Boda boda cyclists resort to farming in lockdown

After enduring a three-week curfew, lockdown and run-ins with traffic police, some city dwellers and boda boda operators have returned to the villages and started farming.

Their decision comes after President Museveni imposed a 7pm to 6:30am curfew, restricting movement of people, cyclists and vehicles and limited their work to only transporting goods and foodstuffs as some of the measures to stem the spread of coronavirus.

The President later announced that boda boda cyclists are not allowed to operate after 2pm, thus limiting their working hours. This has since rendered many Ugandans jobless, including cyclists.
An upcountry survey carried out by Daily Monitor last week suggests that most desperate Ugandans have now resorted to farming.

The timing is perfect since its planting season and they are optimistic that they will be smiling to the bank in a few months to come.

They believe they are optimising the lockdown and putting to use their productive time, instead of settling in cities doing nothing.

In Kabale Town, boda bodas have opted to boost agricultural investments they had hitherto left to their wives and relatives.

Mr Denis Muyambi, Mr Rogers Mwijukye and Mr Onan Mukwategye, all boda boda cyclists, said they ride their motorcycles around Kabale Town collecting leftover food, matooke and Irish potato peelings from garbage skips to feed their pigs.

Poultry farmer

“I spend the morning hours in garbage skips collecting biodegradable garbage that I boil to feed my five pregnant pigs. I started the piggery project for my wife in 2016 but now that I have been suspended from operating my boda boda, I decided to join her,” Mr Mwijukye said.

Mr Remmy Ngabirano, another cyclist, said if the situation remains that way, he will sell the motorcycle and invest the money in growing irish potatoes or rearing poultry.

Mr Didas Kateeba, who owns a tailoring workshop in Fort Portal Town, said he went to Mugoma Village where he is now engaged in planting cassava and maize, saying the lockdown has opened up an opportunity for him to engage in agriculture.

“I am now a farmer because when I closed my tailoring workshop, I decided to go to the village with my family and start planting different crop varieties and hope to continue doing so even after the lockdown because I have seen that it is good to diversify,” he said.

Mr John Asiimwe, a boda boda rider, said when President announced the lockdown, he moved to Karago Town Council and embarked on preparing other people’s gardens to survive.

In Gulu District, many boda boda riders are seen on a daily basis buying hoes. “Much as some of our colleagues have ventured into charcoal business, others have resorted to farming as a long term investment and for sustainability, Mr Raymond Okello, a cyclist, said at the weekend.

Mr Michael Lakony, the district chairperson, has since described farming as the game changer.

Mr Dusman Okee, the Resident District Commissioner (RDC), said: “Even in the Town Council, locals are utilising the little space they have to grow something.”

Last week, the Kilak North MP in Amuru District, Mr Anthony Akol, embarked on hoe-distribution exercise among residents who are embracing farming as their source of livelihood.

In Mbale District, Mr Robert Wandwasi, a taxi driver and resident of Makudui Village in Namanyonyi Sub-county, said he has resorted to farming because it is the only viable and productive venture in the area.

“It is true that most of us who returned to villages have embraced farming, but that does not mean we abandoned town. I can even leave the village today once the lockdown is lifted,” he said.

Mr Timothy Magomu, a boda boda rider and resident of Nabugoye village in Namanyonyi Sub-county, said although they have cultivated their farms, some of them lack seedlings.

Mr Ronald Akii, a boda boda rider in Lira Town, said he started engaging in agriculture after the ban on public transport rendered him jobless.

However, the boda boda riders in Kamdini Town Council, Oyam District, remain stranded after the motorcycle owners withdrew them due to the lockdown.

According to the chairperson of Kamdini Motorcycle Boda Boda Association, Mr Moses Olade, those who used to carry out boda boda business have become jobless.

“Kamdini, which used to be a very busy commercial centre, is now a ghost town and my worry is that boda boda riders may resort to stealing for survival since most of them are reformed criminals,” Mr Olade said.

“Therefore, if they fail to get another alternative source of livelihood, they may return to their criminal activities such as robbery and burglary due to economic hardships brought by the lockdown,” he added.

In Buikwe District, Mr David Kalyango said he shifted his family from Ntogolo Village, Nyenga Sub-county to Kayunga District before the second lockdown because he only relied on boda boda business.

“I have land in the village and in the process of going there next week to join my family because I don’t see any hope of getting money in boda boda business,” he said.

Mr Hamidu Waiswa, a cyclist at Nile Stage, Njeru Municipality, said he turned to charcoal business which is doing well.

In Mbarara District, out of the 36 boda boda riders at Fresco Supermarket Stage on Buremba Road, 16 have returned to their villages and are actively engaged in pineapple, carrots and piggery projects.

“I have a banana plantation in Ruzinga Village, Nyakeera Sub-county in Ntungamo District and spend five days working in the plantation before returning to run some errands for my customers,” Mr Benon Tibisasa, the stage chairperson, said.

“Out of the 35,000 boda boda cyclists in Mbarara District, about 18,000 are still around town while the rest have returned to their villages because of the economic hardships. The 18,000 that have persisted in town are in need of food assistance and do not have work,” Mr Tibisasa said.

He said they thought they would be carrying food to homes but when government announced that they should stop at 2pm, they became idle.

“I have already submitted a list of 5,000 boda bodas that urgently need food relief to the RDC and appeal to donors and well-wishers to come to their rescue,” Mr Sadious Owokunda, the chairperson Mbarara Boda Boda Cyclists’ Association, said.

In Arua District, Mr Jackson Adomati, a boda cyclist, said to the contrary, life is ‘tougher and less profitable’ in the village since he only goes to there to harvest his cassava.

In Moyo Town, Mr Richard Tiondi, one of the boda boda riders at Kajo-Keji Park Stage, described life in the village as hard as expectations are that you are supposed to provide the locals with money because you are from town.

voices

“When I went to my village in Kendi, people, especially the elders, expected me to give them money because I work in town. Even when I go to the village and dig, the crops will not mature now but after months. So it is better to stay in town,” Richard Tiondi, boda boda rider at Kajo-Keji Park Stage, Moyo Town

“I doubt if I will get back into that (boda boda) business because I hope to reap big in farming than boda boda. For all the eight years I have been riding boda boda, there is little impact it has had on my livelihood, which is why I am prioritising farming,” Daniel Okumu, boda boda rider at Amuru Town Council, Amuru District

“I could not survive in Lira Town after the lockdown; at least in the village we have fertile land suitable for agriculture,” Bosco Ogwal, cyclist in Alebtong District

“I have been forced to use the capital from our saving group and should this lockdown continue, we may die of hunger because even in villages, there is no money,” Jackson Adomati, boda cyclist in arua

By Philip Wafula, Denis Edema, Alfred Tumushabe, Rajab Mukombozi, Cissy Makumbi, Patrick Ebong, Isaac Otwii, Charity Akullo, Fred Wambede, Joseph Omollo, Felix Warom, Scovin Iceta, Alex Ashaba, Robert Muhereza