Make your yard a gold mine

KAMPALA - There are several exhibitors at the Harvest Money Expo of different sizes, but they all have the expo theme in mind: Farming as a Business.

They have all displayed their wares from seeds and seedlings, to animal feeds, machinery and animals - making the Kololo Ceremonial Grounds come alive with colours, scents and animal sounds.

Harriet Nakabaale, an urban farming expert in Kawaala, urged expo visitors to embark on horticulture in their homes, not matter how small a space may be.

Her home is on a 50 by 30ft plot from which she reaps massively, and her advice is: “Love your small space because you can do a lot with it. Because I have a small space, I use high-raised farming.”

Nakabaale reminds us all of the biblical David versus Goliath victory. She said to be successful, one needs to be innovative, resourceful and work with whatever one has at home.

 “I use everything: tanks, bottles, pipes and even cups. I also plant along my fence; I planted grapes on my fence, and I now make wine,’ she said, adding that she sells a bottle at sh30,000. S

She elaborated on the importance of working with available resources. Nakabaale said when she began urban farming, she did not know about trays, and she found a substitute.

“I began farming without any knowledge of trays, so I used egg shells as planters for seedlings,” she said.

With experts like Nakabaale, expo visitors will have hope to engage in farming in their own homes, where they can not only reduce household expenditure on groceries, but also earn from their yards.

Organised by Vision Group, the expo has been sponsored by Tunga Nutrition, the Kingdom of Netherlands, ENGSOL, aBi, Pearl Bank, and Uganda Development Corporation are sponsors of the expo.

Other sponsors are Heifer International, Roke Telecom, Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Denmark, Pepsi and Uganda Revenue Authority.