Farmers benefit from Munyegera’s skills at making agro-processing machinery

What you need to know:

He is gifted at learning how machines work and making them for his clients, mostly farmers. Geoffrey Munyegera told Fred Muzaale how he got started

My name is Geoffrey Munyegera, 30 years old. I am the managing director of Munyegera Metal Works, a company that fabricates various types of agricultural or farm implements that process produce such as maize and groundnuts. These include shellers, water pumps, welding machines, ox-carts, produce driers, grain cleaners, cassava chipping machines and any other post-harvest handling equipment.

My workshop is in Mayuge Town Council, Mayuge District. I have been doing this metal fabrication for 12 years.
I make various sizes of machines with different output. They are either automatic or manually operated.

Despite being involved in this kind of work, which seems to be for those who studied mechanical engineering at university or any other tertiary institution, I went to Senior Two at King of Kings Secondary School in Iganga District before dropping out due to lack of school fees.

This was after the death of my father, Soosi Munyegera , who was paying for my education. He was a rally driver and owned a motor garage from where he used to build and repair his cars but also offered welding services to the customers who needed it.

Raising initial capital
From this work, my father earned a living that enabled him to fend for his family fairly well. But as a young boy, I used to simply watch my father do his welding work but I did not get involved in the actual work. Because of this, I did not learn much from him before he died.

However, when I dropped out of school, I thought about what kind of work I could do to earn a living.
After some time I decided to follow in my father’s footsteps by doing welding work despite the little knowledge I had about it.
Besides not knowing how to weld, I also did not have a welding machine.

Since no one was willing to give me the money to buy this machine, I decided to utilise the vast family land we have to grow maize to sell and get Shs80,000 to buy the machine. From the maize I earned Shs110,000 and bought the welding machine.

For the start, I operated from my late father’s workshop. I was making metallic charcoal stoves, saucepans and metallic suitcases.

This was because I did not have the knowledge to fabricate things like metallic doors and windows, which were on high demand in the area.

One day, a friend who owned a similar workshop in Iganga and had a lot of experience in welding, asked me to spend some time at his workshop so that he could train me in crafting and welding things like metallic doors, windows and chairs.

I took his advice and after spending only three months with him, I became better skilled in fabricating those items.
Because my products were of good quality, the demand for them shot up and I got many customers. Sometimes I could even run out of what to sell to them.

However, as time went on the demand for metal doors and windows declined as a result of many welders joining the business of making them. Because of this, my income started to decline since we were many service providers competing for the few buyers.

Making farm machines
Because I was born with a rare technical skill of being able to make any machine by just looking at the one manufactured in factories, I decided to switch to making other things, which my competitors lacked the skills to make, that is how I started fabricating farm machines.

When I was starting out, I would go and look at say a maize sheller from an agro shop in Jinja or Kampala. Then, I would then go back and fabricate that machinery at my workshop.

And since my machines were more durable than the ones imported from abroad I quickly got many customers for my machinery.
I started with fabricating a maize sheller since many farmers in eastern region an area known for growing maize but had the challenge of removing the maize from the cob quickly.

Sometimes my customers just describe for me what they want to do and I make a machine that will help them do that work for them.
As time went on, I also started making other machines, which farmers asked me to do for them. I was making the machines on order.

I buy the raw materials I use such as metal bars and wires and other things from Jinja, Iganga and Kampala. Since I have now got the experience, it takes me only two to three days to make a machine.

Personal experience :
He gets Shs400, 000 a month from offering maize shelling services to farmers

In 2013, Bright John Nsimex, from Kanara sub-county, Kamwenge District, was buying produce such as maize and beans on behalf of a trader. This was before he attended a training in farm machinery use, which was under the Commodity Production and Marketing Activity (CPMA).

The aim of the training was to enable him acquire skills for better income through provision of post-harvest services to farmers.

After the training, Nsimex bought a small maize shelling machine that can be towed by a motor-cycle at Shs2.8m from Munyegera Metal Works in Mayuge Town Council, Mayuge District. The machine removes maize from the cob much faster than manual methods.

“Since I was known to the farmers, who were involved in growing maize, it was easy for me to get the customers who wanted the shelling services,” he says. “So, within a short time my business picked up. From December last year to February, I earned Shs1.8m.”

He adds that he tows the machine using a motorcycle to gardens or stores where his customers require the maize shelling services.
“I charge Shs20 for a kilo of maize. For a 100kg bag of maize I get Shs2,000,” he says, adding “This may seem like little money but during the maize harvesting season, I earn between Shs80,000 and Shs120,000 a day from my work,”

With time, he says, many farmers now prefer to use his shelling services instead of removing maize manually from cobs, which is not only time consuming but also tedious.

He intends to buy a bigger machine since his clientele has grown. This, he says will enable him serve all his customers in a shorter period

Nonetheless Nsimex says his biggest challenge is the high cost of diesel, which he says reduces his profit margin.

Cost of machines
A motorised maize shelling machine fitted with a 6.5 horsepower engine can shell 500kgs of maize per hour. It costs Shs2.5m.
Another with an eight horsepower diesel engine can shell one tonne per hour. This one costs Shs3.5m.

The biggest maize shelling machine is fitted with a nine horsepower diesel engine. The capacity is two tonnes per hour and it costs Shs6m.

There is also a manually operated one and it costs Shs200,000. It can shell between 100 and 250 kilogrammes of maize per hour.
The larger motorised groundnut shelling machine is at Shs6m while a smaller one is sold at Shs2.2m.

A big produce drier that does two tonnes per hour costs Shs10m while a grain cleaner that cleans two tonnes of grain per hour goes for Shs3m.

The others are: a water pump which costs Shs2.2m, and welding machine and ox cart at Shs800,000 each.

market
Most of my customers are farmers as well as traders who deal in agro machinery, and they come from different parts of the country.

When the customers make their orders, they sometimes pay cash or make a deposit. I give them a period of time in which they have their orders completed. After that, they come to pick the equipment.

I also repair farm machinery when I am called to do so. If the machinery was bought from my workshop and it gets a problem I go and fix it.

The cost for repair depends on its type and distance from my workshop. In a week, I sell about four machines or more sometimes.

partnership with usaid feed the future

Munyegera displays a machine that he has been working on. PHOTO BY FRED MUZAALE

When Commodity Production and Marketing Activity (CPMA), which is under Usaid Feed the Future programme, was looking for partners, they chose Munyegera as one of the people they will work with to promote use of the technologies to boost agricultural productivity.

Under CPMA, he is linked to clients who buy the machinery and also collaborate with him to train farmers on how to use the machines for better income generation.

In addition, CPMA also partners with him in training farmers on how to maintain the machines and also use them effectively.
This, in turn, increases the demand for the farm equipment that he makes.

Robert Anyang, acting Chief of Party, CPMA, says that Munyegera’s machinery was being promoted so that more farmers buy and use them to increase their productivity.

Munyegera Agro Machinery employs 20 workers, most of them youths. “I also offer training services to people who want to learn metal fabrication work. I charge Shs800,000 a year,” he says.
CPMA builds on more than 20 years of agricultural development experience and lessons learned.

It coordinates with other Feed the Future activities such as agricultural inputs, enabling environment for agriculture, and agricultural research and technology.
The five-year Activity that runs from 2013 to 2018 is being funded to a level of $20.9m (Shs55.2b).

It aims at sustainably increasing production and marketing of high-quality maize, beans and coffee in 34 focus districts. Districts were selected using several criteria, including production potential of three priority crops and presence of market infrastructure.

Directly aligned with ministry of Agriculture’s Development Strategy and Investment Plan, CPMA aims to improve domestic production and increase exports of coffee, maize, and beans. This is expected to translate to increased incomes and food security for smallholder farmers.

challenges
My biggest challenge is the high cost of electricity, which digs deep into my earnings.
Also, it is unreliable as it is on and off. For instance, it has been off for a month now and I have been using a generator, which I fabricated from here.
The other challenge is renting this plot where my workshop is located. Every year I pay Shs3.5m. But I hope to shift next year to my own piece of land, which I bought.
The cost of raw materials is also high, which reduces my profit margin.