TITLE: Best of The Best Farmers
PUBLISHER: Vision Group
SELLING POINTS: Aristoc Booklex and Vision Group newspaper vendors
The seventh edition of a farming book featuring Uganda`s best farmers was launched last Friday, December 2, 2022. The book, a collection of stories about the 41 best farmers from the 2022 competition was launched during the awards gala for the 2022 Best Farmers.
The book will be available starting Monday next week at all major bookshops and from Vision Group newspaper vendors around the country.
The book is a compilation of the stories of the 41 best farmers featured in the 2022 National Best Farmers’ Competition. The resourceful book has 222 colourful pages.
“Because we featured the ‘best of the best’ under the 2022 Best Farmers Competition, they have more useful tips to give to fellow farmers than when we ran their first profiles years ago,” observes David Mukholi, the Managing Editor of Vision Group.
The compilation is one of the richest collections that has ever been published over the years. The book has got a profile of a farmer doing one of the ‘essential enterprises’ in the country. These include dairy farmers like Dr Patrick Ssekimpi, Colonel Dick Bugingo of Kiruhura, Margaret Mbaga of Bushenyi, Nicholas Matsiko of Kashari in Mbarara, Dr Tonny Kidega of Gulu, Betty Mbaziira of Isingiro. Piggery farmers like Dr Emma Naluyima of Wakiso, Clara Anzoa of Moyo and Julius Bataamye of Kamuli.
There are urban farmers like Dr Diana Nambatya of Kulambiro-Kampala, Rachel Amol of Wakiso, Chicken farmers like Johnson Basangwa of Kamuli, Celia Kansiime of Kiwenda-near Gayaza, horticulture, fish farming like Tarad Iborich Okello, coffee practice like Patrick Bakumpe Makanga of Kyotera, David Wamai of Manafwa, Godfrey Musanje of Kalangala.
Vegetable and greenhouse farming are featured too. Other unique enterprises include mushroom growing, palm oil growing and agri-tourism
Although Agri-tourism is a new enterprise, it is gradually taking root among farmers. There is for example the story of Julius Bigabwa from Kabarole and Judith Bakirya of Bugiri, who are getting good money from agri-tourism.
The book was written in such a way that there is a story from every part of the country, a story that shows how that farmer in that region has managed to go over the local challenges in order to prosper. Right from Arua, Moyo, Gulu, Amuru, Lira, Soroti, Bukedea, Kapchorwa, Kween, Manafwa, Busia, Bugiri, Kamuli, Jinja, Kampala, Wakiso, Luwero, Masaka, Kyotera, Kalangala, Kiruhura, Mbarara, Isingiro, Bushenyi, Kabarole, Masindi, Bunyangabu etc there is a story for you.
LOTS OF TIPS
In addition to the profiles, the book has got over 12 detailed farming tips touching on most aspects of farming. These are well written hands on tips that are easily understandable and applicable to any farm by farmers. They have been christened ‘Ekibalo’ because they put emphasis on the ‘mathematics’ or figures involved in each enterprise.
These include bee-keeping, cassava growing, Fish farming, rearing goats, money in local chicken, growing mangoes, earning money from oranges, making money in macadamia and setting up a perfect beef cattle farm.
VALUE ADDITION KEY
The book also shows how farmers can add value to various products at their farms. These tips were given by farmers who are adding value to what they are producing. Value addition improves farmer’s earnings by between 40 to 50%.
All these farmers travelled to the Netherlands, came back and started implementing what they learnt.
These include Betty Mbaziira who processes yoghurt, Dr Tonny Kidega from Gulu who has a complete value chain for dairy, Robert Okodia and Tom Anyii from Lira who processes and exports bee products and John Winter Bagada from Masindi who processes juice from his mangoes, Julius Bigabwa from Kabarole who processes macadamia, fish among other products, Abel Kiddu who adds value to mushrooms.
These farmers do not only talk about the benefits of winning, but also how they harnessed their new status to improve their game.
Story filed by Joshua Kato
