Africa Food Prize inspired Dr Naluyima to invest in transforming agriculture
Dr Emma Naluyima after cleaning her zero grazing unit Daily barn cleaning removes manure and soiled bedding, key fly breeding sites. PHOTO/COURTESY
What you need to know:
Dr Emma Naluyima’s journey from a veterinary doctor needing to feed her family to an award-winning agricultural icon demonstrates the potential of iinnovation, knowledge sharing, and resilience on a small scale
Dr Emma Naluyima, a veterinary doctor by profession, did not initially set out to create the widely acclaimed one-acre farming model. Her journey into intensive and diversified farming began out of a personal necessity – the need to feed her family, particularly after giving birth to premature twins while out of a job at that time.
Finding market food prices ‘really expensive’, she decided to leverage her knowledge and available land. She had previously kept pigs and brought 10 female pigs and one male with her when she got married. “I initially chose pigs because I thought it was ‘easy’, ‘short term,’ and could generate money quickly.
When essential staples such as bananas (matooke) became prohibitively expensive, I resolved to grow my own,” she says. Knowing that matooke takes a year to mature, she first planted sweet potatoes, which grow faster (three to four months), as a temporary food source for her family. This practical, needs-driven approach led to putting matooke on a quarter acre, using pig dung as fertiliser.
The farm activities evolved spontaneously, without a grand plan. Observing high market prices also motivated her to start growing tomatoes after their price hiked dramatically in just one week. “I revisited an earlier interest in fish farming, exploring raised pond fish farming after seeing it in Nairobi, as my initial plan to grow tilapia in a swamp on my grandfather's land had not worked out,” she says. “My farming model became my livelihood while inspiring youth and women, particularly those with limited land.” As a successful farmer, this led to an unexpected recognition in 2019, winning the Africa Food Prize.
For Dr Naluyima, this award was particularly meaningful because she was not aware she had been nominated or was being watched. “The Africa Food Prize came as a complete surprise. I received the phone call informing me of the win just three days after giving birth. The call from former Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo (who was then the Award Committee chair), felt so unbelievable, she initially thought it was a scam,” she says.
The recognition
Dr Naluyima, was recognised for her innovative and enterprising approach to smallholder farming, specifically for her highly profitable integration of crops and livestock, and for her selfless efforts to share skills, knowledge, and lessons learnt on her farm, One Acre Unlimited.
Her farm hosts 10,000 people annually and provides agribusiness advisory services. The Africa Food Prize, housed at AGRA, the agriculture development agency contributing to agricultural transformation in Africa, is the continent's pre-eminent and highest award dedicated solely to advancements in African agriculture and food systems.
It recognises extraordinary individuals and institutions driving sustainable food security and economic opportunity for all Africans. The prize was established in 2005 as the Yara Prize by Yara International ASA in Norway to honour achievements in African agriculture and was later transferred to Africa and renamed the Africa Food Prize in 2015. It is funded by AGRA, Econet Wireless, Yara International ASA, and Corteva AgriScience.
What it means
Winning the Africa Food Prize was a deeply humbling experience for Dr Naluyima. She reflects on the moment, realising that someone “out there” nominated her and people were watching her work without her knowledge. “It made me think, ‘Oh, my God. Oh, I didn't know I'm doing well. I didn't know I was doing this good thing,” she says. The award also served as a validation of her approach, especially the feasibility of achieving results on a small piece of land. It also amplified Dr Naluyima's platform and influence.
“It led to opportunities to meet high-profile figures such as President Obasanjo and Strive Masiyiwa, attend prestigious events, and gain widespread acclaim,” she says, emphasising that such recognition ‘keeps one on their toes,’ compelling her to maintain her high standards and continually improve because people have placed their trust in her work. But more importantly, the award highlighted her contribution to sharing agricultural knowledge, which she says was a key reason for her win – for ‘for sharing knowledge with smallholder farmers’.
Her farm is a learning centre. Driven by the observation that even agriculturalists sometimes lack basic practical knowledge, she realised there might be a ‘problem with our education system’. This insight, combined with the growing interest in her farm's success, led to her establishing a school, MST Junior School, on the farm premises. MST stands for Math, Science, and Technology, and the school uses farming as a practical tool to teach the subjects.
The farm offers farm tours, school excursions, and hands-on training for individuals. It hosts university students for internships lasting from one to six months and international exchange students, including those from Germany through a programme with the Uganda Young Farmers Association. She is committed to sharing knowledge on successful farming in small spaces, believing that she cannot expand her farm now and jeopardise the inspiration she provides to smallholder farmers, especially youth and women.
She wants to keep demonstrating how to make even a quarter acre productive. Her message to smallholder farmers, and anyone interested in agriculture, is that success is not dictated by the amount of land but by its effective utilisation. She stresses, ‘ it’s not how much land you have; it’s how you utilise the piece of land you have”. “Every ‘kilogramme of soil’ and ‘centimeter of land is important’. The philosophy prioritises food security first because you cannot be productive if you are hungry.
So, first have food,” she advises, adding that once self-sufficient, the surplus can be commercialised, leading to greater productivity and success. She also challenges the notion that one needs vast capital to start, arguing that the ‘biggest capital is one’s brain and the ideas”. “From my one-acre piece of land, I earn about Shs363 million per year and will be working towards increasing it to Shs727,298,400, in order to demonstrate that, if done well, farming is a business that thrives,” she concludes.
