By Jackie Nalubwama
At the ninth Harvest Money Expo at Namboole Stadium, visitors are flocking in for the sole reason of learning more about best farming practices.
Sponsored by Engsol, aBi, Pepsi, Bella Wine, Uganda Development Corporation, and the Kingdom of Netherlands, the expo is the biggest agricultural event in Uganda.
The expo, besides exhibitors in the agriculture industry and supporting sectors, also has experts in the training workshops who share their nuggets of success.
It is for that reason that Moses Mwesigwa from Kabale says he came to the expo.
“I am in construction, but I am also doing small-scale farming, mostly vegetables: cabbage and Irish potatoes. But I wish to add on passion fruit growing, which I have come to learn in this training session,” he says.
He adds, “I hope to gain enough knowledge to grow passion fruit.”
Mwesigwa confesses that this is his second time attending the expo; the first time was last year at Kololo Airstrip. “Last year at Kololo, I just came to browse through,” he says.
Similarly, Victoria Nantakiika, from Sisa in Wakiso says it is her second time attending the expo.
“I just want to get knowledge from people in the farming business because this is my second year farming,” says Nantakiika, who grows passion fruit on an acre in Sisa.
Narrating her farming journey, Nantakiika says she was into fashion before the Covid-19 pandemic hit the globe. “Farming is my new passion. I started farming in 2020 during the pandemic. She says she was into fashion before, but the pressure to follow trends made her quit.
“I started growing plants in buckets in the back of the house. My neighbour was growing passion fruit at the time, and I got interested. I started growing passion fruit,” she says.
In search of knowledge, she took to YouTube and found Bashir Mayiga’s channel. He is a renowned passion fruit grower in Kalungu, who is also an expert at the expo.
“He is the one who told us about Harvest Money Expo because we were planning to visit him at his farm. So, I have come to listen to him in this training session,” she says.
If you are out there and are like Mwesigwa and Nantakiika, come to the expo to learn more about your farming curiosity or passion. The experts will give you all the tips and hacks you need to earn from farming.
