Ssentongo has mastered the art of minimising expenses

John Ssentongo of Lukindu Village near Kiwangala Trading Centre, in Lwengo District is a man with many interesting farming ideas.

He sees no reason, for example, why anybody with some space in which to practice agriculture should be a frequent goer to the local food market to buy food.

“You will rarely see me in the market, except perhaps once or twice in a year when some members of my household want to eat beef,” he says.

Motivated by mixed farming

His role, as a farmer living not far from a growing small rural town, is to sell some organically grown vegetables, fruits, tubers, sugar cane, rabbits, local chicken, and some other foodstuffs to food venders in the trading centre and the local market.

“Actually my real aim is not so much to increase my income but rather to minimise expenditure,” he says.

“If I can produce on my farm what money can buy then why do I worry about the money? Certainly I do sell some of my farm products but also donates some items to those in need. Just this morning I stopped some children who were returning from church and I picked some avocados and gave them to take home,” says Ssentongo.

Model farm

His farm also passes as a model natural environment conservation homestead, well planted with fruit trees, food crops, and medicinal plants.

Under the slogan, “Go Green” he leads fellow residents in fruit tree planting, organic farming practices and soil conservation, natural fertiliser making, and growing crops in small gardens as wide as a square foot.

He condemns the mindless usage of plastic bags and bottles which he says take centuries to decompose and are responsible for breeding of mosquitoes, spreading of water borne diseases and soil depletion, among other evils.

Climate smart farming

He also uses vegetables, medicinal plants, and some fruit shrubs as compound ornamentals.

His compound is beautified by lines of varied coloured cabbages and other vegetables growing in soil contained in used polythene bags. Riva cabbages which are purple are grown in lines along Gloria cabbages which are green.

“I collect used polythene bags and then I fill them up with soil before planting the vegetables,” he says.

Besides cabbages he grows onions, nakati, jjobyo, cherry tomatoes and other local vegetables. He also grows some local medicinal herbs one of which he claims is quite effective in preventing tooth decay.

How he makes his manure 

He does not believe in buying fertilisers and pesticides from shops. “Farmers must avoid such expenses,” he says. “It is possible to make all those right at home.” Since he keeps some goats, rabbits, and poultry he uses their urine and droppings to make liquid manure. He puts livestock droppings in a sack which he soaks and keeps in a drum of water for about a week.

He also squeezes up some plant leaves and puts them in the same drum of water where it also remains for about a week.

Every day he finds time to stir up the mixture. For him this is the manure that keeps his crops so well nourished.

Pesticides on farm

He also prepares his own pesticides out of hot pepper, ash, and some insect repellant plants such as tobacco mixed in water and kept for at least a week. This is the concoction that he uses to keep pests away from his farm.

“Apart from being a source of natural manure the local chicken and the ducks provide us with eggs for our consumption but we sell the excess eggs as well. We also occasionally eat chicken or rabbit meat and since I seldom go to the market for beef, we now and again slaughter a goat to enjoy some red meat,” says Ssentongo.

Lauded by other farmers

Edward Mukiibi vice-president of Slow Food –a worldwide organisation which works to ensure that all people get access to good, clean and fair food – describes Ssentongo’s farm as very unique.

“In June 2012 he hosted delegates from some 28 Slow Food member countries and we had quite interesting discoveries there.  At his farm the delegates were able to find traditional mushrooms, white ants, crickets and other local delicacies that cannot be easily obtained in other places and all this is due to the fact that he does not use agro-chemicals,” says Mukiibi.

Mukiibi also agrees with Ssentongo’s philosophy of minimising expenditure on food and ensuring that members of the households are fed on a nutritious diet.

“Some farmers grow crops such as pineapples or tomatoes and get a lot of money but later spend it all on buying foodstuffs such as maize flour, rice, and cooking oil,” he says.

“They also spend a lot of money going to hospitals due to under nutrition related illnesses. The best option would be to feed their families on the appropriate diet.”

Ssentongo’s farm is planted with lots of fruit trees such as mangoes, avocado, pawpaw, sugar cane, and jack fruit, which give it a cool atmosphere most of the time and provide strong protection against the hot tropical sun.

Now aged 75, Ssentongo who holds a diploma in accounting used to work as an accountant with the Ministry of Works in the 70s before he resigned more than 30 years ago to become a farmer.

His home is also a tourist centre and he has constructed some lodges for those who want to relax in a quiet green environment.

“Recently we hosted some three young women from Germany who spent a month with us but they never had any reason to go anywhere else to buy food because we had all the fruits, the vegetables, the potatoes, the eggs and the meat for them  right here,” he narrated.

“They told me and my grandchildren to expect to live long lives because we live closer to nature by being surrounded with trees and eating organically grown food,”  Ssentongo says.

He saves most of his seeds from the crops that he harvests.

“Well, there is no way that I can save seed for such crops as cabbages but as much as possible I try to save seeds of vegetables such as nakati, bbugga, and other local vegetables. One other reason why I prefer growing local Buganda vegetables is that they are not so prone to pest attack. Take, for example, our local tomatoes which are rarely attacked by late blight and other diseases. They are healthier to eat than those exotic, large, tomatoes which must be sprayed with pesticides and are commonly displayed in food markets everywhere, ” he shares.

Advice

His message to fellow farmers is that they must make sure there is sufficient nutritive food in their homes first before they worry so much about what to sell.

And truth to tell under-nutrition always comes with frequent illnesses and stunting of children’s growth which end up as heavy health burden to the farmer who will be forced to waste more time and money taking children to hospitals.

“It is not a matter of how much money one gets out selling food but rather how much money one avoids spending on food consumed in one’s homestead,” he says. 

Organic farming

He does not believe in buying fertilisers and pesticides from shops. “Farmers must avoid such expenses,” he says. “It is possible to make all those right at home.” Since he keeps some goats, rabbits, and poultry he uses their urine and droppings to make liquid manure. He puts livestock droppings in a sack which he soaks in a drum of water for about a week.