By Zechariah Makuach Maror
For humans to survive, they must have access to wholesome food. Having access to safe food can have a number of positive benefits, including the expansion of the economy and the creation of new jobs in any society. Refugees in first-world nations are entitled to benefits like Universal Credit if they are unemployed, ill-equipped to work, or making a low wage. They are eligible to earn Pension Credit or qualify for housing benefits if reached State Pension age. But, in third world, refugees are almost branded as unfortunate people who lack all those benefits and must work to exist or perish in poverty. Humanitarian aid is not lasting as the businesses of the parties tasked are not completely faultless; poverty among refugee in Uganda and in Africa is alarming as they lacking tools to fight it.
Gashumba Alphonse, a Rwandan national who arrived in Uganda in 2004, overcame the challenges. Living in the Nakivale refugee camp, Sangano Village, he has a herd of cattle and an eight-hectare crop farm where he is responsible for the custody of his parents and nine other family members. He assumed that his serenity had prevented him from running afoul of the locals. Compassion, a vital interpersonal ability that allows him to see the world from the perspective of another, has helped him make wealth. His commitment, tolerance, consideration for his neighbors, and cooperation with coworkers among the locals and other refugees assisted in his business’s rapid expansion. He employed more than 20 people in his diary and farm.
Despite not having a formal education, he had picked up money-saving tips from others, developed his ability to quickly adapt to new circumstances, and garnered knowledge from others’ perceptive experience. He starts a life by carrying water with a jerry-can, selling it, and making a living while looking for alternative to meet his family ends. After that, he befriended someone who later on leased him a “Bod-Boda,” a type of motorbike used to transport both people and cargo. He uses the motorcycle to get his family fed, pays the boss at the end of the day, and saves some money, which he uses to start growing maize and cassava on land that he rents from Ugandan citizens.
After a few months, he saw some improvement in his farming, and he decided to budge his farming to growing bananas. His excellent banana farming enabled him to start raising cattle because of the earnings he made from those crops. At first, he used the proceeds from the sale of bananas to purchase a calf, which he later sold and used to supplement his income by selling other agricultural products. He then decided to start a diary. He carried out the same action by selling the calf, combining the proceeds with those from the sale of bananas, and purchasing a second, considerable heifer. He was able to establish the cornerstone of his diary firm thanks to the two cows’ aptitude to proliferate.
Alphonse continues to raise cows so that he may provide milk for his family, especially for the little children and old parents who used to drink milk every day. Because he sells cows and other agricultural products, he also runs his farming operation as a business to generate income. He uses this income to fund other projects and provide for his family’s basic need. “First of all, I did cattle farming for getting milk to my family who used to take milk in their daily lives, especially for kids and eldest parents and I also sell some milk to meet some needs such as education and health. Secondly, I do farming as business to acquire income because if I sell agro-products and cows, I get money to do other project and also to afford some secondary needs for my family.”
Alphonse is not only providing services to refugees’ community, the whole neighborhood including local communities depend on him. “The children within my community get milk from me. Also, if I make a good harvest of my crops, my community gets seeds and agriculture products from me.” he excitedly said.
Despite Alphonse’s success, he is solely dependent on the local market, which is fiercely competitive depending on the caliber of the goods as there is no common market for cows as government regulations prevented the jamboree of cows because of diseases, Alphonse established a personal relationship with his customers, inviting them home and completed the transaction accordingly. “There is market here, depending on quality of products. For me, I sell my products within Nakivale camp, at base camp, precisely at New Congo area. For the cows, I call butcher men at home and give me money depending on size of the cow because there is no common market for cows due to the restrictions of government to avoid gathering of cows because of diseases but market for agro-products are open.”
He advised the refugees to explore chances in the deep village as chances for refugees are minimal in the towns, counseling the refugees to labor diligently with their hands “They (refugee) want to avoid talking and idleness. Unfortunately, some young refugees who are fit and active don’t want to work and resort to drugs or engage in other dishonorable behaviors. Few time back, I have given advice to three young refugees who were involved in drug abuse, but they are now seriously executing some farming activities and they are earning,” he said.
He believed that refugees are not burden, saying that they have some great talents which can change the world. “Those, who see us as burden, they are mistaken. We are still the human being whose action can contribute to the development of community, host country, Africa and the world. We just need moral, intellectual and financial support to realize our dreams.”
The marketing challenge that refugees business professionals frequently encounter is one that is related to information asymmetries: a situation where customers lack knowledge about the price of the goods and services they have produced, while investors, service providers, and product suppliers in the city lack knowledge about the abundance of the good in refugee camp. For example, Alphose have no idea about the price of the same goods he is cheaply selling, in nearby cities like Mbarara, and if he knows, he would not be able to meet the cost of transportation yet the suppliers who are dealing in purchasing farm product and transport it to the nearby towns and cities ignored refugee’s camp. Alphonse is working hard in order to put to an end to this; he is planning to buy the trucks in the nearest future so that he could transport the produce of his farm to nearby town and cities where prices are reasonable. “Sometimes, because buyers come home, they give me little money also my language barrier has not favored me while selling my products, it has happened to me three times to sell my products cheaper because of language barrier. Also, I’m not aware about the prices in the city and if I’m aware, I will not meet the cost of transportation.”
Although there is a strong relationship with the local populations, there is little apprehension between refugees and this group, especially when it comes to the economic, social, and environmental issues, the rivalry with locals for scarce resources like water, food, shelter, and other social services is sometime eminent. “Sometimes, there is understanding between nationals and refugees, but some nationals are jealous about our little progress. If for example, our cows move to national’s land, they raise conflicts. As refugees, we try to live in harmony with Ugandan citizens because we have interests to integrate and make a good cohesion within our environment, and our society.”
Despite Uganda good policy toward refugees, refugees access to enough land for farming are always restricted by local laws, the UNHCR’s agreement with the host communities, and other policy restrictions prevented refugees from just acquiring land at will; instead, only those who are able, can manage to rent or purchase it from local community in order to expand their farms. Also, UNHCR is conserving the little plot of land for potential future arrivals of refugees. This has limited the ability of refugees’ productivity.
Climate change is affecting food quality, lowering access to food, and interrupting food productivity for refugees. For instance, diminished agricultural output and cow husbandry have been the results of projected temperature rises, changes in precipitation patterns, changes in extreme weather events, and reductions in water availability. Alphonse said that lack of rain, especially this year, prevented his seeds from germinating because they were left inside the soil where heavy rains and floods, caused soil erosion shoving the crops to the nearby swamps. He also said that too much sunshine and drought have destroyed crops.
“Sometimes, we have heavy rain, and the flood devastated our crops and causing soil erosion, eroding it to Nakivale Lake and again like now, there is too much sunshine, our crops are drying due to the lack of rain, our seeds have remained inside the soil, they can’t grow. Climate change is at odd with us.”
He also mentioned that it was difficult to purchase agro-chemical for the crop and cattle tribulations, as well as the insufficient grazing, for not only his cows, but also the cattle in the settlement. Also, because they lack access to clean water, his cows drink polluted water from small Lake.
“I am facing the lack of enough grass for cows, there is also crop and cattle diseases, it’s not easy to afford pesticides and insecticides. Also, we don’t have clean water; my cows are consuming polluted water from Nakivale Lake. I don’t have means to bring clean water at my home, my cows if they were consuming clean water, they could look better. And also, you know cows need other foods apart from grass and I am facing problem to get some forage which can increase milk and make my cows fat and healthy.”
The father of Alphose, Franck Bwanakweri, who enthusiastically thrashed out the success of his son, expressed his pride in his begotten son. While he has vision issues and his wife is critically ill, he is not overly concerned about his health as he views himself as stable and health compare to others. His main concern is helping his son raising more money and acquiring enough land to engage in intensive farming in order to provide for the needs of the family, including the treatment of his ill wife. He was a farmer in Rwanda, but one of the reasons he is so grateful to God is seeing his diligent son excel in the same line of work. “I am proud of him (Alphonse) and this makes my mind stable. I feel protected and supported. I am happy to see him giving educational support to his sisters, my children and able to feed the whole family. For us, for me as father, I consider my son as God’s blessings to the family. If he can get support, I believe that he can reach far in life.” Said old Bwanakweri.
Refugee, he claimed, is a dirty word, but he cannot let that word make him doubt his own worth; in his view, anyone who works hard can succeed, whether or not they are refugees.“I am confident that we can live well as refugees and if we get opportunity of funding, we can make our faming project the valuable asset for Uganda, the host country. The good thing here, the citizens are kindly cooperating with refugees and Uganda is safe environment for refugees to execute their income generating activities. If we get money, there are free lands to buy and extend our farming”
Despite a few people working hard to put meals at the table, many refugees are living in appalling conditions that are made worse by social gaps and the inability to access services like health and education. When they wish to do business with the host community, which is characterized by the dual nature of work (crop farming and cattle husbandry), it is very challenging. Climate change is running anti-clockwise by destroying crops, influencing the production of animal feed and forage, reducing the amount of grazing pasture and water availability, and aggravating diseases and disease vectors that are sensitive to the climate. Despite these difficulties, some refugees in Uganda, a developing nation, are overcoming them and making a positive contribution to society.
The writer is Journalist, Human Right Activist, and South Sudanese refugee living in Kampala, Uganda. He is an Editor in Chief of refugee led media, Journey Media; he could be reach via zeemakuach@hotmail.com
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