18 NEW VISION, Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Editors
Note

Let us use our

land protably
Land is the biggest source of capital. This
is why most people are dying to have
land. However, you have to work and turn
that land into a source of cash.
In many societies, especially those where
land is owned communally or under a
customary system, land ownership is a
source of immense pride. People always
refer to it as our land. And these do
not only include those who are using
it gainfully, but also those who are just
owning it for pride. Any person who tries
to invest on that land is chased away.
And yet, many of the locals are poor and
miserable, who should otherwise have
used this land to change their lives.
It is not only common people who
are satisfied with just owning land.
Statistics show that even government
institutions are not using their land
maximumly. Government institutions
such as the Prisons, army, schools and
research institutions have a lot of land,
which, unfortunately, lies idle. Save for
Prisons that is trying to utilise this land
commercially, others are
simply skin deep scratching
on this vast resource. Vast
ranches such as Maruzi
and Aswa, with a potential
to produce six million
litres of milk per
month (if adopted
for dairy),
remain unused.
Other ranches
are only 50%
operational
too. Let us use
this land and
truly, Uganda
will be the
food basket of
the region.

Joshua Kato
Editor

Government land use

In Ruimi farm, the Prisons
services has around 3,700 acres of
agriculture land and produces 900
tonnes of maize.
Ibuga Prisons farm has about
800 acres of agriculture land. Of
this, around 350acres are under
maize production, while the rest
is under commercial trees and
horticulture.
The institute that houses the
National Crops Resources Research
Institute has about 3,300 acres
of land, but less than half of it is
being regularly used for agriculture
research.
At Njeru stock farm, in Buikwe
district, near River Nile, out of 303
hectares of land, only 145 hectares
are under use.
At Rubona stock farm in
Kabarole, with an acreage of about
746 acres, with a capacity to keep
at least 300 livestock units, there
are only 148 livestock units, which
is slightly lower than 50% of the
capacity.

HARVEST MONEY

How Government is
This is the second part
of a series of stories on
Ugandas land tenure
system and its impact on
agriculture. In this part,
we look at land under
government in Prisons,
UPDF, ranches and research
institutions
By Joshua Kato
This is a critical problem. It
is something that has to be
addressed. Killing your own
mother over a plot of land, can
you imagine? Dr Maggie Kigozi,
a former top executive of the
Uganda Investment Authority
(UIA) told delegates during a
workshop how getting land for
investment was one of the biggest
challenges she faced at the body.
Critical cases that she mentioned
included the Gulu industrial park
and the Madhvani land saga
in Amuru that failed to take off
because of the critical nature of
land.
However, while Government
looks for land for investors, a
simple survey indicates that, the
Government is not using her land
profitably.
Under the various land tenure
systems, the Government owns
vast pieces of land, most of them
under the care of government
institutions. These include Prisons
services, the army and Police,
education institutions, hospitals
and agriculture research
institutions. However, other than
the Prisons service, no other
institution has commercially put
its land under agriculture.
Therefore, as we lament about
lack of land for investment, are we
using what we have effectively?
wonders ambassador Phillip Idro.
Both Kigozi and Idro were
speaking at a public forum on
Rethinking the land question,
food security and agricultural
transformation in Uganda.
The workshop was organised
by Makerere University
Business School Economic
Forum recently.
Prisons a shining example
When the colonialists
demarcated land, one of the
institutions that was rewarded
generously was the Prisons
service.
There are over 220 prisons of
varying sizes. Each of these has
huge tracts of land that is being
used for commercial agriculture.
The largest prison farms include
Ruimi in Kabarole, Ibuga in
Kasese, Isimba in Masindi,
Bufulubi in Mayuge, Kitalya in
Wakiso and Namalu in Karamoja.
There are 21 prison farms around
the country, with over 15,000
acres of land that they can put to
commercial agriculture. Currently,
however, only 5,600 acres are
being used effectively.
At Ruimi, near Fort Portal town,
the Prisons services has about

Inmates of Uganda Prison Farm in Ruimi, Kabarole, milling maize. Photo by Petride Mudoola

An
inmate
with
fruits
from
Ibuga
Prison
farm
3,700 acres of agriculture land.
However, as of 2015, the Prisons
service was using around 450
acres for agriculture. We are
getting around 900 tonnes of
maize, says Frank Baine, the
Prisons spokesperson. This means
that if they had planted maize on
900 acres, then yields would be

around 1,800 tonnes and if they

had 2,000 acres, they would get
4,000 tonnes from just one farm.
Not far away from Ruimi, there
is Ibuga Prisons in Kasese. Ibuga
currently has about 800 acres of
agriculture land. However, the
Prisons authorities are only able to
use 400 acres.
Of this, about 350 acres are
under maize production, while
the rest is under commercial trees
and horticulture. With a seasonal
production of around 700 tonnes,
this would certainly go higher
if more land was put under
commercial farming.
We are going to take on a new
mandate of diversifying from
grains (maize) to cotton, says
the commissioner of Prisons, Dr
Johnson Byabashaija. In the last
season, Isimba Prisons farm grew
1,000 acres of cotton. He said
this is now going to be raised to
around 2,000 acres next season.
In addition to taking on cotton
and cereals, Prisons have also
started processing maize
seeds as directed by the
President. Indeed, they are
producing the seeds and
this may improve access
to seeds across the country.
Additionally, Prisons is also the
leading breeder of pigs and a
good producer of poultry in the
country.
According to Andrew Kisitu, the
commissioner of Prisons in charge
of farming, one of the issues
that has been affecting effective
utilisation of the land has been
lack of mechanisation.
We have been using mainly
rudimentary tools on the farm,
he says. However, in April, the
Prisons got a boost of 20 tractors
and other equipment from the
Government. This, Kisitu says, is
set to improve their performance.
We are embracing technology
not only through acquiring
equipment, but also in terms of

applying improved seed varieties

and application of fertilisers.
Therefore, we expect to improve
average production from five bags
per acre to around 18, he said.
The improvement will mean that
the farms will produce around
65% of the food consumed by
prisoners, up from 35% at the
moment.
Research institutions
There are vast pieces of land
that were allocated to agriculture
research institutions and
government ranches. However,
a lot of this land is not utilised
effectively.
Some of this land includes
Namulonge in Wakiso, Kituza
in Mukono, Kamenyamigo in
Masaka, Ngetta in Lira and
Bulindi in Hoima.
While some land is being used
for agriculture research, the
largest chunks lie idle and this is
why some of them are attracting
investors to take it over. This is
what happened to the land in
Namulonge.
The institute, which houses
the National Crops Resources
Research Institute, carries out
nearly all the turn-key research in
seeds for all crops in the country.
Through the years, it has certainly
done a wonderful job, with
cereals, tuber crops etc. However,
since these are done largely on
small plots, a lot of the land
remains unused.
With around 3,300 acres of land,
less than half of it is regularly
used for agriculture research. A
big part of the research station
had been earmarked for cotton
research and development
research many years ago. It
is because of this that some
investors identified it as virgin
land for their enterprises.
In December 2013, Kampala
tycoon Sudhir Ruparelia wrote to
the Uganda Land Commission

HARVEST MONEY

underutilising land

Farmers harvesting vegetables at Mubuku irrigation scheme. Less than half of the scheme is being used commercially
asking for part of Namulonge.
The reasons given were that
the area looked bushy and
unused, yet his agriculture
arm had plans of extension.
We failed to get the
required land for expansion
through private commercial
sector, Sudhir explained. He
said he wanted the land to
establish 400 acres of roses
(flowers), 200 acres of fruits,
100 acres of exotic herbs
and 200 acres of vegetables.
However, although he had
initially been given the land,
the Government withdrew it,
owing to public pressure.
According to one of the
directors at Namulonge,
indeed some of the land is
bushy, but they have plans
for it. We have big plans to
use this land commercially.
However, we are doing this in
phases because of budgetary
constraints, he says.
Probably, the institute
and National Agricultural
Research Organisation will
soon put vast land into further
commercial use, since it
recently created a business
arm.
Previously, all that we
did was to research on new
technologies and give them
to seed companies to multiply
them. However, we are
now getting into producing
the seeds commercially
and selling them directly
to farmers, explains Peter
Lusembo, the NARO business
development manager.
With these new enterprises,
this land will certainly be
required to multiply the seeds
and other technologies.
Wasted ranches
In addition to the research
institutions, there is also
land under the Government

84,000
The number of
acres at Aswa ranch
which have not been
commercially utilised
by the Government for
agriculture for over 30
years

33,000
The number of acres
National Crops Resources
Research Institute sits
on. However, less than
half of it is regularly used
for agricultural research

148
The number of livestock
units at Rubona stock
farm in Kabarole. The
746-acre farm has a
capacity of keeping at
least 300 livestock units
ranches scattered around
the country. For example,
according to a report about
Njeru stock farm, in Buikwe
district, near River Nile, out
of 303 hectares of land, only
145 hectares are under use.
The farm is supposed to breed
and keep livestock for other
farmers to buy. While the farm
has a capacity to keep at least
275 cows, there are currently
only 167, which is around 60%
of the capacity.
This is almost the same
situation with Rubona stock
farm in Kabarole. With an

acreage of about 746 acres,

with a capacity to keep at least
300 livestock units, there are
only 148 livestock units, which
is slightly lower than 50% of
the capacity.
Maruzi ranch in Apac district
is another example of poorly
utilised government land.
Established in the 1960s as
a cattle breeding ranch, the
over 10 square mile expansive
ranch was ran down in the
1970s and 1980s. Because of
this, many squatters settled
on the land. By the end of
2015, there were about 40,000
squatters on the land. All the
livestock support systems
established on the ranch in
the 1960s were run down and
wasted. Among these included
cattle dips, spray races and
water dams.
In 2004, the ranch
was handed over to the
National Animal Genetic
Resources Centre and Data
Bank (NAGRC&DB), the
government livestock research
arm, that started a campaign
to re-stock it. If stocked to
maximum capacity, the ranch
can accommodate over 5,000
cattle. For example, the dairy/
milk producing breeds, with
each producing around 15
litres per day, that could add
up to 60,000 litres per day or
around 1.8 million litres of
milk per month or around 21
million litres per year.
Alternatively, if the ranch
was used to produce beef
cows with a capacity to
produce 5,000 cows every
year of an average 200kg each,
then it would be adding at
least one million kilogrammes
to the market per year.
In an unlikely change of
tune and plans, the land at
Maruzi is now being planned
for an industrial city. This

vast land in Maruzi can

be transformed into an
industrial city, President
Yoweri Museveni said,
during a visit to Lango in
July 2015.
In Pader, there is Aswa
ranch, which, like Maruzi,
has an expanse of land (over
84,000 acres) that has not
been commercially utilised
by the Government for
agriculture for over 30 years.
And yet, if well-stocked, the
land can accommodate at
least 30,000 cows of different
breeds.
If these are dairy cows
and each produces 15 litres
per day, this translates to
about 450,000 litres per
day or around four million
litres per month or around
48 million litres per year.
This would certainly add to
the current two billion litres
of milk produced annually
across the country.
While Maruzi is proposed
for an agribusiness industrial
park, the status of Aswa
ranch remains murky.
Two years ago, the
Government had started
a restocking campaign,
with around 1,000 exotic
cows delivered. However,
elders from Acholi stopped
the exercise after hearing
rumours that the land had
been allocated to other
investors.
We want the ranch to be
utilised for the benefit of the
people of Acholi and not by
masqueraders, MP Odonga
Otto, said. Because of this,
the vast and fertile resource
remains idle.
This story was done
with support from
African Centre of Media
Excellence

NEW VISION, Tuesday, May 24, 2016

19

UPDF land in private use

While the Prisons services
were given land for food
production, the army
was allocated land for
construction of barracks
and training facilities.
However, a lot of this
land is dormant. In many
cases, this dormancy
has attracted encroachers
on the land, rendering it
useless commercially.
The largest barracks
include Bondo in Arua,
Makenke in Mbarara,
Hima in Kasese, Singo
in Nakaseke, Kakiri in
Wakiso, Bugema in Mbale,
plus others in Gulu,
Kitgum, etc.
In Nakasongola, the
army has got over five
square miles that she has
been fighting over with
encroachers. Five square
miles is an equivalent
of around 4,000 acres
of productive land.
However, other than small
farms owned by wives
of soldiers, very little
commercial agriculture
takes place on this vast
piece of land.
This is the same case
with land in Lwera, that
had been demarcated for
an airstrip by Idi Amin
in the late 1970s. This
land is in a prime area
for agriculture. However,
nobody is using it for
agriculture, says Moses
Wasswa, a resident of
Lukaya.
A few years ago, the
army gave away over 112
acres to the neighbouring
population for agriculture.
In Hima barracks,

which is home to the 305

brigade, soldiers under
their individual projects,
are using part of the vast
land for growing food,
mainly maize.
Each of the soldiers,
who is interested in
agriculture, is allotted
between one to 20 acres
for production of maize,
an officer at the barracks
explains.

Nyakairima
had hinted at
turning the
farm into a
model army
farm institute
With around 600
acres under this system,
the combined maize
production of the soldiers
is around 700 tonnes per
season. We are doing
it our own way, we need
institutional support to
increase production, the
officer said.
The soldiers said if they
are supported with tractors
and fertilisers, then
production may get better.
In 2012, during a visit
to Hima, the then Chief
of Defence Forces, Gen.
Aronda Nyakairima, had
hinted at turning the farm
into a model army farm
institute.

A soldier in a maize shamba at Hima barracks in

Kasese district