Farmers urged to make autonomous agribusines decisions

Any farmer with ambitions of getting high value from their agribusiness must be armed with the ability of making an autonomous decision.

That empowerment has been lacking in Uganda especially amongst the small scale farmers that usually produce for subsistence use and are forever shrouded in a vicious cycle of poverty.

The fast rising Enabling Rural Innovation (ERI) East Africa approach that seeks to establish a proven methodology for enabling building of self-reliant farming communities seems to be the way to go for many Ugandan farmers.

According to Norbert Luigi Banio, the Programme Coordinator ERI in East Africa, small scale farmers ought to produce what they can sell, create a balance between food security and household income and above all, protect the environment for the future generations.

Banio, was educating an agribusiness symposium on climate change awareness and empowering farmers to see beyond the traditional farming means at Las Vegas Hotel-Bunga, last week that included small scale farmers from East Africa, academicians, politicians and government agriculture extensional workers.

Implemented by the Horint3000, the ERI approach is a strategic and participatory approach that puts small scale farmers at the centre of development processes.

Educating, skilling farmers the way to go

Almost by default, most farmers end up tiling their land and hope for farming yields at the end of each season. The new farming trends, seeking to address the subsistence farming challenges, calls for thorough training and equipping farmers with marketable farming tips.

In fact, it was noted that some Ugandan farmers have experienced static growth due to over dependence on government hand-outs such as seeds, equipment, money which deters their creativity in the ever changing agribusiness industry.

The ERI approach was tailor-made for farmers to be able to respond to ever changing market dynamics.

“ERI improves small farmers’ ability to sustainably develop goals, monitor progress, access better markets, conduct experiments and develop profitable agribusinesses,” Banio elaborated.

For the approach to spread better through the country and be embraced by farmers, the farming communities should be taken through a rigorous 25 weeks training period with community engagements and continuous mentorship support.

Farming module for modern farmers

Tired of making agribusiness losses and mistakes, small scale farmers have been advised to try out the latest approach that goes through a process. It starts with a diagnosis of the proposed farming enterprise. Here, farmers think about their own situation, get out of their comfort zone and evaluate the opportunities and challenges before undertaking the adventure. They should also be fully mindful of the seasonal calendar.

The next step has a prospective farmer setting their goals and timelines. This entails participatory monitoring and evaluation. In rural areas, it can be undertaken as an entire community to check the progress of the farming venture.

Stage three of the farming module involves market research and cost benefit analysis. Most Ugandan farmers make blunders by producing first and selling later. The fourth phase includes participatory research that has farmers’ field days that enables them to share a farming experiences.

The ERI approach emphasises that benefiting from agriculture starts with mindset change. The last and most crucial stage is the enterprise development that consists of trading, postharvest, making records and collective marketing.

This entire process breeds long term vision and external mobilisation, having a collective action as farming community, increases on creativity and innovation and also leads to limitless commitment.

Limitless

From implementation experience, monitoring visits, project reports, evaluation studies, and research, the approach has been confirmed as a limitless catalyst for self-reliance. Most groups have grown into higher level farmer organisations that market collectively. Others have purchased land, constructed stores, made joint investments, embraced savings and credit schemes, improved their food and income security. Notably, these groups have become more attractive to government and other institutions due to their positive mindset and ability to manage resources better.

Lack of extensional workers

For the success of the approach, the government agriculture extensional workers need to be in abundance in all the 146 districts in Uganda, revealed Consulanta Achayo, a commissioner in the Agriculture, Animal and Fisheries Ministry.

“As the government, we cannot reach every farmer but to engage them in groups and communities as the ERI approach preaches. We cannot achieve agricultural transformation from subsistence farming to commercial production without having extensional officers on ground. That said, we have a shortage of extensional workers at the moment with a deficit of 12000,” Achayo noted.

She revealed that the Agriculture Ministry has only 6100 extensional farmers nationally which makes their ‘Single Spine System’ that brings together private, non-state and government actors to achieve agribusiness development.

She challenged those in academia to ‘dance on the tunes of farmers’ and alter the national curriculum because an informed agriculture sector creates demand and progress as is the case in South Korea.