Kidondo, UG – family adds commercial garden to its agribusiness – Jul 2023

The YNM family has started its own agriculture business using earnings from maintaining Kikondo’s Zinabala VICOBA staple crop garden ( https://betterlives.org/2022/05/kikondo-ug-zinabala-vicoba-staple-crop-progresses-well-in-rainy-season-31-may-2022/ ). The family couldn’t afford to start its own commercial vegetable garden previously but had the will and skills to grow its own FAITH garden and be hired by Zinabala to operate and maintain its large staple crop garden. After earning from VICOBA payments, the family saved with Zinabala for two seasons and got enough to rent land.

The family now has rented 1.5 acres of land near the stream in Kikondo village where it’s growing cabbages and beans in rotation. Those are complementary crops because beans are a legume with roots that fix nitrogen in the soil to nourish cabbage the following season. Land rent at 500,000 UGS ($143) for the two growing seasons of 2023 is lower than rent in the residential part of the village and irrigation is nearby. Clearing shrubs, building raised beds, and digging watering trenches required much labor. So far YNM is selling its ready cabbages to its customers. The family is specializing in growing only beans and cabbages. It’s now a dry season so vegetables are expensive at market. This has called for YNM to sell cabbages at 1,500 UGS ($0.43) per head. This season he grew 800 heads on half and acre and he hopes to earn 2 million shillings ($571) from the sale of an acre of fresh beans next month.

YNM income will be affected by an increase in rent fees. But since the land is near a forest, his landlord is willing to continue renting him the land since it is not required for house construction as seen in other rented areas in Kikondo village. Another challenge is to control insects by organic methods rather than chemical sprays which can kill beneficial insects and contaminate soil and water. YNM dreams of earning enough income from this rented land to buy land in his home village where land is still cheap as compared to land here in Kikondo so that he can continue with his agribusiness.