Map of Uganda |
Rural youths in
Lira district have started to embrace farming as a fulltime occupation
and business. In the case of NICK OBOT, he went a notch higher to use
his fish farm to train and lift the youths out of poverty, writes Arthur
Matsiko.
In Ober village,
Ojwina division, Lira municipality, Obot is a role model for the youths.
A teacher by training, he has worked with various NGOs such as Uganda
Society for Disabled Children, International Rescue Committee and Agency
for Sustainable Rural Transformation.
His tasks entailed
teaching people about farming for sustainable income. However, he had
not realized he could practice farming until 2013 when he invested Shs
3.5 million from his savings to dig two fish ponds near his home. He
bought tilapia and catfish fingerlings which have kept on multiplying,
thereby expanding his ponds to six on 1,200 square metres of land.
With time, his
efforts caught the eye of district fisheries officer, John Peter Ariong,
who enrolled him to benefit from Africa Solidarity Trust Fund (ASTF) in
2014.
ASTF is an
innovative Africa-led fund to support development initiatives on the
continent. Its goal is to strengthen food security by assisting
countries and their regional organizations to eradicate hunger and
malnutrition, eliminate rural poverty and manage natural resources in a
sustainable manner.
Funded by Angola
and Equatorial Guinea, the project is being implemented by the Food and
Agriculture Organisation (FAO) of the UN.
TRAINING GROUND
So far, 12 youths
have been trained about construction and management of fish ponds,
raising citrus seedlings, rabbit rearing, fruits and banana growing.
Indeed, when the
ASTF steering committee visited Uganda on January 19, 2018, they were
led to Obot's farm. The team comprised FAO's country representative
Alhaji Jallow and Andrew Alio, the assistant commissioner, Aquaculture
in the ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, among
other officials.
Ariong told The Observer that Obot's farm was singled out because "he is well focused". "I identified him
because his farm is targeting training the youths to tap into farming,"
said Ariong. "Nick had been using his money; so, when I identified him, I
enrolled him to benefit from ASTF and was facilitated to improve on his
farm and engage more youths."
Through the
project, Obot has been trained to excavate ideal ponds. He has also been
facilitated to visit fish farms countrywide, provided with fingerlings,
fish feed and market linkages.
Here, we found 10 youths in the nursery beds of citrus, while others were feeding the fish and clearing weeds around the ponds.
"My aim is to
ensure that young people become financially independent. Whenever they
come here, they learn and single out what they are interested in. In the
end, I want everybody to own a farm of their interest. This will
eventually help solve poverty amongst the youths," Obot said.
Among his trainees
is Joshua Ogwok. Having joined Obot's farm in November 2015 with 10
colleagues, Ogwok was looking for what would occupy him during his
O-level vacations.
"I had some rabbits before I came to this farm, but when I learnt more about farming, I kept buying more rabbits," Ogwok says.
Last year, he sold about 70 rabbits to road constructors in Lira but never satisfied the demand.
"But I later
stopped selling after somebody told me that [Kampala] Serena hotel was
looking for somebody who can supply 100 rabbits a week," Ogwok adds.
Now he looks to
expand his farm thanks to inspiration from Obot. He talks of Obot as a
generous person who keeps encouraging the youths to identify their
interests in farming "and he keeps supporting us whenever we call upon
him".
EXPANSION
Besides the fish ponds, Obot has a plan for a poultry farm which he intends to use as another training ground for the youths.
"But this plan is
still on paper as I am saving towards its implementation," Obot said.
"After raising at least Shs 3.4m, I will be ready to take off so that I
can support the youths to start their own and become independent."
He has also
acquired more land in Alebtong town council to expand his farm and
recruit more youths into farming. Upon hearing his plans, Cecilia Okono,
the Ambassador of Equatorial Guinea in Italy, who donated $3,000
(approximately Shs 10.8m) to Obot.
To this, Jallow urged Obot to keep investing because "benefits come from working hard".
"Everything grows
in Uganda; and you can do anything here. Young people should learn from
leaders like this one [Obot]," Jallow added.
CHALLENGE
While ASTF has phased out after three years of operation, Obot has to deal with the long droughts that affect his projects.
"When the ponds
dried out, we had to dig a reservoir to help us pump the water into the
ponds," he said, adding that the reservoir also dried up due to the dry
spell. To tackle this, he has drilled underground water and installed a
water tank.
In a separate
interview, Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja, the minister for Agriculture,
told The Observer government is introducing alternative water sources to
counter dry spells affecting fish farmers.
"We are
constructing 20 million-litre tanks [countrywide]," said Sempijja. "We
know that there is of course drought; now we have improved on our
technologies and even the size of the reservoirs."
Obot sells a kilo
of fish at Shs 8,000 to the surrounding community, hotels and
restaurants in Lira town. But he admits demand is still higher than
supply - the reason he keeps expanding. To those interested in fish farming, Obot says planning and dedication are paramount.
"You need to take
time and learn by visiting people who are already in this trade. As you
start out, you need to do what you can manage," he says, adding that he
looks to having at least 50 youths managing their farms in the next five
years as a result of his mentorship.
No comments:
Post a Comment