07 Jul 2021

At Mabole farms, in the outskirts of Tonota, resides an energetic Ms Barulaganyi Tombale, who single handedly sustained a farm and livestock.

At the age of 63, Ms Tombale still moves with so much passion and determination, carrying out all her chores in the farm and tending to her livestock.

The retired teacher still looks youthful and full of life, with the only part of her body that is failing her being eyesight, but she wears glasses

Having raised two children as a single parent, she takes pride in how she has managed to juggle work and being a mother for so many years.

After retiring and with her children all grown up with families of their own, she gives her undivided attention to the farm and livestock.

At her field, located about 20 kilometres from the A1 road, between Tonota and Sese, she has built a small, cozy and comfortable home. It does not bother her as it would other people, to be staying far from ‘developments’.

The 10-hectare farm, nine of which are for arable farming and one for her home, has turned into her life.

To some, the life she has chosen might look old fashioned, but for this former teacher, it is her passion.

She says she has lived the modern life to its fullest, but it could never compare to her current life.

Ms Tombale says since her retirement, over eight years ago, she has been creating this life for herself and has lived off her hard work by producing food in her farm.

During a recent visit to her farm, one could tell from the displayed produce that she has passion for farming.

There is a chicken shelter at one corner of her yard, harvesting shelter at the other; bales of lablab nicely packed on one corner, bags of sorghum in the storeroom and many more bags of beans awaiting to be threshed.

“Most of the produce is for my own consumption, but I do sell to anyone who is willing to buy because sometimes I have excess, even after giving away some as livestock feed,” she says.

She says during the last ploughing season, she began to till the soil in December, even though there were more challenges than the previous seasons, with too much rain that destroyed many seedlings.

Ms Tombale says she is still satisfied with her produce of maize, sorghum, sunflower and beans. She has harvested 80 bales of lablab, which means her livestock would have protein and maintain good health.

Though she explains that harvesting would not be completed until the second week of July, tonnes of what she has already harvested have already packed.

She has managed to secure the biggest goal as a farmer, of purchasing and owning a tractor, using her retirement package.

“I look at it as an investment because this ‘machine’ will always give back so much more than I put into buying it,” she says.

Another challenge she faces is pests and birds that invade her crops, adding that the situation is not easy to contain since she cannot not get help from other people like she normally would, due to COVID-19. 

“The zonal lockdown that took place last year and COVID-19 restrictions, made it difficult for potential helpers to move from the village to the farms,” said Ms Tombale.

As smart and dedicated as she is, she did not let that lead to her downfall, saying she went back to basics by reaching out to another farmer so they could help each other by sharing all the resources they both had available as well as labour.

She also applauded officials from the Department of Crop Production for their assistance with every challenge they encountered during ploughing season.

“Our local agricultural demonstrator was always available whenever I had an issue that I needed assistance with,” she added.

Ms Tombale has no second thoughts or regrets with the path she has chosen, saying a life of happiness happens when one does something that makes them excited about living, adding that following one’s passion has no age limit.

“It does not matter how old you think you are, there is always a chance to follow your passion,” she stressed.

Meanwhile, Agronomist for Tonota Sub-district, Mr Gositang Kangangwane says 3 044 farmers have planted 10178.43 hectares in the past ploughing season.

Mr Kangangwane says the average harvest expected would range between five and 20 bags per hectare, adding that they generally expected good harvest due to the good rains, compared to the past two seasons. ENDS