He has made a fortune by adding value to sugarcane

When Mr Pascali Mwebeka’s coffee plantation was destroyed by the coffee wilt disease 15 years ago, he was not quite sure of what other crop he was going to grow to earn a living. Having been a coffee farmer for over 30 years, Mr Mwebeka 61, a resident of Kyerima trading centre in Kitimbwa sub-county, Kayunga district depended entirely on coffee for his livelihood. When vanilla growing became lucrative in early 2000, Mwebeka resorted to growing the crop but before he harvested, prices for the crop slumped in 2005 forcing him to abandon the venture.

“After abandoning my two-acre vanilla garden because it was no longer productive, a friend of mine from Busoga visited my home and advised me to venture into sugar cane growing. At first I snubbed his advice because I thought the venture was capital intensive but when he persisted I decided to give it a try,” Mr Mwebeka says. In 2005, Mwebeka planted 10 acres of sugarcane and using the little income he had got from selling milk from his dairy cow, he bought herbicides to control weeds in the plantation. “After about 18 months in 2007, the sugarcane matured and when I cut it, I sold it to Sugar Corporation of Uganda (Scoul) at a cost of Shs29,000 per tonne. From the 10 acres, I earned about Shs2.9m,” Mr Mwebeka says.

He says having earned such good money which he had ceased to earn since his coffee was wiped out, he was happy and vowed to continue with the enterprise. Mwebeka, however, says that later when he told fellow sugarcane farmers in Busoga what he had earned from his sugarcane, they laughed at him and advised that he adds value so that he can earn more from the venture.“The farmers told me that I could earn twice as much as I had earned if I squeezed juice from the sugar cane and made black sugar (kalodo) which is used in the making of waragi,” Mr Mwebeka recalls. He says he was given a two–day training in making black sugar and when he had his second sugar cane harvest in 2009, he decided to give it a try.

To start off the enterprise, Mwebeka bought a small mobile machine that squeezes juice from sugarcane at a cost of Shs2m and also bought three big containers which he uses to boil the sugarcane juice.
“From the 10 acres of cane, I got 5,000 kilogrammes of black sugar which I sold at about Shs4m. By adding value I earned twice as much,” a visibly contented Mr Mwebeka says. He says unlike sugar cane which he sold on credit to Scoul, traders of black sugar pay him cash. Mr Mwebeka says because he does not have a constant supply, he has started buying cane from other farmers in the district. He says when he buys the cane he takes his machine to the plantation from where he makes the black sugar.

Mr Mwebeka now employs about 10 uneducated youth who cut, squeeze juice from the cane and also boil it. He however says that in the near future he plans to employ a professional accountant to help him keep books of accounts for his business.“Since the business is expanding I need a professional accountant,” he says. He also says he wants the president through Naads to assist him with funds of about Shs20m so that he acquire a bigger machine that can squeeze about four 200 tonnes of cane a day. Even though the enterprise has enabled him to increase his income it is not a smooth road.
He says the biggest challenge he faces is the high cost of firewood which he says is not even obtainable in the area.

“Sometimes I use the sugarcane trash to boil the juice but during rainy seasons the trash can’t burn so I have to buy firewood which is very expensive,” he says. Mwebeka says sugarcane growing is not as hard as some people think because one doesn’t need to weed it every time or add fertilisers.