Access to Rural Non-Farm Livelihoods - Natural Resources Institute

Box 12. Mr Muza, trader
Mr Muza is 45 years old and has lived in Kitambuza all his life. He trades coffee, maize,
beans, and cattle, and also grows coffee and matooke for sale. He has two wives, each with
their own home, and sees himself as “average to well off”. He had little formal education
(P2), but learnt the trading business from friends, and started on his own in 1980 with money
he saved from farming. At first he sometimes made losses, but now he is more adept at
balancing expenditure and income. Price fluctuations are still a problem though and he and his
friends who are traders exchange information on markets. He spends about 100,000 shillings
per week on the business, and makes a profit of about 40,000 shillings, moving around the
local villages on his bicycle and selling to traders who come from Kampala. Bad weather is
also a problem as it affects production – he keeps his own farm going to see his family
through hard times. He was selected by an agricultural research centre in Kampala to receive
a water storage tank at a subsidised price (he paid 10% of the total cost, 50,000 shillings).
In Kitambuza trade in fish is mostly undertaken by poor men who purchase “mudfish” from
fishermen on Lake Kijanebalola at nearby landing sites
5.3.2 Processing/ Manufacturing Enterprises; Cottage Industries and Crafts
Local beers and spirits are produced by men and women. The most common local beer is
tonto, made from banana juice and sorghum.
Box 13. Charles Adeke, brewer
Charles is 21 years old, and not yet married, although he would like to be. He has his own
home, which his parents helped him build, and which is very near to theirs, as well as to that
of another older brother. He still eats with his parents and other younger siblings and helps
with household chores. On his own land he grows beans, maize, and matooke for sale, and
with his family he raises pigs, as well as brewing tonto. As he has few expenses of his own,
he is able to help with school expenses for his brothers, and is also investing in agricultural
tools of his own, as well as more pigs. His parents have always brewed tonto, but in about
1997 they handed the business onto their children, passing on both the know-how and the
materials, such as a tarpaulin to line the fermenting vessel, and jerry cans. Charles’s sisters
grow some of the sorghum, but they also buy some, as well as most of the bananas. The
brothers squeeze the bananas, mix the brew, and are responsible for selling it to bars in the
village, Lwentulege, and Kyaluyimuka. Mostly they sell on credit, with the bar owner paying
them after the beer has been sold. Most do pay, but the delay is a problem as it ties up their
limited working capital, and they are thus constrained to brewing only one batch per month.
The inputs cost about 17,000 shillings per batch, which yields a net profit of about 5,000
shillings. Charles would like to be able to brew more often in overlapping batches, and is
trying to get things working so the income from raising pigs and the income from brewing can
mutually reinforce one another. Both make about the same amount of money (although much
less than farming), but the income from brewing comes in monthly, as opposed to that from
the sale of pigs, which comes in about every six months. His friends are not interested in the
brewing business, but are interested in learning about and starting their own pig raising
businesses 102 . He describes himself as “just a beginner”, and would like eventually to get
enough capital to become a coffee trader. He has been asking friends for loans, but with no
luck thus far. Although he has a friend who got a loan from the Poverty Alleviation
Programme, he himself has not approached any formal credit institutions, in part because he
does not have title to his land, which he thinks is a prerequisite. In general, he feels that
“credit is hard for village people”.
102 Raising pigs is currently being actively promoted by government and NGO extension staff as a “new” IGA,
which may explain the interest of Ronald’s friends in it over the more traditional brewing.
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