Access to Rural Non-Farm Livelihoods - Natural Resources Institute

4.3.3 Services
There are a small number of service enterprises in the centre of the village, including bicycle
and motorcycle mechanics, a bar selling local beer and locally distilled spirits, and two
private clinics which offer simple diagnostic services and sell drugs. A few young men also
deliver water on bicycles, and there are a small number of women who sell cooked snack
foods, such as chapatis or small cassava and banana pancakes from the verandas of local
shops, or to school children on their way home. A few very wealthy individuals, typically
those with jobs at the district headquarters, own shops and houses in the trading centre, which
they rent out to others.
Box 9. Mr Onaldo, mechanic
Mr Onaldo is 60 years old. He learnt to drive in Kampala, and worked as a driver in the
Works Department at the district headquarters in Rakai from 1972 until the early 1990s, when
his health deteriorated, and he had to stop. Having learnt mechanics through his job, he used
his salary to buy some tools of his own and also ran a workshop outside their home working
after hours and at weekends. There was actually relatively little business until the late 1980s,
but he was able to support two of their children through diploma level studies, and others
through secondary school. However, when he fell ill he also stopped the mechanics business,
and since then the household’s income has declined considerably. His wife, Jane, is concerned
about secondary school fees for their younger children, as well as the expense of caring for
four orphaned nephews and nieces who live with them. Their older children who have jobs or
businesses in Kampala help with household commodities, such as sugar and soap, and she
farms, but this is primarily for subsistence, and what she sells is not enough for secondary
school fees. She likes the idea of having a retail shop to help generate income, but doubts that
she will be able to get enough capital together to make this a reality.
Box 10. Mrs Vamahame, pancake seller
Mrs Vamahame is a well educated woman (S5). Her husband has a BSc, and teaches
biochemistry and agriculture at the local secondary school. However, his small salary is not
enough to support their nine children, some of whom are students at the secondary school.
When he was transferred here in 1995 they bought a plot of land which she and the older
children farm, along with some hired labourers, but although they use modern methods, the
surplus for sale is not a lot. Mrs Vamahame therefore supplements the household’s income by
making and selling cassava and banana pancakes. It was easy to get started using her existing
kitchen utensils – she only needed to buy the cassava flour and oil. She sells the pancakes
from her home which is right on the road to Sserinnya where many children go to school. She
makes about 3,000 shillings per week in profit, which is comparable to what the family gets
from farming in an average year. They are better off than many others, with a large house and
money for batteries for their radio-cassette player, but Mr Vamahame is not satisfied, and
aspires to becoming a coffee trader.
Finally, Byakabanda is home to a relatively large number of salaried workers, such as
teachers and government and NGO extension workers who work in and around the village,
and administrators and political leaders who work at the district headquarters in nearby Rakai
Town. Although salaries are generally low, they are typically among the better off, as they
tend to be well educated and well connected and thus well informed about development
opportunities. Furthermore, they are also often able to access formal credit against their
salaries or to take advances, so most have profitable businesses on the side which often bring
in more money than their salaries. They also benefit in that they are buffered against
fluctuations in the local economy by their regular monthly incomes, and may have some
expenses, such as healthcare, covered by their employers.
42