[allAfrica.com]


Reaping Cotton in War-Torn Kasese

New Vision (Kampala)
NEWS
January 29, 2003
Posted to the web January 29, 2003

By Ibra Asuman Bisiika
Kampala
Nyakatonzi Co-operative Union project yields 20,000 bales from 45,000 acres in
Kasese
Annet Kabugho not real name is 19 years old and one of the four survivors in a
family that used to take pride in their numbers; they were 16 altogether.
Eleven members of the family were massacred in one day at the height of what is
still called the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) war in Kasese. The remainder of
the family decided to leave their home in the mountain areas and settle in
Kiburara Village on the lowlands.
However, in 2001 bad luck struck Kabugho's family again. When her brother and
sister returned to their home in Kibirigha Village of Kyalhumba Sub-county to
harvest some food, they were hit by a land mine! Her sister Jovia died while
brother John Muhindo survived, but lost his leg.
Kabugho's story is very common in Kasese. Kasese was the theatre of a brutal
war between the rebel ADF and the Uganda Peoples Defence Forces (UPDF) from
November 13 1996. But the post-war trauma will not deter Kabugho (and many
others), from going on living after surviving the worst during the war.
Kabugho and about a dozen others mobilised themselves into a group of farmers
which got a soft loan from Nyakatonzi Co-operative Union Limited
NCUL in Kasese. According to Mr. Adam Asuman Bwambale, the secretary manager of
NCUL, such cotton farmers' groups benefit from a soft loan facility from the
Union. NCUL relate with these loose groups of cotton farmers outside the
traditional co-operative society network.
"We offer support in the form of a tractor hire facility and pesticides for
groups of farmers on an interest-free loan basis.
The secretary manager stated that Nyakatozni Co-operative Union projected a
yield of about 20,000 bales from a 45,000 acreage. Although this projection
does not represent any increase from the previous season, it still surpasses
the 13,000 bales of the much touted peak season of 1973.
But Adam Bwambale says that the projected production of 20,000 bales is far
less than what would normally be expected from a 45,000 acreage. "Our initial
projections were a yield of 35,000 bales, but due to a shortfall in the rains
that caused a prolonged drought during the season, I think we are going to have
a yield of 20,000 bales", Adam Bwambale said. One bale is 185kgs.
It is against this background that NCUL got a grant of sh216,460,000 from
Support for Private Enterprises and Expansion Development [SPEED].
The SPEED project is aimed at increasing production of cotton per unit yield
with minimum input through the use of technology packages. By using fertilisers
and herbicides, the cotton farmers have minimum physical input in terms of land
tillage and yet have a high soil moisture retention.
According to these statistics from NCUL, there has been a steady increase in
cotton production. This has been the most hopeful light in the misery of the
ADF war which began in November 1996. This is the bright future for farmers
like Kabugho.

   

  =============================================================================
  Copyright © 2002 New Vision. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica
                         Global Media (allAfrica.com).
  =============================================================================