We will employ a number of strategies, to ensure that by 2030, every single part of Busoga is renowned for large plantations of mango; oranges, passion fruits, pineapples, sorghum, cassava, among others.

For fruits like mangoes, oranges, and passion fruits, which require careful examination of seeds, to ensure they are the right variety, we will have our own fruit nurseries (one big fruit nursery in each of Busoga’s 114 sub counties), or we will buy the right seed ourselves, and contract local groups in each sub county, to raise them on our behalf.

For fruits like pineapples, which are easier to tell the variety by simply looking at the parent crop, we will procure ready-to-plant suckers from other pineapple growing areas of Uganda (Nakasongola, Luwero, Masaka, and Kayunga), and give them out to farmers all across Busoga. That will mean thousands of trucks, for pineapple suckers alone.

To ensure we are giving our farmers the right crop varieties, we will consult with people at places like the Soroti Fruit Factory; agricultural research institutes like Kawanda, as well as other local agronomists.

With cassava, the 4 varieties Nase11, Nase19, Narocass1 and Narocass2 have not only shown to be disease-resistant and drought tolerant, but also, they are said to produce better High Quality Cassava Flour, and better cassava starch, because they have more flesh, and less wrinkles.

These newer cassava varieties have already been widely embraced by farmers elsewhere in Uganda — again, except Busoga. If we manage to raise $200m, we will ensure that, by 2030, these cassava varieties are not only present everywhere in Busoga, but also, we want to ensure that Busoga is a major producer of cassava, among other crops.

For white sorghum, which the UCF is already working on, the seed that we are currently using is from GrainPulse. This will remain that way.

As said earlier, these planting materials will be provided to all our participating farmers at no charge, but each farmer shall only receive these free inputs for 1-4 planting seasons, depending on the type of crop they are growing. To see why these planting materials will be provided freely at the beginning, see our planned Business Model. 

Lastly, to ensure farmers have continued access to the right planting materials when they need them (e.g. after the window for free inputs has passed), we will continue to operate our fruit nurseries on an ongoing basis, and we will have our own local distribution centers for all other types of seed, where farmers can obtain these inputs for a fee.