New Farming Concept to Empower Smallholders of Uganda

Crops have been abundant in recently, a 29-year-old smallholder who grows corn, coffee, and bananas on his small farm in Buikwe, central Uganda.  The relative premium enabled him to finish building his family home. Pay his son’s school fees and even buy a truck – his first agricultural implement. In his view, this stroke of luck has only one explanation: Last year, Grainpulse, a Kampala-based agricultural company, visited his fields for training on planting techniques, including Best Practices for using the company’s locally blended 

The results have been dramatic.  In just one planting season, Edward doubled his corn production and is already planning his next big purchase – an irrigation pump – so he won’t be exposed to the often unpredictable rain. 

“I’ve been working very hard,” he said recently, taking a late break during the planting season Afternoon while children played in the background d. “I didn’t know how to use fertilizer before. 

Granpulse helped us learn new techniques and now my income has improved. Last year, with support from the private sector of the Global Agriculture and Food Security Program (GAFSP), IFC made a $ 11 million loan to Grainpulse to help expand the business and strengthen

 The investment is expected to boost the company by 2023, reaching an estimated 200,000 smallholder farmers like Edward, out of roughly 20,000 – increasing food production and It also helps Grainpulse become a “one-stop-shop” for farmers by offering them multiple services, including fertilizer blends optimized for popular local crops such as those on Edwards Farm

Introducing New Farming Practices

Uganda is low. Annually around 9.6 kilograms  This is significantly less than the average of 16.2 kilograms per hectare in sub-Saharan Africa and the global average of 140 kilograms per hectare bought directly from farmers to connect them to markets and exports while reducing post-harvest  Grainpulse Mill currently produces cornmeal to make bread and other staple foods; The expansion, supported by the IFC, will enable Grainpulse to also process maize into animal  “Agriculture in Uganda is based almost entirely on smallholders.  So strengthening them is critical to the sustainability of our supply chain, “said Hannington Karuhanga, Executive Chairman and Founder of Grainpulse.

To be successful, we need to create an ecosystem by working closely with farmers to provide last mile solutions and reduce middlemen.” Grainpulse, formerly known as Savannah Commodities, became a venture with K+ S AG, a world caustic potash and salt company based mostly in Germany, For more information about the farming in Uganda visit the largest gain producer Amatheon-agri.

Protection of vulnerable farmers

However tiny farmers in the Republic of Uganda are notably vulnerable – Rains are unpredictable and periods of drought may be calamitous for farmers while not irrigation systems.  The recent locust swarm has conjointly decimated many crops, whereas COVID-19 has restricted movement even in rural areas. The result’s that a lot of farmers have a tougher time reaching stores to shop for inputs or rent extra employees to assist throughout the planting season, which is currently fully  

Halima Nanjego, who grows cassava, sweet potatoes, and corn in her midst acre. Farm, he says life has been transformed since Grainpulse taught him simplified planting techniques. “I have just a little area of land, but I can produce much more,” she says.  And I can use the extra money to invest in my small shop and improve the well-being of my family. “

Last year, the company’s mobile farmer training center, a Mercedes Truck equipped with a laboratory for soil  testing analysis, as well as a folding tent where more than 100 farmers can attend training sessions; stopped at  The truck has traveled across the country, passing through rural communities and hard-to-reach areas to teach farmers how to prepare the land, apply fertilizers, use seeds, and manage diseases and molds such as  With support from GAFSP, the company also distributes training manuals and information brochures that provide easy-to-use information on optimized techniques as well as training on financial literacy. 

“Farmers are doubling their yields and continuing to train them in good farming practices can still improve,” says Hilary Rugema, the leading agronomist at Grainpulse

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Christophe Rude
Christophe Rude
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