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| Kaliisa harvesting ripe coffee beans |
By Pascal Kwesiga
ON completing his master’s degree in marketing at the University of Wales in the UK, Francis Kaliisa was offered several white collar jobs which he rejected, opting instead for a career in farming.
Most people who knew Kaliisa concluded the young man was a total failure, while some accused him of wasting his father’s money to go to school only to become a farmer.
They could not believe Kaliisa’s claims that farming was a goldmine capable of generating more wealth than an office job.
“Many people, including friends, laughed at me saying that after wasting my father’s money at school, I was now wasting my time in farming. They were sure I would soon quit,” recalls Kaliisa, a resident of Kihomboza cell, Bujumbura division in Hoima.
Kaliisa, who also holds a bachelors degree in business management from Bangalore University in India -is a son to the permanent secretary in the energy ministry, Kabagambe Kaliisa.
To the people who knew Kaliisa well, it did not make sense that someone from such an academic and family background would settle for farming.
For Kaliisa, however, completing his education meant he was free to engage in commercial farming, something he had always wanted to do.
“Education only helped me acquire knowledge. At school, I always considered farming a lucrative venture where I would never go wrong because people have to eat every day so there will always be demand for food,” Kaliisa defends his unpopular decision to become a farmer.
Two years as a farmer and Kaliisa has no regrets about his career choice. Under his company Miika Enterprises, Kaliisa has set up a maize mill in Hoima and is currently one of the leading buyers of maize grain in Hoima and neighbouring districts.
He mills the maize and sells the packed flour to schools and different Government departments in Hoima and Masindi districts.
He has also planted 60 acres of eucalyptus trees, set up a piggery unit with about 400 animals, established a 25-acre coffee plantation and another 10-acres of bananas.
On average, Kaliisa earns about sh20m from coffee every season and sh1.5m a month from banana sales.
He also supplies 500kg of pork daily in Hoima town. The budding farmer has also set up a bio-digester to process the large volumes of waste generated by the piggery unit, into gas and manure.
The gas is used for cooking and lighting, while the manure is distributed all over the farm through a network of pipes.
Kaliisa has also established an irrigation system which he uses to water his plants especially vegetables during the dry season.
Together with his brother and business partner Henry, Kaliisa employs 53 workers including three managers.
A storage facility with a holding capacity of 500 tonnes of grain is one of the several modern structures that have been set up on the farm.
How he started
According to Kaliisa, Miika Enterprises started as a dream 10 years ago when he started planting trees. Later in 2009, he started the piggery project, using money got from selling the trees.
“The whole enterprise began as a dream. We had nothing on ground but big dreams, and our patience has now begun to pay off,” he says.
Initially, Kaliisa planted 10 acres of eucalyptus trees, which has now expanded to 60 acres. The agro forestry project has turned out to be the financial cornerstone of Kaliisa’s agro enterprises. The proceeds from selling timber are used to finance other projects.
For instance, in 2009, Kaliisa was able to set up a modern piggery unit using the money he earned from selling the trees.
He also uses the tree forest as collateral to acquire loans from banks. Again using money from selling trees, Kallisa plans to expand the piggery unit from the current 400 to 1,500 pigs in the next three years.
“Pork production is one of the most lucrative agro-enterprises here, I supply 500kg of pork in Hoima every day,” reveals Kaliisa.
According to Kaliisa, in order to have a successful pig enterprise, one needs to invest in a proper pig sty and ensure there is a steady supply of maize brand to feed the pigs.
“I have been successful because I grow maize and also buy from other farmers. I process the maize grain into flour which I sell and use the bran- to feed the pigs,” Kaliisa added.
Each season, Kaliisa buys between 300-500 tonnes of maize grain from farmers in the area, which he processes into high grade flour. He supplies the flour to schools, the army and local traders. His maize flour, sold under the Miika brand name, is popular in Hoima, Masindi and neighbouring districts. On the average Kaliisa sells 2,000kgs of maize flour a day.
Besides the money from selling pork, Kaliisa is also able to conserve the environment around his farm, by utilising the free bio gas from the pigs’ waste.
“We no longer use charcoal for cooking and lighting but instead use biogas generated from the pig droppings. Before we set up the bio-digester, we were using three bags of charcoal a day,” recalls Kaliisa.
Challenges
One of the biggest challenges facing Kaliisa, which are frustrating his expansion plans is a shortage of power to run the mill. The power supply in the area is still intermittent. He also has a problem of labour as the people in the area still despise farming.
Future plans
In the graduate farmer’s plans are a fully-fledged food processing plant and hopes of increasing the population of pigs he is rearing to 1,500 pigs.
Kaliisa also plans to venture into construction business and start up commercial farming. |
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