Credited as being one of the pioneers of soybean farming in Asilo Village, Teso Sub-County, Busia County, a proud Mr. Dismus Omalalu smiles as he poses next to his posho mill at Akites market which he bought from his last soybean sale. In an area where farmers predominantly practice maize farming, Mr. Omalalu decided that a change is as good as a rest and took the risk of planting soybean instead. Twenty years later, he has never looked back. As a pioneer soybean farmer in this region, he looks back at the journey which has been a mix of ups and downs. He narrates,
When I started this journey, people thought I was going to give up and return to maize farming. I planted one acre and the sales from my harvest was twice what I would make from maize farming, on the same piece of land.
This was enough reason for him to stick to soybean farming because it was much more profitable and had many benefits than planting maize.
Through the years, our major challenge has been access to markets once the produce is ready. We at times plant soybean, get a good harvest but access to market becomes a challenge.
He is thankful that since he met Anglican Development Services Western (ADS-W)- the Business Support Service provider in the Equatorial Nuts Processors-2SCALE partnership, soybean farmers have gained a lot in terms of training and linkages to existing markets. From the soybean production training and his experience, Mr Omalalu took the initiative to train other farmers in his region on planting high-quality soybean.
Through the partnership, Dismus is now a certified community seed multiplier. Market linkages have also enabled him to reap maximum profits from soybean. For instance, in 2021, he sold 2.5tons of soybean seeds at a cost of Ksh. 250,000 ($ 2,082).
He used the cash to procure a posho mill for his wife, and purchase two shops at Akites Market. He intends to use the shops as aggregation points for soybean farmers in his ward. These last earnings have also helped him to engage in beekeeping since he has set up two hives and bought a Honey Centrifuge Machine for sieving honey at Ksh. 65,000 ($541). He harvested seven kgs of honey from the two hives in May 2022 of which 1kg goes for approximately Ksh. 800 ($7).
