Reverend John Orombi’s has two types of callings in life. The first calling is ‘harvesting’ souls for God’s kingdom. The second calling is harvesting crops and excelling as a model farmer in his community. 

As a member of Sangi elderly farmers’ group in Luma village in Jangokoro sub-county, Zombo district, the retired Anglican Church of Uganda clergy is very enterprising, a trait that is leading him to success.

The Northern Uganda Resilience Initiative (NURI), a project implemented by AFARD under funding from DANIDA, is helping transform John’s efforts in agriculture.

“Thanks to AFARD, I now know good farming practices. I also approach farming as a business, so I keep track of my costs, expenditure and the margins when it comes to marketing of my produce,” says John, who specialises in growing white potatoes (commonly known as Irish potatoes), maize and beans.

To support John and his farmer group, AFARD has constructed a produce store. Further, the farmers were trained on how to best manage the store.

“The store has made such a difference to us. We use it to keep our produce safely and to the best conditions, before we go to the market,” he says.

Using the proceeds from improved output, John has ventured into a new project — a nursery bed for coffee seedlings. Coffee is one of the main cash crops grown in Zombo district, and John is keen to be part of the party.

Due to the hilly topography of much of Zombo, getting water from far off sources to irrigate crops can be a challenge. To get around this, John has invested in an underground water system at his home to have optimal attention to his coffee nursery. Today, he supplies government projects with seedlings that are then distributed to other farmers in the district.

He has also acquired a pick-up track and a tricycle to ease the transportation of produce to markets. John says he is only getting started—he is eyeing bigger markets for his produce such as Arua city. The sky is the limit