Agriculture 2-1 Business

Writer: Michael Ainomugisha.

The Faculty of Agriculture is on the verge of back-to-back championships after a hard-fought 2-1 victory over the School of Business in the semifinals of the UCU 27th Guild Government’s Inter-Faculty Football Games.

Agriculture’s dominance on the field was evident as they managed to hold off last season’s finalists, the School of Business, in a tense encounter at the UCU grounds.

Isaac Mpugu gave Agriculture the lead with a well-taken goal just at the start of halftime, and Adam Abdumalik sealed the win with another goal in the second half.

The School of Business through a well-struck hit passed the Faculty of Agriculture’s goalkeeper after a misplaced block by agriculture midfielders

School of Business had its fair share of opportunities but struggled to convert. Their star striker, Deng, could not capitalize on the chances created for him.

Business players also contested the referee’s decision, claiming that a goal scored by one of their strikers from an offside position—following a rebound off the post—should have stood.

“The Agriculture boys put up a spirited fight throughout the 90 minutes. We are ready to fight and defend our title,” said Alpha Sonko, captain of the Faculty of Agriculture.

Agriculture now looks ahead to their next challenge—facing the School of Law in the finals on March 28, 2024.

In the earlier semifinal, the School of Law advanced to the final after a dramatic penalty shootout win over the Faculty of Engineering. The match ended 2-2 after regular time, with both teams scoring a goal in the first half. Engineering’s Wagaya Gerald gave his team the lead in the second half after capitalizing on a defensive error from the Law defense.

However, with just minutes remaining, the School of Law’s resilience showed when they equalized in the 88th minute, pushing the game into penalties.

In the shootout, the pivotal moment came when Engineering’s midfielder Aloro missed his penalty, allowing Law’s goalkeeper, Edonu Emmanuel, to save it. Law converted all their penalties, securing a 4-1 victory and a spot in the final.

The final promises to be a nail-biting encounter, as both Agriculture and Law have proven their mettle in this year’s competition.

Final Match:

Faculty of Agriculture vs School of Law

March 28, 2024.

Uganda Christian University (UCU) has been implementing the AIRTEA project entitled, “Enhancing inclusive market access for African Indigenous vegetable seed and value-added products by smallholder farmers in Uganda.

This project started in 2022 and has been funded by the European Union through the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) in partnership with the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in East and Central Africa (ASARECA) and East African Farmers Federation (EAFF). UCU has been implementing it with partners including Uganda National Farmers Federation (UNFFE), Syova Seeds Ltd (part of East Africa Seeds), and FARMGAIN Africa Ltd, a market information company.

Speaking at the dissemination of the project results at African Village Hotel, Mukono, Prof Elizabeth Balyejusa Kizito, the Director of Research, Partnership, and Innovations at UCU and Principal Investigator of the AIRTEA project, said the project worked with farmers of vegetables- mostly Indigenous vegetables such as Nakati, Doodo, Bbuga, pumpkin, and also tomatoes with a thrust of getting farmers linked to market their products to big buyers through contracts for specificities in the vegetables produced such as seed, or grain, or fruit or leafy vegetable.

She went ahead to highlight that during the project they trained farmers regarding sustainable production, business planning, post-harvest management to support their engagement with signed contracts. Farmers were ably matched and linked with big buyers and organized to supply the demanded produce. UCU also supported the Uganda National Farmers’ Federation (UNFFE) to develop and implement a management information system to support efficient operations in the organization. The project areas include Mukono, Buikwe, Jinja, Bugiri, Nakaseke, Luweero, Mityana and Kayunga.

Prof Kizito further noted that another major purpose of the AIRTEA project was to address the supply constraints, “how can small scale farmers reliably supply the required product quantities and quality in time as demanded by the market?” she said.

Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi, the Vice Chancellor of Uganda Christian University (UCU), emphasized the significance of the AIRTEA project, noting that it fosters a vital partnership with farmers. He commended the project for actively involving farmers and thanked its initiators for introducing a project that is transforming lives and communities.

He further commended the project’s coordinators particularly the UCU Directorate of Research, Innovations, and Partnerships for extending UCU’s impact beyond lecture rooms and into the community. “This aligns with UCU’s mission of delivering transformative education,” said Prof. Aaron Mushengyezi.

Dr. Rosemary Bulyaba, Dean of the Faculty of Agricultural Sciences at UCU, notes that UCU focuses on teaching students practical skills, including product processing and value addition. She also highlighted the faculty’s alignment with the AIRTEA project, which integrates seamlessly with their initiatives.

Mr. Perez Kawumi, the Deputy Executive Director UNFFE noted that the AIRTEA project has served as a beacon of hope over the past two and a half years, transforming lives and empowering communities in the target districts it has worked in East and Central Uganda. He acknowledged the successful execution of tasks through collaboration with dedicated partners and underscored the importance of sustaining the lasting impact of the AIRTEA project.

Dr. Joshua Okonya, the Programs Officer from ASARECA which is among the consortium funders of the AIRTEA project expressed gratitude to the leadership of the AIRTEA project, particularly the Principal Investigator, Prof. Elizabeth Balyejusa. He also extended his appreciation to the technical and financial partners for their teamwork and dedication, which enabled the achievement of all the project outputs.

Dr. Okonya commended UCU’s approach of producing hands-on graduates, emphasizing that this equips them to navigate challenges in the field. He assured continued support from ASARECA for the project and wished that the vegetation units established during the AIRTEA project continue to operate.

Mugisha Johnson, the Sales and Marketing Manager at SYOVA Seeds Uganda, highlighted their role in the AIRTEA project as ensuring the production of high-quality seeds, establishing demonstration gardens, and providing guidance and training to farmers in seed and vegetable production.

David Luwandaga from Farm Gain Africa, which was responsible for linking and connecting farmers to markets in the AIRTEA project, highlighted that several buyers were successfully mobilized. He further mentioned that they also held training sessions in different areas. Both SYOVA and Farm Gain expressed their gratitude to UCU for providing them the opportunity to contribute to the project.

Alex Mukotanyi, the Head of Membership at UNFFE, highlighted that one of the major challenges farmers face is limited market access, particularly for those growing African Indigenous Vegetables. He noted that one of UNFFE’s key achievements in the AIRTEA project was successfully mobilizing and connecting farmers to markets, which has greatly strengthened the farmers.

Overall, discussions at the dissemination agreed to the fact that it is one good thing to creatively think out and bring to fruition innovative ways of doing things or innovations. All stakeholders agreed upon the need to scale and work together towards sustainability of these innovations including the AIRTEA project. This conversation will continue as we all strive to contribute to improving the farmers and community livelihood, securing indigenous vegetables and enhancing market access while empowering smallholder farmers in Uganda.

Compiled By: Mupuya Ronald @ Faculty of Agricultural Science, UCU
Contributor: Prof. Elizabeth Kizito Balyejusa, Director of Research, Partnerships and Innovation

Proceedings from the workshop

By Kefa Senoga
In 2017, the father of Jean Paul Nageri planted more than 100 acres of bananas in Busia, eastern Uganda. As is usually the norm, towards harvest time, a middleman promised to buy all the bananas at harvest. The harvest time came, but the middleman never showed up. The result? Most of the bananas either got rotten in the garden or were sold at a give-away price.

Table of Contents

• UCU’s Nageri Develops Air Freight Solution

The pain of that loss was so unbearable for Nageri that the next year, he was in the laboratory, working out a solution to mitigate the gravity of the depletion his father suffered. He suspected there was a solution, but did not know exactly what it was. And the tests in the laboratory led him to something that was more like putting into practice the course he had studied at Uganda Christian University (UCU), where he received a Bachelor of Agricultural Science and Entrepreneurship. 

Nageri sought to extend the shelf life of many fruits and vegetables by slowing down their rate of spoilage while being kept at room temperature without any form of refrigeration – a move that democratizes food storage and removes barriers to enable everyone to keep food fresh, regardless of whether you have a cold room or not. In Uganda, room temperature is about 25 degrees Celsius (77 Fahrenheit).

So, how does Nageri’s innovation work?

He explained that using the skins of oranges, mangoes, bananas and other fruits in the lab, he was able to extract compounds, which he later turned into powder. The powder is blended with water, which is then used for coating the fruits and vegetables. The coating, which he has named Ka Fresh and is produced by his firm, Sio Valley Technologies, is edible.

“Most of the knowledge I am applying now is what I obtained in class at the university,” he said. “I am working with other scientists who are also applying the same knowledge in biotechnology.”

For this innovation, Sio Valley Technologies was early this year awarded the Most Innovative Export company at the third annual Uganda/EU Business Summit. Nageri received the award from Uganda’s Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja. The Head of the European Union Delegation to Uganda, Ambassador Jan Sadek, was also present at the awards gala.  

The World Food Program estimates that as of last year, more than 333 million people in the world were facing acute levels of food insecurity; they did not know where their next meal would come. The situation is compounded by the fact that the cost of delivering food assistance was at an all-time high because of the increase in the prices of food and fuel.

Despite the hunger situation, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that 30-40% of total food production is lost before it reaches the market. But with the Ka Fresh solution, Nageri aims to overcome this challenge, so that farmers can have more bargaining power over their produce while in the market without fear of it getting rotten while on the shelf.

Some fruits and vegetables that have been coated with Nageri’s solution, he says, are now able to stay fresh for up to three times their natural shelf life. Nageri says tests in the laboratory have indicated that tomatoes that have been coated with Ka Fresh, for example, are able to stay for more than 70 days under room temperature without refrigeration.

UCU’s Nageri Develops Air Freight Solution

Nageri’s innovation should come as good news for exporters who are currently scratching their heads for solutions to the rising cost of air freight. Currently, according to the World Bank, it costs 12 to 16 times more to transport a commodity through air than sea and yet exporters opt for air transport because some commodities cannot last the more than 30 days it takes most of the ships to travel from African ports to Europe.

The journey to the Ka Fresh innovation saw Nageri team up with a friend, Lorna Orubo, to make tomato jam as a student at UCU and then mayonnaise, as his final-year project to meet the requirements for the award of his degree.

 “If you are building the right solution to a challenge, capital will always follow you and the right people will always want to surround themselves with you,” Nageri says, noting that for now, he is more focused on fine-tuning his innovation than looking at what he stands to benefit from it.