By Vision Reporter
For the ninth year running, Vision Group, together with the Embassy of Netherlands, KLM Airlines, dfcu Bank and Koudijs Animal Nutrition, is running the Best Farmers Competition.
The 2024 competition will run from April to November, with the awards in December. Every week, Vision Group platforms will publish profiles of the farmers. Winners will walk away with sh150 and a fully paid-for trip to the Netherlands.
A big signpost announces the farm. Another nearby signboard shows that the proprietor was certified as one of the best farmers in coffee stumping and fertiliser application in Kisoro district.
A couple of eco-friendly structures and well-kempt grounds in a gated and enclosed facility indicate that there could be more to the farm than just farming.
Welcome to Bafaso Agro Tourism Mixed Farm in Rambura village, along the Kisoro-Rubuguri road, about 6km from Kisoro municipality.
Winnie Bavuga, the proprietor, is a second-generation farmer and entrepreneur after taking over the running of the farm from her parents over seven years ago. Presently, Bafaso has three main farming enterprises — coffee, growing of climbing beans, and banana production — which form the base of its agro-processing interests.
The venture produces banana wine, coffee (parchment) and sorts and packages climbing beans. Dairy and growing of fruits are supplementary activities for the agro-tourism enterprise.
Bavuga said the estate has, over the years, grown into an estimated sh80m “social enterprise that promotes community development”.
The multi-enterprise farm was started by the proprietor’s parents — John (deceased) and Caroline Bavuga. Bavuga took over its management in 2017, following her retirement.
The farmer was inspired by the presidential initiative of the four-acre farming model “to return to the land” and revitalise the family agribusiness.
That same year, she ventured into making and packaging banana juice, opening the door into the world of agro-processing. The farm also trains farmers and residents. Visitors participate in coffee roasting and brewing as part of the agro-tourism venture’s “coffee experience”.
The farm has also provided ready market for the residents who are involved along the value chains of the three agro-processing enterprises — coffee, beans and bananas.
“Value addition gives you an edge in the market since it gives the products a long shelf life,” she says, when asked why she embraced value addition.
“You also earn more from the produce. From a bunch of bananas that costs between sh20,000 and sh30,000, one gets over sh2m after adding value,” she notes.
Bafaso was registered in May 2022.
Bafaso banana coffee drink
The farmer makes banana wine under the brand name, Bafaso Banana Coffee drink. Started in 2017, it is one of the pioneering agro-processing ventures at the estate.
Initially, she produced only 240 litres of wine, making sh2.4m; each litre valued at sh10,000. At the time of the visit by New Vision, Bavuga had seven containers of the beverage in the process of fermentation.
She sells a carton at sh20,000 (or sh18,000 wholesale) each, while a 320mls bottle costs sh2,000 each and that of 280mls at sh1,000.
The wine is made from banana juice, pineapple juice, coffee and lemon, plus yeast, sugar and coffee flavour.
The drink is largely targeting the Kisoro market currently, including shops, weddings and get-together events.
Bavuga gets most of the bananas from the family’s two-acre plantation while some are outsourced from women and youth that partnered with the farm.
All the pineapples are outsourced, she adds. Bavuga says a big-sized bunch of bananas produces two jerrycans of juice, while a small-sized one produces one jerrycan.
One can earn up to sh2m from a single bunch of bananas after making the wine. This compares with a jerrycan of local brew (urwarwa) that costs sh40,000.
The Bafaso Banana Wine takes six months in the fermentation process before its brought onto the market.
Challenges for the business include lack of a juice extractor as they are currently doing it manually.
Bavuga is still using the hot gun to seal cartons and that delay in certifying the drink is limiting market entry.
She also lacks enough funds, while high interest rates on loans from local banks and savings and credit co-operative societies is another barrier.
Packaging beans
Bavuga grows the NABE 2C (sugar beans, also commonly known as masava) variety of climbing beans. Last season, she produced over one tonne of sorted beans, of which 700kg were later packaged and sold.
Over 300kg were sold unpackaged to the locals and other markets.
The previous season, production was 1.2 tonnes of climbing beans. The agripreneur does packaging mainly on order, especially for the Kampala market and for supermarkets.
However, all the beans are sorted before they are sold.
Bavuga says Kampala is the main market for the beans. Supermarkets and markets in Sonde, Nalya, Bugolobi and Kyaliwajjala stock the beans.
Three supermarkets in Kisoro also retail the beans. Bavuga said 200kg were sold during this year’s Harvest Money Expo.
The market price for unsorted climbing beans is about sh3,500 per kilogramme.
She is looking to increase production to 1.5 tonnes to tap into the growing market for the beans, including in Saudi Arabia, where some individuals have expressed interest in the beans.
Boniconcil Korugyendo, a buyer in Kampala, talks highly of the beans, the branding and packaging. She says the beans are well sorted and have no weevils.
“You can’t find any aflatoxins in the beans. When I am going to cook, all I do is wash them before putting them on fire,” she said in a telephone interview on September 27.
Korugyendo, who got to know about the beans through a post by Bavuga on the Maryhill High School old students’ WhatsApp group, lauded the latter for good customer care, saying the farmer-cum-entrepreneur delivers the beans at no cost.
“I am now actually waiting for another delivery,” she said.
Korugyendo advised Bavuga to consider packaging of different sizes, saying the current 1kg packages inconvenience bulk buyers.
Quality
The beans are hand-sorted by temporary workers, mainly women.
“We follow all the post-harvest handling guidelines, including removing small sized beans, to ensure quality and value for money for our customers,” Bavuga says.
She adds that the beans are harvested when they are ready and then dried on tarpaulins.
The thrashed beans are packaged in sacks that are placed on racks off the ground to guard against moisture that causes moulding and aflatoxins, she says.
Bavuga packages the beans in polythene bags branded ‘Bafaso Beans’. The beans are best consumed or planted within a year of packaging.
This venture came on line in 2019, the agri-processor says. Although she is doing well, Bavuga says challenges are still many, including access to quality and affordable packaging materials, lack of sorting and labelling equipment; high cost of inputs and access to skilled personnel.
Knowledge gain
Bavuga has attended Harvest Money expos twice in search of winning tips and knowledge for her enterprises.
She attended training on dairy and poultry production, as well as that on fish farming during the two times at the expo.
Bavuga trained on crop production at the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO).
“I have also attended training at Mutolere on general agronomic practices,” she says.
She also does research on the internet to boost her knowledge.
Family involvement
Bavuga’s mother is still involved in the enterprise and does supervision and follow-ups, mainly in crop production.
Her two daughters — Carolyne Tibazimura and Carlyne Mutoni — support the farm’s marketing and operations departments. The girls market the beans, wine and ghee on social media networks.
“They are also promoting the farm as an agro-tourism destination in Kisoro among peers and social networks. However, when they come for holiday, they get involved in some of the operations on the farm,” she adds.
Community impact
The model farmer employs 14 workers — both casual and permanent staff.
The casual staff are paid sh6,000 each time they work, while the permanent staff earn between sh100,000 and sh200,000, depending on role.
She says the farm has benefited the community by providing them a ready market for coffee, bananas and pineapples as well as employment, especially for youth and women.
It has also impacted on the mindset of residents, challenging them to engage in value addition after seeing the products from Bafaso.
Coffee processing
Bavuga got 800kg of coffee last season, bringing in sh3m. A kilogramme of arabica coffee was at sh10,000 in Kisoro in August.
The agripreneur is targeting 320kg of coffee this harvest season. The coffee enterprise occupies two-and-a-half acres, and she is planning to plant coffee on an additional one-and-a-half acres.
Bavuga is a Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) certified nursery bed operator, supplying coffee seedlings to the Government, NGOs and individual farmers.
She was also certified as one of the best farmers in coffee stumping and fertiliser application in Kisoro district, which predominantly grows arabica coffee.
Additionally, Bafaso hosts a community coffee wet milling machine that serves six co-operatives. The plant was donated to the farmers by the Government, through UCDA.
Bavuga is the caretaker for the plant that serves coffee farmers from Kisoro municipality, Nyakabande and Nyundo sub-counties.
The huller is one of the four in the district, with others in Murora, Kanaba and Nyabwishenya sub-counties, she adds.
Farmers are charged sh300 per kilo of coffee processed, which is used for machine maintenance and to pay the workers.
The plant has the capacity to pulp 100kg per hour, leaving the farmer to rinse the beans and sun-dry them, she adds. Previously, she used manual methods to do the job.
“I would borrow a small pulping machine from a friend. However, this was costly and laborious and the coffee beans wouldn’t come out clean and some would be damaged,” she explains.
The co-operatives have signed a partnership deal with Inspire Africa, under the coffee renaissance programme.
Under the partnership, the farmers will be trained in post-harvest handling and other activities along the coffee value chain; get advances and sell their coffee at premium rates to Inspire Africa.
What they say
Silver Nteziryayo, a coffee farmer, said coffee growers in the catchment area now have a stable and reliable market.
“I can now pay my children’s fees and cater for all my family’s basic needs,” she says.
Lillian Nsaba, a retired teacher and farmer, said Bavuga has inspired many residents to join agribusiness.
“For instance, my piggery enterprise has ensured stable income for me in retirement,” she said.
Nsaba added that farmers also meet at Bafaso to discuss issues affecting them.
LEAD PHOTO CAPTION: Bavuga displaying some of her products. The farmer makes banana wine under the brand name, Bafaso banana coffee drink.
