By Bob Rumanzi

Farmers in the Kigezi sub-region are yet to embrace vegetable growing as a source of income that can transform their families and communities at large.

According to the study made by our reporter, the Kigezi sub-region is one of the regions with the best soils for growing vegetables among the 4 existing regions in Uganda.

Most vegetables grown include Tomatoes, Green papers, Egg-plants, cabbages, and carrots among others which are important sources of many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, vitamin A, and vitamin C.

Growing vegetables is one of the activities under-looked by some individuals, especially the youths who finish university and fail to get jobs.

Mwesigwa Bright a large-scale tomato farmer from Rukungiri district narrated to our reporter how studied driving and failed to get a job. He says that walked on streets looking for a job until he developed the idea of opting to start growing tomatoes which is his current source of income.

Mwesigwa says that he has earned a lot from this activity like buying a motorcycle which helps him in delivering his produce to the market, buying Animals, and other necessities. He says that he harvests almost 600Kgs of tomatoes every week.

Bossa Jane another vegetable farmer from Rukungiri says that she started growing vegetables in 2019 and that she has also earned a lot from growing vegetables. She narrates how she has managed to pay school fees for her children, bought land, and in addition to providing food to her family.

Bossa added that as vegetable farmers, they meet different challenges in doing this activity like lack of enough pesticides and inadequate market to sell their produce.  She calls upon women to embrace vegetable growing if they are to generate income for their families rather than wasting time on things that don’t add value to their families.

Bingirana David a farmer from Kanungu who plants a variety of vegetables, says that farming is another employment opportunity that people can embrace. He says that their efforts to grow on a large scale are hindered by a lack of government support in terms of seeds and other tools used in farming.

In 2020, vegetables’ primary production for Uganda was 1.38 million tonnes. Vegetables’ primary production in Uganda increased from 219,500 tonnes in 1971 to 1.38 million tonnes in 2020 growing at an average annual rate of 3.86%.

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