University farm focuses on generating revenue
Limited funding is pushing the University farm to come up with
innovative ways to increase its revenue so that it reaches its 2020 target to
function effectively.
He said because of the University’s funding constraints, the farm had
been overlooked over the years and there had not been much maintenance and
infrastructure development.
He said facilities have deteriorated resulting in a huge drop in
production.
Mr Nugi said since joining the University last year, his focus has been
on using what is available to invest into new business ventures to could give a
good turnover in a long run.
He is working on a number of proposals that he hopes will come through
for a better outcome for the farm.
So far, a cocoa dryer shed has been maintained at the cost of K13,000; and
the cocoa nursery has been upgraded to cater for 24,000 seedlings, rolling over
every three to four months. The seedlings are supplied to farmers under the
Productive Partnerships in Agriculture Project (PPAP). Previously the nursery could
only cater for 10,000 seedlings.
Maintenance to the piggery building is in progress, while there are two
new machines at the abattoir.
The layers’ shed was improved at the cost of K60,000 and 500 layers
were ordered to increase egg production but due to unfavourable weather
conditions last year the farm lost almost 200 birds.
The farm has also moved to a new location for crop planting.
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| Farm plots at a new location at the University. |
One proactive approach Mr Nugi took was to assign a project to each
technical officer. Under this project the technical officer then tasked each
worker to concentrate on a specific task. For instance, one worker might
concentrate on kaukau planting, the other on cassava, cocoa block maintenance
and so forth.
He said there is always successful outcome because at the end of the
day it is very easy to track down who is working and who is not. The same
technique is applied to the piggery, poultry and cattle units.
Mr Nugi said this year he is looking more into revenue generation and
increasing production.
While he still has outstanding projects to sort out, he expects that
towards the end of this year the farm will be able to make good turnovers.
He said the farm has a huge potential to raise more revenue for the
university but this would not happen unless students and staff work together; or
the government puts more money to fund the institution.
