Gudula vows to lift farmers’ livelihood through re-soil fertilisers

She has no regrets of forsaking pressing the keyboard and handling chalk every day to dip her well-manicured nails into soil.

In 2015, Gudula Naiga Basaza decided to retire early from her well-paying lecturing job at Uganda Martyrs University (UMU), Nkozi to start Gudie Leisure Farm - a zero waste integrated ecosystem farm in Najjera, a suburb of Kampala.

Sitting on nine acres, the farm is involved in poultry, piggery, aquaculture, horticulture and has now added the production of re-soil fertilisers to the growing list.
“While selling chicks, piglets and chicks to farmers, we conceived an idea of getting fertilisers that can grow feeds in time. We partnered with experts from the University of Mannheim in Germany to come up with the re-soil fertilisers in 2015,” Gudula recounts.

Among other traits that separate re-soil from the usual fertilisers is the ability to enhance soil. “This type also helps retain water for over 15 days, improve soil restructure, reduce the need for chemical fertilisers, give nutrition to the soil, allow aeration and last three years without reapplying,” she said.

Less capital, big gains
Gudula injected about Shs8m as startup of the fertilisers venture two years ago from her savings accumulated over the years spent as an ICT lecturer at the university.
“Our main challenge is manifested in the packaging of the fertilisers, we wanted it to be sold in supermarkets and malls implying they shouldnt be leaking besides being an environmental burden,” Gudula reveals.

The other challenge, she adds, is changing the people’s mindset on investing in corporate farming.
“We have all our customers in our database and we are now trying to work out a process with dfcu bank to see that they save from their earnings.”

Daunting task of changing lives

Gudula says she is inspired by her digital background and the vow she took in her Transformers’ Association to uplift the lives of 200, 000 by 2026.

“The association has prominent people like Patrick Bitature who chose to change lives of 500, 000 people through telecoms. I chose farming, and I’m still on course to achieve that,” she explains.

“At University, you dont get a chance to dictate matters, in your garden, you do. I have no regret in joining the farming business because my researching background has helped hit the ground running.”

Gudula at a glance
She describes herself as the first Ugandan doctor of ICT who has instilled knowledge and skills at university and used ICT to revolutionalise small scale farmers.
She is married to Prof. Robert Baraza and has two sons.
Her Gudie Leisure Farm has an advisory board comprised of Hon. Victoria Sekitoleko, Prof William Kyamuhangire, Vera Oling Kintu, Eng. Israel Ndahura and Helen Lubowa.
Gudula strongly believes she will come to live her dreams.

How Gudula makes her fertiliser
According to Gudula, it is not difficult getting the raw materials for the re-soil fertilisers because everything is within the ecosystem.

“We apply composite, dung, plant charcoal, plant manure and soil to make one 10 kilo bag,” she says.
At the moment, they sell about 35 bags a week with a three-people workforce but their target to sell the same number of bags in one day by the end of this year.
She decries the long process – usually a month - it takes to manufacture one bag with each bag costing Shs35, 000 but hastily says the wait is worthwhile.

A farmer may need 100 kilos to cover one acre of land but the application depends on the type of soil. Plants that take longer periods to growsuch as coffee and banana need direct application while crops such as dodo, cabbages and sorghum need spreading of the fertilisers.

Market
From targeting urban farmers that tilt on limited land, Gudie Farm now reaches farmers in Amolatar, Mubende, Isingiro, Hoima and Lwengo. Gudula says she sells 280 bags from each round of her eight tanks. “We sell each bag at Shs25, 000 and every time we go to the market it is a sell out,” says Gudula, who adds “The demand is increasing and we are contemplating adding more selling outlets to our main branch in Container Village. “The demand is on the rise because our product is purely organic,” she says.