We selected Epuripur sorghum as the key crop for us to focus on for collective marketing. Fourteen members (11 women and 3 men) of our group bought Epuripur seeds from agents of Farmers Center, produced and bulked 1,680 kilograms.

Through collective marketing we were able to sell our Epuripur produce at  700 shillings per kilogram. A price which was 200 shillings more than the 500 shillings per kilogram that other farmers in our area got when they sold their produce individually.

We sold our Epuripur at 700 shillings per kilogram, 200 shillings more than other farmers individually sold theirs.

We are proud that we were able to achieve such success. This how we did it.

We assigned our marketing committee to look for a buyer who was offering a good price. Members of the committee gathered information on prices through:

• Radio – notably, Radio Rhino FM and Voice Lango FM
• Visits to the buyers mentioned in the radio spots
• Talking to middlemen who were combing the area in search for produce.

Our members who collectively marketed Epuripur covered the costs for transport and mobile telephone airtime for our marketing committee. A worthwhile investment which led to the identification of the Farmers Center as the buyer that we would deal with.

Farmers Center was interested in quality produce – well dried grain that is free of foreign matter. In order to ensure our members’ produce met the buyer’s quality standards, we decided to grow the same variety.

We set up a schedule which ensured that members assisted each other throughout the production process:

• Harvesting of the crop.
• Placing the sorghum heads in bags.
• Transporting the sorghum from the field to the homesteads.
• Spreading them on tarpaulins to dry under the sun.

When Epuripur was sufficiently dried to meet set standards, each participating member ensured they delivered it to our collection center – a room a member provided.

At the collection center, each bag was labelled for ease of ownership identification and it was put in storage. The bags of Epuripur were weighed on the day the buyer came to buy and to take the produce.

Par Pi Ocan Farmer Field School group comprises 30 farmers (10 men and 20 women). We came together in 2009 to work as a group and to help each other. This increased our social capital, particularly for old women who were individually not be able to undertake some activities and were missing opportunities.

This story was shared by members of Par Pi Ocan on 14th February 2014, during an impact assessment of CPAR Uganda’s Farmers First Program that we implemented in Dokolo and Alebtong Districts in Lango, Northern Uganda. Par Pi Ocan is located in Oket Village, Teyawo Parish, Bata Sub-County, Dokolo District. The group shared their story with Mr. Godfrey Kayobyo, an independent Consultant. Farmers First Program was funded by the Canadian Government through the Canadian Physicians for Aid and Relief (CPAR) .

Profiled photo @ Monitor