Kwania farmers embrace rosemary growing

Kwania, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Over 170 farmers in Kwania district have signed a Memorandum of Understanding- MoU with Special Anointing Oil Company, (SAO-Uganda) a nongovernmental organization implementing the growing of rosemary in Eastern, Western and Northern Uganda.

The rosemary plant is a luxuriant garden herb with needle-like leaves and is used both as an ornamental plant and as a food spice.

The 178 farmers from the sub counties of Inomo, Abongomola, Aduku, Nambieso and Chawente entered an agreement to grow rosemary with the aim of improving their livelihoods.

The 5-year project will see SAO-Uganda distributing 6,000 rosemary seedlings to each farmer per acre at a cost of 3 million shillings to be paid in installments.

According to the MoU signed between the two parties, the organization will then buy the output from the farmers at 5,000 shillings per kilogram.

A farmer is expected to harvest between 2500-3000 kgs of rosemary from an acre during first harvest.

Dr. Kateeba Victor, the founder of SAO-Uganda says harvesting which goes for 5 years can start after 6-7 months from planting, implying that a farmer can get between 10 to 15 million shillings yearly from just an acre.

Pascal Ocire, the Northern Uganda Regional Coordinator SAO-Uganda observes that rosemary plant has high nutritional food values that also acts like medicine to people with diabetes.

He encouraged farmers to grow rosemary to not only improve on their livelihoods but also fight diseases which may be disturbing them.

Vicky Apono, a resident of Abany-imalo village in Abongomola sub county Kwania district who had planted 6 acres of the plant is already harvesting. She says her life has improved alongside that of the people round her especially those who have ventured into the activity.

Another farmer identified as Sam Olute has welcomed the project with excitement. However, Olute is worried that with the lack of modern agricultural equipment like tractors, tarpaulins and modern storage facilities, most farmers might not reap big as expected due to poor quality.

Peter Otim, the Aduku town council vice chairman who represented the RDC at the signing of the MoU rallied farmers to embrace commercial farming for livelihood change. He pledged to follow up on the project to ensure that the farmers get exactly the benefits they deserve.

Some of the most interesting and unique health benefits of rosemary include its ability to boost memory and improves the consumer’s mood.

The plant is also a pain reliever, boosts the immune system and detoxifies the body.

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