndicate

Here's What Climate Change Looks Like To Uganda's Coffee Farmers

If you’ve ever bought coffee labeled “Uganda” and wondered what life is like in that faraway place where the beans were grown, now’s your chance to see how climate change has affected the lives of Ugandan coffee farmers — through their own eyes.

Rising temperatures and prolonged drought can make coffee trees less productive and increase their exposure to pests and diseases. This is especially a problem in Uganda, where nearly all of the coffee is produced by small farmers who have little access to irrigation or other modern farming conveniences. Coffee is by far the country’s most valuable industry: It accounts for one-fifth of export revenue, and about 1 in 5 Ugandans rely on it for part or all of their income.

Yet climate change could slash the country’s coffee production in half by 2050 —a loss worth $1.2 billion, according to a 2015 economic analysis commissioned by the Ugandan government.

Because Uganda is a relatively small player in the global coffee market, disruptions there won’t necessarily affect the price of your morning joe in the U.S. But within the country, a disturbing new reality is taking root. To find out exactly how Uganda’s coffee farmers view their experience of climate change, I recently equipped a dozen of them with disposable cameras.

None of the farmers had ever used cameras, and the ones I gave them were pretty low-quality. But I was amazed by the more than 300 images that the farmers delivered. Many are candid, well-composed and achieve a level of intimacy that would be hard for an outsider to capture. You can access the full Flickr album here.

The photos show the struggles of everyday life for small family farmers who are facing drought on Mount Elgon, one of Uganda’s oldest and most prestigious coffee-producing regions. We see cows and chickens; children on their way to school; people bustling around water sources; and plenty of manual labor around the farm. That might all sound a bit mundane, until you realize the photos are really a window into the minds of a vulnerable population living on the front lines of climate change.

I set up this project in March with a group of coffee-focused agronomists at the Kampala offices of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), a nonprofit research organization. We found our 12 volunteers — six married couples spread across low, middle and high elevations of Mount Elgon. We gave each a quick briefing on how to operate the camera, then asked them to document the impacts of climate change. We left those parameters intentionally vague so the farmers would feel free to define “climate change” in their own terms.

A week later, we got the cameras back — and with them, an unfiltered glimpse into how the farmers understood their situation.

Among the intriguing images is a sort of still-life, shot on the farm of Sam Massa and his wife, Robinah Muzaki. They live in a mud-brick house in the mist-shrouded upper slopes of the mountain, surrounded by coffee trees that Massa’s great-grandfather planted more than 100 years ago. The photo shows artifacts from the farm that represent the effects of rising temperatures: leaves affected by fungal disease; a stem-borer beetle, which lays eggs inside coffee trees, causing branches to wither; a clutch of red coffee berries that Massa says “are not properly matured.”

“When you open the inside, there’s nothing,” he says.

Massa’s wife is fond of a picture she took of the family cow. She says that because drought had severely reduced the last coffee harvest, the family was desperately looking for other ways to raise cash. When she took the picture, she and Massa were considering selling the cow. By the time the pictures were developed, the cow was gone. (A calf, also seen in the image, is still on the farm.) So the picture became a memorial to something climate change had taken from the family.

“I had to sell that cow to pay the school fees for the kids,” she says. “If the yield of coffee had been good, I wouldn’t have needed to sell it.”

There were other revelations, things that people might not normally associate with climate change, but that are painfully obvious to those living in its harsh reality. Pictures of nondescript dusty roads show the challenges of transporting produce to market; photos of children in uniforms represent school fees, which is many families’ biggest cash expense — paid for by coffee.

“We are in poverty now,” says Michael Lullonde, whose wife, Lofisa, snapped the picture of a school seen on this page. “To take our children to school, or even get food, is very hard.”

Peter Magona, another of the photographers, says that despite the obvious change in climate, for him and other farmers on the remote Mount Elgon, there’s no other viable livelihood than coffee: “If you look around, you can see the environment has changed considerably. There’s no rain. The yield is very poor, and the income is very poor, due to this prolonged drought. But coffee is our cash crop, and we cannot drop it. We depend on it.”

There are many other stories hidden in the photos, too. Over the coming months, IITA scientist Onno Giller plans to finish interviewing the farmers about the images they took and compile the findings in a peer-reviewed research paper. In the meantime, Massa plans to use the prints of his photos as a teaching tool, to encourage his neighbors to take a second look at their own farms and see what they can do to climate-proof their practices.

by Tim McDonnell