On Saturday morning, there will be pig keeping, a session on opportunities from Dutch agriculture sector, bee-keeping, rabbit keeping. In the afternoon, there will be vegetable farming, urban dairy keeping, keeping indigenous poultry.

Pig keeping

The session of Piggery/Value addition to be facilitated by Dr Emma Naluyima (Best Farmer 2014/22 and Dr Esther Nakajubi a veterinary officer, farmer and researcher working with the National Genetics Resources Centre and a large scale pig farmer. This will also run in the morning.

In addition to keeping pigs, Naluyima invested in a van she uses to sell pork directly to consumers. She will talk about the benefits of farmers selling their produce to consumers. 

On the other hand, Nakajubi has got extensive experience in breeding pigs and management. This will be repeated on the afternoon of Sunday, February 25.

Opportunities from Netherlands

According to Dr Karin Boven, the ambassador of the Netherlands to Uganda, the advanced agriculture technologies in Netherland have a lot of opportunities for Ugandan farmers. “Agriculture in Uganda has a lot of potential from the good climate, fertile lands, willingness of Ugandans to engage into agriculture and agribusiness and looking at the markets and for Netherlands we venture much into innovations and machinery which means there is a lot we can benefit from each other by creating networks,” she says.

The expo presents opportunities to farmers to access finance literacy, technologies, innovations and ideas. She, therefore, appeals to all farmers to come and see for themselves what the expo has for them, especially in the Dutch village that will bring a number of Dutch companies showcasing their innovations and technologies. To further bridge the gaps in these opportunities, there will be an open session at the expo where Ugandan farmers will listen, pick out and grab them. The session will be addressed by several personalities including frank Buizer, the agriculture counsellor at the embassy, Veldman Group, CPM Europe, Tolsma, Famunera etc.

 Bee keeping

This willbe conducted by Steven Kunihira (Mr Bees) and Moses Kuteesa, an urban bee keeper and trainer. The trainers will focus on general apiary management, urban bee-keeping plus value addition on honey products. “There are so many products that are produced by bees. Bee venom is one of these and yet very few farmers in Uganda are harvesting it,” Kunihira says. They will also discuss proper postharvest handling of honey.

Rabbit keeping

Commercial rabbit keeping is one of the emerging enterprises in the country. Although the number of rabbits in the country is not clear, several commercial rabbit farms have been set up. On top of this, the consumption of rabbit meat especially among corporates .  However, few farmers have really grasped the right practices. This training will be handled by Muawiya  Mukasa owner of Kalf farm in Kapeeka, Nakaseke district. Last year, Mukasa was named as one of the best farmers thanks to his rabbit keeping skills.

Vegetable farming and green housing

Vegetables are a staple for most Ugandans. Many people spend a lot of money on buying vegetables from the market and yet they can grow them on their farms. Joseph Male, a best farmer in 2019, will show trainees how to grow vegetables. The crops include tomatoes, cabbages, lettuce and peppers etc. Last year, Male travelled to the Netherlands and got more exposure in vegetable farming.

 “I will look at growing vegetables in both small and large spaces and explain the input required for maximum profit,” he says.  

Urban Zero grazing/dairy

Milk is one of the most consumed foods in the world. However, in Uganda most of the milk is produced far away from its major market, the cities. For example, 50% of all milk produced in Uganda comes from western Uganda. And yet, urban dwellers can keep cows under zero grazing. This will be handled by Dr Jolly Kabirizi. She is a retired livestock nutritionists who has worked with National Agriculture Research Organisation (NARO) and the National Livestock Resources Research Institute (NaLIRRI) for over 40 years. Kabirizi has done extensive research on dairy cattle management.

“I will focus on using innovative methods to reduce the cost of feeding cattle in an urban setting, including using market waste,” she says.

Keeping indigenous birds

This is another enterprise that Ugandans are adopting commercially. Keeping just 100 local birds can give you not only enough chicken meat for your family, but also eggs and chicken meat for sale. And yet, managing them is not as difficult as maintaining exotic breeds. This session on Saturday afternoon will be handled by Doris Najjuma Kairu,  an indigenous poultry keeper and trainer. “We shall not focus only on chicken, but also turkey and ducks,” she says.