He took a chance, now reaps big from farming

Even just by appearance, Gonzaga Mayanja, 46, looks a prosperous man and showcases the skills of an experienced farmer.
The commissioner in charge of Peace Recovery and Development Plan (PRDP) in the Office of Prime Minister has a farm in Lubumba village, Kyannamukaaka Sub-county, in Masaka District.
In 2008, land in distant parts of Masaka was cheaper but very few had the courage to establish farming enterprises on it.
But Mayanja was one of those who saw the potential of investing in such land. So, he started to save money so as to purchase land in this area.
Like anyone starting out, he began by getting 10 acres of land at Lubumba village. And that is how he started his farming voyage with 20 cows, which he bought from village residents. There are now 50 cows on the farm.
Yasin Lubega, the manager, handles the farm business while Mayanja is away on his other office duties. For example, when the cows are being sprayed during the weekends. He supervises the 15 workers who are employed on the farm.
Mayanja says after the animal farm was set, he thought of starting up coffee plantation to utilise resources such as manure, which was readily available from animal wastes.
“Having a bull in cattle farm has worked well. Every year, the cows produce as many calves and this helps me get enough manure from them,” he says.
He started with Ankole long horned cattle and a Boran bull, the breed which Kenyan ranchers developed from cattle of the Borana people of southern Ethiopia.
After some time, the farm started producing milk from the cows and even traders started booking the others for meat.
However, he was advised by a friend, who is also a farmer, to replace the Boran bulls with a Sahiwal bull, which he bought in Sembabule District.
The reddish brown bull with a big hump is tick-resistant and heat-tolerant. It is also highly resistant to parasites, both internal and external, thus making it an admirable breed for cattle farming.
Although Boran bull is known for its fertility, docility, early maturation and hardiness, he decided to try it out with Sahiwal breed.
“Sahiwal has good tender meat, it is a good breed and it is dual purpose. You can get both quality milk and meat,” he noted.
In 2012, when the government sensitised people to utilise agricultural schemes such as the National Agricultural Advisory Services (Naads). Through this, he obtained 4,500 free coffee seedlings, which helped him expand his plantation. There are now about 50 acres of coffee.
“I was getting manure regularly from animals and I saw another opportunity of getting coffee from Naads,” Mayanja points out.
At the beginning, he used Shs0.5m in clearing the land plus other labour costs.
He grows clonal and ‘Elite’ coffee and uses animal manure as a fertiliser.
Since clonal coffee takes about three years to mature to its first harvest, in 2015 he was able to collect 100 bags. Each bag was sold at Shs170,000 earning him a total of Shs1.7m.
In addition to cattle and coffee, he rears goats. They are kept in an enclosure roofed with iron sheets and with ample space for them to move around.
Inside, there are plastic basins with water for the goats to drink. The goats are tethered during the day and protected in the enclosure at night.
“I sealed the floor using bricks and concrete. Early in the morning, [the workers] clean, collect the droppings and transfer it to the gardens,” says Mayanja, who holds Master’s degree in project planning and management from Makerere University.
He adds that unlike growing coffee and rearing cattle, the goats are less labour intensive since they can be fed within their enclosure or grazed outside it.
According to him, it can accommodate more than 200 but right now, there are 20 goats. “I bought each goat at Shs200,000 from farmers in the neighbourhood. They have produced kids and I hope to add other breeds.”
Among the goats on his farm, there are Mubende and Kigezi breeds.
Much as the focus is on coffee, he also has 50 acres of eucalyptus. There are also fruits such as pineapple, oranges and watermelon.
He sells 30 cows (beef) and earns Shs30m per season but the volume of milk produced is still low. What is collected is shared among the 15 workers at the farm, family members or friends.
In addition, he sells 90-100 sacks of coffee at Shs18m per season.
Mayanja, who is also the proprietor of Greenvile country resort beach Masaka, says even the goats he disregarded before bring in Shs 20m per year. He sells 100 goats on average each at Shs200,000.
But because of the dry season last year, he was unable to earn more from fruits.
His wife Juliet Mayanja the assistant chief administrative officer, Masaka, explains they plan to expand the farm.
“We have bought more land. I think this will help us put our goal of commercial farming into a definite plan.”

To note
A diversified farm is one that has several production enterprises or sources of income but no source of income equal as much as 50 per cent of the total income from that source on such farm farmers depends on several sources of incomes. It is also called as general farming.
The advantages include: better use of land, labour and capital; engagement in all- year activities; less risk; utilisation of by-products; regular and quicker returns; better soil management, best use of equipments.
Major disadvantage is proper inspection is difficult and wastage is hard to detect.
Source: Agriculture Information Bank

50m

AVERAGE AMOUNT IN SHILLINGS EARNED FROM COFFEE, CATTLE, GOATS IN A YEAR