Teacher by profession, farmer by passion

Najjingo carries pawpaws she has harvested from her garden. PHOTO BY FRED MUZAALE 

In Summary

Najjingo Matovu is a teacher who loves farming. She told Fred Muzaale how she set up a farming business with savings from her salary.

I am Najjingo Matovu, a resident of Ndeeba village in Kayunga Sub-county, Kayunga District. I am a teacher by profession and a farmer by occupation.

Though I love teaching, my passion is farming, which I have been doing since I was a young girl. I went to the farm with my parents.

I hold a degree in Primary Education and have been a teacher for 40 years; 20 of those was as head teacher.
As a commercial farmer, I am involved in growing bananas and pawpaws on two acres of land, which I bought in 2002 through making savings from my teacher’s salary.

As a teacher in the 1990s, I earned Shs200,000 monthly but had a big family to look after. So, I spent a significant part of it on buying food. Since I was regularly being transferred from one school to another by the district authorities, I could not engage in farming.

In 2007, I bought a piece of land near my home, which had coffee trees and some banana plants. I decided to revive the coffee plantation so that I can get good yields. However, after two harvests, I realised it was not well paying since the plantation was small and most trees had been destroyed by coffee wilt disease.
For three successive years, I earned an average of Shs450,000 per season. This was little money compared to the time and money I invested.

When I visited a friend in Kyabazaala village who grows pawpaws, he advised me to replace the coffee with pawpaws, which would earn more because there was a ready market.
I took his advice but since I did not have the seedlings I bought a ripe pawpaw from which I got the initial seeds.
I did this because it was cheaper to raise my own seedlings than buying them from a nursery operator who sells each at Shs700.

I sorted the seeds to get those that are big and healthy. Then, I dried them for four days before potting them in polythene bags with loam soil mixed with sandy soil to improve drainage. I added cow dung to enhance fertility.
I put one seed in each polythene pack and then placed them under a shed. I made the shed with poles and banana leaves and grass to cover the top.

The place where I set up the nursery bed was raised to avoid run-off water from destroying the seedlings.
I watered the nursery bed once every day in the evening or morning when temperatures are lower. If you water them in the afternoon, the water will become warm due to the heat and when the plants take it, they wither.
After one month when the seedlings had germinated I sprayed them with a fertiliser and with a pesticide to kill insects that attack the leaves.

After two months, the seedlings were ready to transplant in the main garden. I ensured that the soil had good drainage to avoid root rot.
I dug pits of 10ft by 10ft from one line to another and from one plant to another. Proper spacing is important because if not well spaced, they will grow tall but with poor fruiting.

In the pits, I put compost manure. Because seedlings need a lot of water after transplanting, it is better to ensure that it coincides with a rainy season. This will also ease the work of having to water the plants.
Because pawpaws grow well when they are weed-free, I mulched the garden with banana leaves and grass. If weeds are left to compete with pawpaw trees for soil nutrients and water, the trees will grow and not fruit.
To help with farm work when I am at school, I employ two people who pay Shs80,000 a month. However, during weekends and holidays, I do some work like thinning and cutting off dry leaves from banana trees.

Market
I sell my bananas to traders from Kayunga Town but the pawpaws to those from Kenya and South Sudan. Every week, I sell at least 200 pawpaws and 15 bunches of matooke. A big one goes for Shs15,000.
I earn about Shs160,000 a week when the prices for pawpaws are good. The prices go up during dry periods, for instance, in December and April. Currently, the price for pawpaw has dropped; a big one goes for Shs4,000. Even then, I still get some money

The pawpaw buyers sometimes pay cash or pay after they have sold. I don’t worry about the payments because we have built a relationship of trust.

The biggest challenge I face is the fluctuation in pawpaw prices. When the prices drop especially during rainy seasons, I earn little money.

Also, there is the menace of thieves who steal some of my produce because my garden is not near my home. I hope to get a guard to check this problem.
Unlike when I earned once a year from my garden when I was growing coffee, I now earn at least Shs720,000 a month from my produce.