• Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Donate
  • Login
Watchdog Uganda
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News
No Result
View All Result
Watchdog Uganda
No Result
View All Result

Sebei barley farmers sing Nile Breweries’ praises

Caesar Abangirah by Caesar Abangirah
6 years ago
in Agriculture, Business, Finance, Products
18 1
ShareTweetSendShare

About 10 years ago, Irene Chemutai was like any other ordinary peasant farmer in Cheminy village, Kwosir sub-county, Kween District.

Then, the mother of 13 children was struggling to raise her 10 girls and three boys on proceeds from wheat and maize that she grew in her backyard.

60-year-old Irene Chemutai is one of the several farmers who has embraced barley farming courtesy of NBL

“It was tough times then. We could barely make ends meet,” she says through a translator on the edge of her three-acre barley and Irish potatoes farm on the lush, rolling hills of the village in Eastern Uganda, almost 400 kilometres from Uganda’s capital Kampala.

“Now I can never go a day hungry and I have taken most of my children to school,” she says, her 15-year-old son on a short break from school, standing beside her.

Chemutai is one of the 450 farmers in Kwosir Sub County alone that have embraced barley farming in partnership with Nile Breweries Limited (NBL) to create market for farmers’ produce and increase food security.

According to Ivan Ndiwa, the NBL extension officer of Kwosir, barley is a relatively new crop which is now grown by almost every household in Kapachorwa, Bukwo and Kween districts.

Introduced just 15 years ago, barley – a major ingredient used to make beer- takes four months to mature.

“Barley is referred to as the ‘semester crop’ because parents are able to pay tuition for their university going students at the start of each semester. Planting is usually done April and August while harvesting is carried out in July and December, referred to as seasons A and B,” Ndiwa says.

Geofrey Ojara, the agriculturalist team leader, Eastern region recognises a barley farmer

The beer company works with about 17,000 barley farmers in Sebei and Kigezi regions as well as several others in Busoga and Teso who grow white sorghum, maize and cassava.

Under the arrangement, NBL supplies farmers with certified seeds at a subsidized price of Shs1,000 per kilogramme.

According to Geofrey Ojara, the NBL agriculturalist team leader, Eastern region, the beer firm then tops up Shs5,000 for each kilo bought.

“At the beginning of each season, we mobilise farmers to buy seeds at the various localized buying points that we have brought nearer to them,” he says.

These are the same points at which Chemutai, together will colleagues will take their July harvest to be bought by NBL at prices fairly better than that offered by the competition.

Last December, Chemutai says she harvested about 1.5 tonnes (1,500 kilogrames) of barley from her piece of land.

Each kilogramme of grain, Ojara says is bought at Shs1,525 which is paid in cash after certain quality tests are carried out. These include among others the germination capacity and moisture content of the grains which should be below 20 per cent.

This means Chemutai was paid about Shs2,287,500 for her Season B harvest.

A barley collection center in Kween District

“In Sebei region alone, we paid rural farmers Shs9.9b for about 6.5million kilogrammes of barley in the last harvest,” Ojara says.

The money and yields could even be bigger had it not been for land fragmentation which makes it hard for most farmers to own more than one acre.

“Most farmers are small scale and truthfully, yield per unit area will greatly be increased if they (farmers) can jointly til their pieces of land,” Ojara adds.

NBL does not stop at just selling seeds and buying harvest.

In 2018, Nile Breweries partnered with BanQu to extend this technology to its Barley farmers in Sebei region as a way to empower farmers financially by ensuring that they have a record of their transactions with the company so that it can act as security to financial institutions.

Barley farmers in Kwosir Subcounty, Kween District

“Also since 2018 we have trained farmers on how to grow barley, spray and harvest it. This has improved their yields and quality. Most, like Chemutai have all embraced modern farming,” Ojara added.

Best farmers have also been recognised and rewarded with spray pumps, overalls, gumboots and seed.

Onapito Ekomoloit, Legal & Corporate Affairs director NBL believes the partnership is very important because farmers are getting better at their activity and are also making money.

“Our Smart Agriculture project enables us show who the farmers are as we have record and also prove that they are indeed making money,” he said ahead of a Farmers Day outing in Bukwo district last month, a statement Chemutai says best describes their current status.

“This programme is godsend and we shall forever be grateful for the support rendered by NBL,” she says before heading to a farmers meeting organised by the beer company.


Do you have a story in your community or an opinion to share with us: Email us at editorial@watchdoguganda.com
Share4Tweet3SendShare

Related Posts

Business

Whistleblower Urges IGG to Probe ‘Illegal’ Work by Lagan Group’s Irish Employee

13th June 2025 at 18:16
Business

X Suspends Fake Account Impersonating Ugandan Tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia

13th June 2025 at 10:40
Business

Daily Bite Sets a New Benchmark in Canine Nutrition Kiracul Farm Inputs Unveils a Game-Changing Protein Supplement for Dogs

12th June 2025 at 09:43
Next Post

INVESTIGATION: How Susan Makula rose from casino girl to disorganize Bugingo's friendships with pastors, Salt FM and Teddy's marriage

  • Prostitution in Uganda- Courtesy Photo

    10 dangerous hotspots known for prostitutes in Kampala

    1059 shares
    Share 424 Tweet 265
  • Uganda’s Billionaires 2025: Once Again Sudhir Ruparelia Leads a Resilient Pack

    25 shares
    Share 10 Tweet 6
  • Makerere University Don on the spot over fraudulent acquisition of land

    29 shares
    Share 12 Tweet 7
  • Retired civil servant reaps big from coffee farming, credits President Museveni’s visionary leadership 

    14 shares
    Share 6 Tweet 4
  • Pastor Bugingo Seeks Reconciliation with Teddy and Children, Prays for Makula’s Twins

    14 shares
    Share 6 Tweet 4
Facebook Twitter

Contact Information

Watchdog Uganda is a portal for solution journalism, trending news plus cutting edge commentaries in the fields of politics, security, business, tourism, entertainment, technology, agriculture, climate change, environment, public health et al. We also give preference to Ugandan community news and topical discussions. The portal also publishes community news and topical discussions.

Email: editorial@watchdoguganda.com
To Advertise:Click here

Latest News

Whistleblower Urges IGG to Probe ‘Illegal’ Work by Lagan Group’s Irish Employee

13th June 2025 at 18:16

Why was the Express Penalty System suspended?

13th June 2025 at 16:43

Check out

  • Trending
  • Comments
  • Latest
Minister Muruli Mukasa

LIST: New salary structure for civil servants starting July 2020 out; scientists, lecturers get juicy pay rise

24th May 2020 at 10:45
Pregnant woman

Shock as 17-year old boy impregnates his two sisters during Covid-19 lockdown 

17th June 2020 at 08:17
Sudhir Ruparelia is set to speak at business forum in United Kingdom

Billionaire Sudhir’s wisdom on how to invest in real estate

0

How a boy’s destiny turned from cotton grower to communications guru

0

Whistleblower Urges IGG to Probe ‘Illegal’ Work by Lagan Group’s Irish Employee

13th June 2025 at 18:16

Why was the Express Penalty System suspended?

13th June 2025 at 16:43

© 2025 Watchdog Uganda

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
    • National
    • Politics
    • World News
    • Media Outreach Newswire
    • Africa News
    • Tourism
    • Community News
    • Luganda
    • Sports
      • Football
      • Motorsport
  • Op-Ed
    • #Out2Lunch
    • Conversations with
    • Politics
    • Relationships
  • Business
    • Agriculture
    • CEOs & Entrepreneurs,
    • Companies
    • Finance
    • Products
    • RealEstate
    • Technology
  • Entertainment
    • Lifestyle
  • People
    • Showbiz
      • Salon Mag
  • Special Report
    • Education
    • Voices
  • Reviews
    • Products
    • Events
    • Hotels
    • Restaurants
    • Places
  • WD-TV
  • Donate
  • China News

© 2025 Watchdog Uganda