Farming fortunes

Godfrey Dramia, Uganda

Godfrey Dramia enjoys a moment of quiet triumph every four months because it’s at these intervals that he gets to harvest his vegetable crops. ‘It means every four months I have something to look forward to because I know I’ll have vegetables to sell.’

Godfrey used to be a cassava farmer like most people in Gangu village in the Terego district of Uganda. Even though it’s a local staple food with a good market, for Godfrey the inputs to farm cassava did not add up. He was not reaping any real rewards in terms of making better profits. ‘Cassava takes a big chunk of land to farm, it needs a lot of water, and it becomes tiresome to have to work the fields and to weed such a big area,’ he says.

It was by chance in early 2020 that he came across a demonstration farm that East-West Seed had set up in his community. It opened his mind, and it would change his farming fortunes. ‘I was very impressed with what I saw in that demo because all the vegetables were growing very well, and each had many fruits. With cassava, you have to wait one and a half year before you can harvest, in contrast with the vegetables. So that convinced me that I should switch and start planting vegetables.’

The father of six would go on to be an EWS key farmer, and he underwent training with EWS in 2021. He says ‘knowledge is the key’, and the

training was essential in helping him gain the confidence to change direction with his farming. Godfrey says he values that EWS has always been ready to help. ‘I didn’t just get the seeds from EWS. I received instructions about raising seedlings properly, how to look after the soil, how to use a mulch to keep in moisture, and even ways to keep out stray animals, which are a big problem. I appreciate that you can talk to EWS about these problems, and they always come up with good advice.’

Godfrey knew he had made the right choice as the first four months of vegetable planting passed and his crops flourished. He started to make profits from his very first harvest. ‘There was even money for some sweets and pocket money for my children.’

Godfrey says his children are happier since he started vegetable farming, which makes him more comfortable. They’re often in the fields helping Godfrey and don’t grumble like before when he asks them to help him weed, for they take pride in looking after the plants that have bought greater financial security to the family. ‘They can see that things are very organized in the fields. We use ropes to work in neat rows, and we match the different vegetables so that we can rotate what we grow, keep the soil healthy, and have different harvests in different seasons.’

Godfrey’s success on his farm has made him an EWS demo farmer in the region. ‘It was a moment of great happiness that I became an EWS key farmer. I hosted a tomato-growing demo that yielded very well. I harvested plenty of tomatoes and was happy when many admired them.’

People noticing Godfrey’s special touch has opened up a new opportunity for him to raise seedlings for sale. ‘Many people don’t know how to do germination or how to take care of seeds, so now I have the knowledge from EWS, and also some extra time, I raise seedlings for other farmers,’ he says.

He is confident that as more people gain more vegetable farming skills, they will see the benefits of more intelligent farming to help alleviate hun-

ger and poverty and that established farmers will improve their business models.

‘I used to see the young people at the roadside crying for jobs, but many of them are starting to see they could all be farmers. You only need a small piece of land to start growing, and then you will have something to eat or something to sell. Even those who used to grow tobacco think that they should be growing vegetables, and not just a cash crop with price changes,’ he says.

EWS intervention has been life-changing for him. His wish is for more EWS demonstrations, farms, programs, and workshops to cover a broader range of issues, such as pest control, understanding markets, and business management for farmers.

Godfrey says with a laugh that the veggies themselves are life-changing, in so much as changing his and his family’s eating habits. For example, they never ate cucumbers much in his household at all. ‘I like a tomato salad with cucumber and cabbage. I also like the roasted pumpkin seeds that we used to throw away, and I put the seed with peanuts – it’s delicious,’ he says with a broad smile.