Robusta coffee is seen inside the processing unit of Kasaali Farmers’ Cooperative Society Limited (KACFA) in Kyotera District on May 20, 2024. PHOTO/MICHEAL KAKUMIRIZI
The Deployment of the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) on the Lake Victoria waters that crumbled Mr Daniel Kasules’ fish business could have been a blessing in disguise after finding solace in the coffee farming business.
Mr Kasule, a resident of Kyango Village, Kalisizo Sub-county in Kyotera District, found himself employed at a construction site when he was 10 years old. He had earlier dropped out of school while in Primary Four after his father died. Mr Kasule kept switching to different construction sites for work while gaining skills in the building industry for about 15 years.
Mr Kasule, who is now all smiles after bagging an estimated Shs150 million from coffee sales for the 2023/ 2024 coffee harvest season, says he has been able to venture into different businesses including the transport industry, which gives his family hope for a better future.
After abandoning the construction industry, Mr Kasule relocated to different landing sites on the Lake Victoria dealing in fish. The fish trade proved a better option and a turning point in life but quickly came to an end after the government deployed the Fisheries Protection Unit (FPU) in 2017. His trade depended on the flourishing fishing industry on the Lake Victoria.
“When the soldiers (UPDF) entered the lake, many fishermen abandoned the fishing job. I could not get the fish. But luckily I had bought several pieces of land from the fish business,” he says.
Mr Kasule had been born in a family of nine children where his parents kept struggling to meet their basic needs. He realised that hard work was the only way to fend for his family. His siblings also dropped out of school because of the poverty at his family home.
While in the fish business, Mr Kasule earned profits and bought 22 acres in Masaka District and eight acres in Kyotera District. On the two separate pieces of land, Mr Kasule planted eucalyptus trees.
However, after realisaing that eucalyptus trees were not going to change his fortunes, he turned to coffee growing since some residents dealing in the crop seemed successful and were paying school fees for their children, among other needs.
Mr Kasule’s initial coffee harvest put a smile on his face since it came at a time when the country was in total lockdown following the outbreak of Covid-19.
“I got about Shs10 million from my first coffee harvest in 2020. I never had much to spend this money on since the country was under lockdown. I never paid school fees but only met the family basics,” he said.
Mr Daniel Kasule at his coffee garden in Kyotera District. PHOTO/RICHARD KYANJO
Mr Kasule invested the coffee proceeds in improving the coffee tree yields.
By 2023, the coffee trees were very promising. While he harvested the coffee during the 2023/2024 season, Mr Kasule never anticipated the sudden rise in the coffee prices.
“Like many coffee farmers the sharp rise in the coffee market price was a surprise. I have managed to buy a truck to help in the transport business for both the coffee and hire transport services,” he says.
Mr Kasule now plans to grow coffee on his other eight acres of land.
“If I can also purchase a coffee processing machine to help grade the coffee beans before the final market, it will be a good achievement,” he said.
Mr Kasule is already mapping out the new idea after purchasing land at Mitondo Trading Centre in Kyotera District where he plans to have the coffee processing machine.
However, Mr Kasule says, like other farmers, he has deployed workers armed with bows and arrows to chase thieves who usually target raw coffee beans in their gardens.
The Uganda Coffee Development Authority has predicted an increase in coffee production for the 2024/2025 season as more farmers enter the coffee farming industry. The coffee exports are projected at 500,000 (60) kilogramme bags for October 2024, a figure lower than the previous months because of the end to the main harvesting season in the greater Masaka and South-Western Uganda.
