Kakiika earns Shs15b from trees

Having etched out a name as one of the most respected agro-forestry farmers in the country, Mohammed Kakiika is willing to caution and enlighten novices hoping to get quick yields from the venture.
Kakiika, also the headmaster of Vienna College Namugongo, says the challenges, opportunities and avenues of reaping from agribusiness ventures such as agro-forestry, coffee and bananas have evolved over the last four years and are a no go zone for the impatient or money hungry prospective farmers.
From a burgeoning venture of 25-acre banana plantation, one million eucalyptus trees, 77,000 coffee trees, 8,000 mvule trees, 8,000 musiizi trees and mangoes in 2014, his farm at Nabalanga Village, Nakifuma Sub-county, Mukono District is now sitting on 600 acres.
Granted, his farm is so successful and progressive that it now includes acres of pine and cattle, but it has come at a hefty price – perseverance.
“I do not want to be poor again and that is why whatever I do, I do it to near perfection,” says the 51-year-old educationist who is celebrating his eighth year in diversified commercial farm.
In only three years, Kakiika’s banana plantation has swelled from 25 to 40 acres even when the trees, courtesy of his intercropping farming technique, tried to affect the franchise at some point.
“You cannot think of making profits in agriculture. It is not a quick return venture but a long term project that requires one to have a fall back job like me,” Kakiika advises.
Having not profited from growing maize before trying out the trees venture, Kakiika reveals that the choice of enterprise also matters a lot today for one to gain handsomely from farming.

Trees have made me a billionaire
One thing is for certain, when you venture into agro-forestry – study the market. Kakiika even has the luxury of chasing away single buyers until they make up a group ready to buy big and pay big.
“Traders gather to buy poles from all over Kampala and neighbouring areas. I do not sell to small buyers, I want to get Shs900m at ago not in batches so that I invest the money in another venture,” he notes.
His profound love for trees dates back to 2001 when he returned from a 10-year working exile in South Africa.
Kakiika made it a habit to literally plant a tree every day and the first impact was made at Kabojja Secondary School, then Vienna College and his leafy home in Muyenga before he reluctantly started tree farming in 2009 back at his ancestral home in Nakifuma.
Yet it is the art of managing his tree acreage that has made Kakiika a standout farmer.
“I now have more than one million eucalyptus trees. I have recently pruned about 500,000 and sold at Shs2,000 each which raked in a big fee. If you want to maintain the forest growth, do not touch the bigger trees. For example after, the pruning, I got about 200,000 bad trees, sold off 500,000 and remained with about 300,000 straight and tall ones that you call sell at Shs100,000 each and you can reap about Shs15bn.”
He says the high breed eucalyptus trees have high chances of survival but are expensive.
“When I look at my tree project blossoming under the care of 140 workers mostly from West Nile (for their hard work and loyalty), I walk through it proudly listening to ‘Gold’ ballad by Nicole,” Kakiika says.
The cardinal impediment Kakiika, a qualified teacher with a Bachelors of Arts in Education and an education administrator with working experience spanning over 25 years at the Cambridge International Curriculum in Uganda, Lesotho and South Africa, faces is snakes. He has so far killed 200 in various shapes and sizes.
“I killed a cobra last week. I cannot move through my forest without gumboots and a stick. I would have gone for fumigation but the project is too large.”

Bananas and coffee
You would not be faulted for thinking Kakiika feeds the entire Kampala with bananas.
Every Monday, traders in droves from across Kampala markets frequent his farm in Nakifuma to buy in trucks.
It is estimated that he currently rakes in Shs50m monthly from bananas that sit on 40 acres. He is currently contemplating pulling down a section of pine plantation to increase the Matooke acreage because pine, not being a native crop in Mukono soils, grows at a slower rate.
His success growing bananas and coffee farming is wrapped in the well thought out idea of digging 21 dams and more than 10 water reservoirs that irrigate the farm even in dry periods.
Kakiika currently gets Shs500m from 100 acres of coffee per harvest.
“I have planted mvule trees for my children to harvest from in future.”

Kakiika’s Tips
In the era of falling rental business, making friends with the soils seems the way to go, and Kakiika, who started off by selling a fleet of his taxis from Kaki Investments and its sister Kiwedde Coasters transporters back in 2007, has no regrets looking back.
“Rule number one, you must be ready to persevere. Rule number two, to get involved in agribusiness and number three have a sound source of income. I have the financial resources. That is why my farm is doing all these wonders,” he says.
“My rule is numbers and I want them big, I only got out of taxi business after getting big, I have my job (an international job that pays highly). Agriculture requires a solid fallback position,” he advises.
Regrets
Kakiika has regrets too, such as sinking Shs800m into a poultry housing unit that has failed to take off seven years later.
The other barricade came in 2011 when he got a Shs600m loan before the subsequent financial meltdown after the general elections forced the interest rates to skyrocket bringing him closer to choking.
He swam to the shores and learned his lessons. He signs out with a motivational note; “do not invest one billion shillings to build rentals to earn Sh3m monthly because you will take years to reap. I want to get Shs600bn hard earned clean money in a few years and then enjoy my retirement.”

Cattle prune the forest
The main reason Kakiika ventured into cattle was to help him prune his forest by grazing underneath. He gets about 100 litres of milk daily from his more than 80 Guernsey cows but he offers the milk to the herdsmen who in turn look after the animals.
“I benefit from getting many calves to sell off and get money. I have just sold eight cows and got Shs13m. I get trucks of manure daily to feed the bananas and coffee but above all, cows act as liquid cash in case you get an instant problem,” he says adding, “I got a government grant of Shs100m for my cows at eight per cent interest rate after the ministry officials got excited with pictures of my herd on Facebook.” Apparently, government has earmarked 165bn grant for milk production – another reason dairy farmers countrywide should multiply their produce.