The road between Rugyeyo Farm and Nalwoga’s kibanja

What you need to know:

  • The farm is named is in honour of Mr Robert Kabushenga’s village of Rugyeyo in Kanungu, western Uganda.
  • It was evident that he had acquired a wealth of knowledge over the last seven years he had been running this venture.
  • Kabushenga showed us a wad of money he had collected from selling matooke that Saturday.
  • He said if we all took up farming and invested wisely, we would be able to increase food and cash crop production and also put Nalwoga out of business.
  • Not all of us shared Kabushenga’s views.

We had been procrastinating for a while but eventually got to visit Rugyeyo Farm, which is located in the lush green hills of Namayumba County, 50km west of Kampala. The farm is named is in honour of Mr Robert Kabushenga’s village of Rugyeyo in Kanungu, western Uganda. It is about 90 acres in size and sprawls out on the side of one of the rolling hills with an incredible view of the surroundings.
We were assembled for the tour by midday. Our tour took us atop the hill where Kabushenga had constructed a water reservoir for irrigation, and down into the coffee and banana plantations. Along the way we inspected and listened to Kabushenga’s explanations of how he was growing the coffee and bananas. It was evident that he had acquired a wealth of knowledge over the last seven years he had been running this venture.
As we walked through the farm, we also learnt about how he had managed to fix the water problem for the farm and his community. Everyone in the neighbourhood had access to clean water and that on its own had had a major impact on the health of the people. As we walked along the road by the farm, we were introduced to his neighbours whom we greeted. One of these neighbours was an old lady called Nalwoga. We found her seated in front of her house and exchanged pleasantries.

Back atop the hill, where Kabushenga is trying to put up a wooden cabin, we delved into a discussion of the implications of the Rugyeyo Farm project and its place in our economic adventure. First Kabushenga showed us a wad of money he had collected from selling matooke that Saturday. He then explained how he had acquired the place in 2005 with a few friends but had not done anything on the place.
About six years later, after a few life-shaking events, he had woken up and decided to start farming. It was back breaking labour but he had gone to the farm every Saturday and had stuck with the venture. Some days he felt like he must have been insane, but he had persevered. His exhortation to us was that we too should take up farming and stop ‘wasting’ time on social media. If we all took up farming and invested wisely, we would be able to increase food and cash crop production and also put Nalwoga out of business. We could also go into processing and provide jobs for Nalwoga and her children so that the land could be freed up for bigger farms.

Not all of us shared Kabushenga’s views. First, we did not agree that Kabushenga fits the description of a farmer. He was a lawyer in the side business of farming. Using Adam Smith’s principle of specialisation, we argued that either he worked at being a very good farmer or a very good CEO. He could not be efficient at both if he could not show us how farming on its own was sustainable as a business.
Second, Nalwoga, his ‘lazy’ neighbour was a more efficient producer. She produced enough to meet her needs and acquire necessities from the formal sector for her family. These included sugar, salt, paraffin, health and education. Over and above that, there was no perceived need (from her world view) to produce more. Her marginal cost of production was way below that of Kabushenga who had invested in plant material, fertiliser, an irrigation system and intellectual property.

In our view, the Nalwogas could not be ignored. They needed empowering to move into the formal sector and become even more efficient producers. That empowerment would also make her peers effective economic agents.
As the debate seesawed, the sun also sunk further in the west. We thanked Kabushenga for his magnanimity and bade him goodbye. As we drove back, I realised that the gulf between Rugyeyo Farm and Nalwoga’s Kibanja, was wider than I had envisioned.

Back atop the hill, where Kabushenga is trying to put up a wooden cabin, we delved into a discussion of the implications of the Rugyeyo Farm project and its place in our economic adventure.

Prof Sejjaaka is country team leader at Abacus Business School. [email protected]
@samuelsejjaaka