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FINAL REPORT

CONSTRUCTION OF SILOS

Improving grain food storage for purposes of increasing

food security among needy persons and organizations

supporting needy communities

ORGANIZATION NAME:

Sezibwa Demonstration Farm

LOCATION:

Mukono, Uganda

SECTOR:

Food Security and Economic Empowerment

DONOR:

Costa Family Foundation onlus, ISP in Africa

GRANT:

27,257.63 Euro (UGX 89,950,172)

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Costa Family Foundation Onlus has built a strong foundation on which ISP in Africa is

working closely with Sezibwa Demonstration farm to change the lives of the neediest persons

in the community. The programs being implemented are linked to one another, and are aimed

at solving the needs of the community, right from the bottom. The main objective of our

projects is to see that the neediest people of the community have food to feed their families.

Thereafter the projects ensure that they start their way to gradually improve on the

communities’ economic empowerment.

Sezibwa Demonstration Farm is a community based organization located in Wankoba parish,

Nakisunga sub-county Mukono district. It serves the surrounding community by training

members in modern farming and agronomic practices that include but are not limited to,

poultry, piggery, crop production, and fish farming. The farm trains the farmers on modern

techniques which include proper spacing of crops, seasons of planting different crops, proper

harvest, and post-harvest handling methods.

Nearly 95% of these beneficiaries depend on crop production and their main challenge has

been price fluctuation. Forces of demand and supply mainly affect our beneficiaries and in

most cases they end up being trapped in a vicious circle of poverty and inadequate food to feed

their families despite of their hard work. This is true in the way that our beneficiaries depend

entirely on natural seasons, whereby they all plant their crops at the same time in the same

season and once the yields are good there is over production leading to low prices for their

produce. To worsen the situation these beneficiaries either lack post harvesting knowledge or

have no storage facilities to keep their produce. They end up selling their produce to middle

men far below the average prevailing prices.

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1. CONSTRUCTION OF STORE FOR SILOS With the grant from Costa Family Foundation Onlus (routed through ISP in Africa) Sezibwa

Demonstration Farm was able to construct a modern store equipped with six large silos each

with the capacity of 9,000 kilograms of grains. This project was aimed at ensuring food

security in the community as well as improving on the economic wellbeing of the beneficiaries.

The demonstration farm has already trained its beneficiaries on the advantages of ensuring

proper post harvesting skills which lead to better quality of their produce hence higher prices

on the market. The demonstration farm has mobilized the community to come together and

make good use of the silos by storing their produce during the periods of over production.

The demonstration farm designed the silos with an extended shade in front and this shade can

work as shelter for workers during rain or on a hot day when they have activities like cleaning,

sorting or weighing their harvest before being dropped in for storage. It also serves as a drying

place for harvest directly from the gardens.

Above is the store that holds the six silos

Storing their produce together ensures that the beneficiaries will enjoy collective bargain on

the market prices and this will enable them to eliminate the “middle men”. The demonstration

farm charges a user friendly fee which is levied in kind to meet the fumigation costs and other

costs for managing the store. On top of that charge the demonstration farm manages a seed

bank where all beneficiaries deposit part of their produce (seeds) to cater for the next planting

season. This seed bank has enabled the agricultural program to be self-reliant save for new

members who receive start up seeds.

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Workers at the demonstration farm unpack the newly harvested maize on the extended front shade.

Beneficiaries always have an independent decision regarding their stored produce. They have

a right to sell a portion of their stored grains to earn some income and meet their household

needs. They are also free to keep their produce stored for their home food consumption. The

cardinal purpose of these silos is to ensure food security in the community as well as

strengthening the economic empowerment of the community.

Since the inception of the silos, the quality of the produce is emphasized, beneficiaries have

become more aware of the advantages of properly drying their produce before they bring it for

storage. The silos are equipped with a moisture meter which ensures that the grains are dry

before storage. Good quality produce leads to better prices on the market which skill was

missing before.

The community knows when to sell their produce collectively, which has enabled them to

benefit from collective bargains, unlike selling individually. Marketing of the produce is done

by a team of people who are knowledgeable on the prevailing prices countrywide. This team is

composed of five members, three from the community and two from the demonstration farm.

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These silos are strengthening the economic power of the beneficiaries, as witnessed by Mr.

Charles Lwanga one of the beneficiaries using the Silos

“I used to produce about 1,000 kilograms of maize seed every season and I had no room to store my

produce, I could sell it off as soon as I harvested it from the garden. Middle men used to set their

prices because they knew we had no room to store it. We sometimes sold below half the normal price

and just after two months we could not use the same money we sold a kilogram to pay for a quarter

of the same kilogram. Despite my hard work to keep my family well all the time we never had enough

food year round and we lacked basic household items”, says Charles Lwanga, aged 52 years, married

and a father of 7 children. He is a resident of Wabiyinja village.

Members clean their maize to ensure good quality before they store it in the silos.

2. PURCHASE OF MAIZE SEED FOR SILOS

Three of the six silos were filled up with seed bought with funds from Costa Family

Foundation Onlus. Priority was given to our beneficiaries to sell their produce at a good price

to the demonstration farm, and a total of 28,000kg of maize seed was bought at a unit cost of

UGX 732. Beneficiaries whose harvest was brought to the farm in September just at the peak

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of the season when the prices were very low were able to sell to the demonstration farm in late

December at a better price compared to their colleagues who sold in September.

The demonstration farm will keep the same produce and sell it with a good profit margin to

the dealers when there is scarcity on the market. The business of the silos will enable Sezibwa

Demonstration farm to fulfill its objective of income generation and provision of food aid to

the neediest families in the community.

The other three silos will be used by the community as their stores. Individual beneficiaries

will bring their produce and have it weighed in kilograms and moisture content before being

issued with seed deposit slips indicating how much tonnage they have stored. They will be

asked to bring the same deposit slip when time comes for them to sell their produce.

The six tanks assembled in the built store

An agreed upon portion from the stored seeds will be levied by the demonstration farm from

each beneficiary depending on the tonnage deposited to meet the costs for managing the silos.

These costs will include routine fumigation, spraying around the store, cleaning inside and

outside the store as well as ensuring proper security.

Details of expenditure concerned with complete construction of silos and purchase of maize

seed are attached to this report as ANNEX I.

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3. WATER FOR THE COMMUNITY

The project for the construction of silos was finalized and it had a positive balance that ISP

and Sezibwa Demonstration Farm used to enable the extension of piped water to the

community. This additional development was aimed to provide potable water to over 300

beneficiaries in the neighborhood of the demonstration farm. Sezibwa Demonstration Farm

also trained the community in general health practices which included household hygiene

through the use of clean water.

Children showing their excitement upon the arrival of

piped water to their community

Above some of the elders in the community extend a

hand shake to Mr. David Franzi from ISP for the support to Sezibwa Demonstration Farm which

extended the piped water to their community

One of the major objectives of this project was to address the problem that children faced a lot

of risk since they walked long distances to collect water, and in most cases did this late in the

evening after they returned home from school. This was mainly for the girl child because

traditionally, these are supposed to help with much of the house work including cooking,

cleaning and washing. By providing water within their community the demonstration farm has

reduced many risks.

With this in mind, the farm extended a water pipeline beyond its premises to the community,

and installed a 10,000 liter tank for water storage. The community currently enjoys clean and

safe water pumped from the farm. Details of expenditure concerned with extension of piped

water to the community are attached to this report as ANNEX II. Of this expenditure, €uro

1,253.99 (balance from the silo project) was used to purchase the pipes and accessories used for the

extension.

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4. ACTIVITIES OF PREVIOUS PROJECTS

Sezibwa Demonstration Farm together with the community are still benefiting from the fruits

of the first funding from Costa Family Foundation Onlus. For example, a threshing machine

which was purchased to make animal and poultry feeds cheaper has been a turning point in

making animal feed for the community. Initially, the thresher was expected to serve just the

farm, but now even community members are free to bring their animal feeds and make silage.

This silage can be used during dry season when animals have almost no fresh grass to feed on.

Farmers used to leave fresh stems in their gardens after selling off maize corn, but now the

stems and leaves are turned into animal feed using the thresher. Much as the community has a

food store for the storage of their own grain produce, the threshing machine provides an

alternative for the farmers to have enough feeds during the dry spells.

Loading fresh maize stems and leaves to be threshed and turned into silage used to feed pigs and chicken

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On the left a member is feeding the threshing machine and on the right readymade silage sun drying before it is

kept for future use

The poultry program which was started two years ago as one of the income generating activities to support the most needy in the community also became self-sustainable despite of the problems encountered with the first lot. Today the demonstration farm learns and teaches from its past experience, and the current stock is doing well. The farm currently has 1,200 egg-laying chickens that started laying eggs three weeks ago and are progressing very well. If all goes on well we anticipate a good profit margin from the sale of eggs.

Mr. Semwogerere, the farm manager, sorts and organises eggs for sell

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ANNEX I FINANCIAL REPORT ON EXPENDITURE FOR COMPLETE CONSTRUCTION OF SILOS AND

PURCHASE OF MAIZE SEED

Description

Proposed Budget

Expenditure in €uro

Balance in €uro

Unit Unit Cost Total Cost Equivalent

in €uro

1

Substructure 1 14,041,000 14,041,000 4,254.85 3,182.35 1,072.50

Walling and frame 1 4,430,000 4,430,000 1,342.42 911.76 430.66

Roof construction 1 5,920,000 5,920,000 1,793.94 2,338.24 - 544.30

Windows 1 1,338,000 1,338,000 405.45 470.59 - 65.13

Doors 1 1,091,000 1,091,000 330.61 441.18 - 110.57

External wall finishes 1 942,280 942,280 285.54 1,100.00 - 814.46

Internal wall finishes 1 1,051,780 1,051,780 318.72 879.41 - 560.69

Floor finishes 1 773,500 773,500 234.39 676.47 - 442.08

Lightening protection 1 3,240,000 3,240,000 981.82 - 981.82

Contingencies 10% 1 3,282,756 3,282,756 994.77 962.06 32.71

V.A.T 18% 1 6,499,856 6,499,856 1,969.65 - 1,969.65

2 10.000 litres PVC Tanks

6 4,500,000 27,000,000 8,181.82 8,170.97 10.85

3 Storage accessories 1 640,000 640,000 193.94 210.74 - 16.80

4 Humidity tester 1 2,200,000 2,200,000 666.67 568.70 97.97

5 Maize in kgs 35,000 500 17,500,000 5,303.03 6,091.17 - 788.14

Total Project Budget 89,950,172 27,257.63 26,003.64 1,253.99

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ANNEX II FINANCIAL REPORT ON EXPENDITURE FOR THE EXTENSION OF PIPED WATER TO THE

COMMUNITY SURROUNDING SEZIBWA DEMONSTRATION FARM

Item Quantity Rate Total

A) Construction of the slab/ base for the tank

Aggregate stones 2 trips 160,000 320,000

Lake sand 3 trip 150,000 450,000

Plaster sand 1 trip 130,000 130,000

Cement 13 bags 30,000 390,000

Bricks 500 pcs 250 125,000

Labor 200,000

Sub total 1,615,000

B) Purchase of the tank and plumbing accessories

Plastic Tank 10,000 ltrs 1 2,900,000 2,900,000

Pipes and other plumbing accessories* 4,230,000*

Labor 300,000

Transport of the tank 200,000

Sub total 7,630,000

GRAND TOTAL 9,245,000

Legend:

*Expenditure item funded by balance from silo project (equivalent to €uro 1,253.99)

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