By KT Reporter
An estimated 40,000 bags of chia seeds lost markets as products tested positive for residues of agrochemicals. At the center of this loss stands Solomon Rackara, a computer scientist-turned-model farmer whose innovations are driving change amidst drastic weather conditions. Through the project of the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality under UN Women, smallholder farmers from Gulu District—in the sub-counties of Paicho, Unyama, Omel, Palaro, Awach, and Bungatira—were mobilized between 2019 and 2020 for bulk chia crop production.
By its title, “Livelihood Enhancement Through Chia Seed Production and Export for Women Farmers in Gulu”, the project aimed to improve women’s income security, decent work, and economic autonomy through the production of organic-certified chia seeds for export. The multibillion-shilling chia seed production project, worth 552 million shillings, was implemented by Gulu District Local Government, while SAGE Uganda was to export the products to Madagascar and European markets.
The district identified chia as a climate-smart crop due to its tolerance to moisture stress, pest resistance, and low production cost. Farmers were expected to produce 50,000 metric tons per annum, with markets already secured. These 2,000 farmers were clustered into 33 cooperatives within the district, each expected to plant two acres—meaning a total of 4,000 acres of chia crop were projected over five years, starting April 2019.
The Market Lost
Within nine months of project implementation, the farmers had produced 40,000 kilograms of chia seeds, but the market value dropped due to agrochemical residues. According to the project documents, chia seed was valued at 6,000 shillings per kilogram. With 40,000 kilograms produced, farmers anticipated earning 240 million shillings, offering hope for sustained livelihoods.
But when the seeds tested positive for chemicals, the market value dropped to 600 shillings per kilogram, reducing potential earnings to just 24 million shillings. Frustrated, the farmers burned the seeds, seeing 216 million shillings wasted.
“When the market came, the products didn’t qualify because they tested with chemicals. The farmers had to put their products together and burn them,” Rackara vividly recounted. At the project, Rackara was recruited to mobilize the farmers and sensitize them on the role of cooperative farming to sustain the markets.
“When the market got lost, the company (Sage Uganda) opted to buy a kilogram at 600 shillings; instead of 6,000, that’s when the farmers lost hope and burnt their products,” Rackara stated. He adds, “But what failed the markets? The government didn’t do its part. The agricultural extension officers, who were supposed to strengthen supervision on chemical use, never did their role. The farmers were left alone; they couldn’t use the chemicals properly.”
From Waste to Hope
At 35, Rackara now engages farmers differently, teaching them to grow organic crops using manure and pesticides derived from animal products. “I saw first-hand how the farmers I mobilized for bulk chia production lost hope,” he said. Amid farmers’ frustration and unpredictable weather, Rackara was inspired to innovate, turning waste into ‘gold’ and urine into organic farm inputs.
“The farmers started seeing me as their problem because I made them suffer. I was really disappointed…. I could tell them about the ready market; it was really exciting but a very disappointing ending,” he added. “After all we all suffered, I have to deal with the mental stress I was going through for providing false hope to these farmers,” he continued. “I went on trial on YouTube to study the best way of making organic manures and I saw how important rabbits are to the farmers and the environment,” he noted.
With a digital presence sharing information about rabbits and their potential, Rackara opted to rear rabbits while continuing to learn, this time from his own demonstration farm. The farm expanded to 69 rabbits. While most people keep rabbits for meat or fur, Rackara uses them for more: he extracts their urine to make farm inputs, sells some, and applies the rest to his farms.
Today, he supplies rabbit urine within Gulu City and neighboring districts, harvesting 40–60 liters per week. At 5,000 shillings per liter, he earns 200,000–300,000 shillings weekly. “You can hardly smell rabbit’s urine. It’s really irritating to the insects that come to harm crops. You can’t see flies in my farm because of the smell the urine produces,” Rackara explained.
During a three-month internship in Berlin, Germany, in 2023, Rackara learned more about food justice and gender justice. Returning home, he scaled up poultry farming alongside other enterprises. His 40×30-meter farm now houses chickens and rabbits, diversifying his income. The brooder (chicken house) is powered by solar energy, eliminating the need for charcoal. Rabbit urine flows through a gutter system into bottles, while organic manure is produced from poultry and pig waste.
Zero-Waste Farming
“The wastes aren’t enough from my farm, but I get some from the market, decompose it, and sell it. Because agriculture is dirty, many people don’t see this money,” Rackara noted. Every time farm waste is exhausted, Rackara collects rotten cabbage, tomatoes, bananas, and other food waste from local markets. Exposed to rain, the waste turns into organic manure in three weeks.
He earns 80,000 shillings monthly from manure sales and supplies 500 birds to hotels at 25,000 shillings each. Eight kilometers east, Favia Lakot, 38, tends her okra garden. A Development Studies graduate from Gulu University, she abandoned formal employment to pursue peri-urban farming.
“My salary lasted only ten days, and I would borrow for the remaining days. When it came, I’d be poor again after paying back,” Lakot recalled. Like Rackara, Lakot relies on poultry farming, supplying hotels with 100 birds monthly at 25,000 shillings each, averaging 2.5 million shillings monthly.
Her half-acre okra garden, planted in August, is projected to yield an additional three million shillings. She uses rabbit urine to repel pests and enhance soil fertility. She also applies a spoonful of cement with soda ash near each plant and uses burnt oil to retain moisture during dry spells.
While her innovations work, environmental scientists warn that cement increases soil alkalinity, affecting nutrient absorption. Nearby, Catherine Lagum, 50, weeds her groundnuts along the road reserve. Unlike Lakot, she struggles to harvest due to unpredictable weather.
“You can’t tell when the rain will come back or the sun will shine. Sometimes you listen to the radio about the weather, but when you plant, the crops can’t survive,” she said. Her struggle highlights the urgent need for improved agricultural extension services in Northern Uganda, a region responsible for 40% of the country’s food production.
Rackara observes, “The city doesn’t have an agricultural officer, yet we are urban farmers who need extension services. Those who can’t read and write are suffering to predict weather.” He adds, “There used to be strong cooperatives where farmers could access inputs cheaply and grow together, but they are limping between life and death, along with the farmers.”
City Mayor Alfred Okwonga encourages urban farmers to maximize city land for local food production. “We don’t need to import onions, tomatoes, and the rest. Local land can still supply adequate vegetables,” he said. The city plans to develop agro-industrial hubs, including crop processing facilities.
Rabbits’ Urine: Low-Cost Bio-Solution
Soil nutrient depletion remains a challenge, but farmers like Rackara and Lakot use rabbit urine to improve soil health and repel pests. Independent studies by Gulu University, Bishop Stuart University, Jomo Kenyatta University, and Hame University of Applied Science document the growing use of animal manures in Uganda, especially among younger farmers.
Stephen Olara, animal specialist and lecturer at East African Institute of Applied Science, said, “It’s increasingly difficult to safeguard chemicals in food due to misuse in production. Farmers aren’t following correct procedures, and chemicals end up in our food systems.” He added, “You have animal manures like rabbit urine. It’s an available option which is good for protecting crops, human health, and the environment.”
Rabbit urine, high in nitrogen, supports plant growth and repels pests. Mixed with water (1 liter urine to 4 liters water), it can cover an acre sparsely. Organic fertilizers preserve beneficial insects like bees. Uganda’s Agricultural Chemicals Control Act (2007) regulates agrochemicals, yet enforcement remains weak.
Agricultural Officer Andrew Akena commended farmers for embracing organic farming as environmentally friendly and safe. Food scientist Benard Bwambale noted that weak enforcement of agrochemicals poses health risks and urged the establishment of indigenous seed banks.
“We have all the options for thriving agroecological farming, but the government needs to support farmers to adopt climate-smart practices,” he said. For now, farmers like Rackara and Lakot are surviving climate shocks with innovative farming, while hundreds of others, like Lagum, continue to count losses.
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