12 Aug 2015

Seventy-five-year old Mr Emang Rampesu has dedicated his life to farming. His story is an inspiring tale of how farming can sustain lives.

Staying with his wife at Ramage, Mr Rampesu seems to be defying his age as he strikes a physical resemblance of a person half his age.

 He attributes this primarily to his simple way of living, which brings him peace and happiness. 

He talks about how he often forgets about the hardships of life because of the slow pace of life at the lands.

He says he makes full use of the government’s Integrated Support Programme for Arable Agricultural Development (ISPAAD) programme. 

He says instead of being overly reliant on government’s assistance, he has opted to use his own donkeys to plant his fields while the government gives him money for every 10 hectares he ploughs. 

He says that over the years, he has had good harvest thanks to the hard work he and his wife put as well as efficient ploughing techniques such as row planting. 

He notes that just last year when the entire country cried of drought, he harvested 20 bags of maize.

“I plant mostly sorghum, ground nuts, maize, beans and water melons because they are drought resistant,” he says. 

Mr Rampesu points out that beans are important because their leaves are not only used for consumption, but can be dried and used later as animal feed.

He stresses that nothing from a harvest should go to waste.

He advises other farmers to dry and mill remaining harvest and use it as feed for their livestock.

Mr Rampesu says he prefers to plough groundnuts as a source of income for his family. 

He explains that he doubles its value by roasting it. 

He says since groundnuts take a shorter time to mature, the land can be re-cultivated and used for another crops thus making full use of second rains.

 Mr Rampesu says he has realised that ever since he started planting groundnuts, his fields have become fertile. 

The veteran farmer also advises farmers to prepare for the rains early enough so that they can have a colourful harvest and avoid relocating to the fields late into the planting season.

Mr Rampesu, however, decries the tendency of cattle farmers to neglect their livestock which ends up straying into their crop fields. 

This, he says, frustrates government’s efforts to make the country achieve food self-sufficiency. ENDS