Series 2 - Ep 4: Soil testing, Coffee, Dairy and Electric Power Cooker
Series 2 - Ep 4: Soil testing, Coffee, Dairy and Electric Power Cooker
Welcome to Shamba Shape Up Uganda!
Today we’re in Igombe Bulagala Zone, Magamaga Parish, Buwenge Subcounty, Jinja District and we’re visiting farmer Kwagala Rebecca.
Rebecca is 54 years and in 2020 she experienced a life changing moment when her father passed away leaving her as the heir and the manager of the family estate. Before that Rebecca lived in mukono and apart from being an educationalist she run a retail store in town.
The father’s weakening over the last years of his life and six months when he was being treated in the city negatively affected a lot of the farm enterprises. The dairy farm which was his pride was reduced to 1 cow, the 16 acre property was being threatened by neighbours who were cutting down her trees and trying to move boundary lines. This had to stop.
Rebecca noticed that none of her siblings were willing to leave the city and stop this, as the family heir Rebecca moved back to the village and resumed her father’s business. For the time she has been in the village she has added one more cow but dreams of only having four, she has also planted different varieties of pasture all over the land, joined a farmers group and has taken back all the family property and put some structure on the estate. Going forward she wants to focus on Coffee, Mangoes and dairy.
She has achieve all this while looking after her mother and a younger sister with special needs.
This week we are learning about:
1. Effects of soil erosion and how to control it.
2. Improve coffee variety, how to look after a coffee seedling in the first 5 months.
3. How to boost milk productivity/ fodder Management.
4. Introduction to Electric Power Cooker and the cost benefits.
ElectricPressureCooker Dairy soil-testing coffee