Overcoming disability turned him into a model farmer
Busagwa in his coffee plantation. Below left, working with his wife in the banana garden. Below right, at the pig sty. PHOTOS BY ISSA ALIGA
What you need to know:
He did not allow disability to get in the way in the way of personal ambition and the desire to help others.
Ability beyond disability is what many people see in Mr. David Luyombo Busagwa, a farmer and councillor for persons with disabilities (PWDs) in Kalungu District.
Because of his determination, Mr Luyombo, 51, a resident at Kawule village, has strived to transform the lives of PWDs and change the attitude of those who look at them objects of pity in the society.
Mobilisation
“I have tried to enhance the quality of life of people with disabilities by improving opportunities, promoting and protecting their human rights,’’ Luyombo says.
In 1988, he established Modern Agricultural Training Centre (MATC) under Kawule Disabled Persons and their Families Association (KADIPEFA) to train them and their families on how they can fend for themselves through farming. It has a membership of 1,080.
He also set up a construction company known as Ludabu Investments to construct poultry houses, cowsheds and pig sties at a subsidised charges. He has also been writing project proposals to solicit for material and financial support to run the projects for PWDs in Kalungu District.
Earnings
He mobilises PWDs and other local farmers from Masaka, Sembabule, Rakai, Bukomansimbi and Kalungu and they are trained in improved farm methods like organic farming, how to breed better livestock and water harvesting technologies.
He estimates that he earns Shs40m to Shs50m from his yields from various farming activities including three acres of matooke, three acres of coffee as well as livestock like pigs, cows and chicken. There are also established demonstration farms for fruits including avocadoes, mangoes and passion fruits as well as nursery beds for coffee, grafted mangoes, avocadoes and oranges.
He spends little money on food and his farm earnings are spent on medical care and basic needs and he has managed to educate his children – with four of them graduates from Makerere University and others are still in secondary schools.
Savings and credit
To Busagwa, accessibility to services is not a serious challenge because he established income projects that help him earn money for medical care, school fees for his children has been able to buy a car, which he drives to go to whatever destination he wants.
However, his biggest challenge is getting labour for the demonstration farm because he is only helped by his wife, Ms Florence Namusoke, and a few volunteers.
The other problem is the prevalence of crop diseases and pests. He is affected by banana wilt disease and coffee twig borer, which have affected the production.
In a move to encourage a savings culture among its members to make use of the income they earn from farming, the association registered a savings unit, KADIPEFA Dairy Farmers’ Savings and Credit Co-operative Society. It help the members to both save and access credit to use for business.
Need to empower
Busangwe says he is convinced that the way forward is innovation in agricultural entrepreneurship. “It is only through encouraging PWDs to actively participate in income-generating projects and decision-making agendas, and access to education and employment opportunities that can help them live a better life’’ he said
The executive director, National Union of Disabled People of Uganda, Mr Edison Ngirabakunzi, adds that the demographic and household surveys of 2006 and 2011 put the number of people with classified disabilities at seven per cent and 16 per cent respectively.
Therefore, the disabled persons need to be empowered and accept that they can cause development in the country just like any other person.
