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Home Change Makers Tefula Seeks To Empower Community Using Farm

Tefula Seeks To Empower Community Using Farm

by Jacquiline Nakandi
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By Tom Gwebayanga

On December 22, last year, all roads led to Nawanende-Butefula village in Bugulumbya sub-county, Kamuli district, where Dr Moses Tefula, 67, a retired accountant, unveiled the Tefs Goat Farm, a new goat rearing/tourism hub.

The launch aimed to demonstrate that goat farming is a profitable enterprise, encouraging local communities to view it as a business.

“I loved goat rearing from childhood. My parents were both livestock and agricultural farmers, so it’s no surprise that goat farming became my retirement hobby,” Tefula said during a tour of the farm.

His passion for farming was inspired by Vision Group’s platforms, which feature progressive farmers, including Dr Emma Naluyima, a Vision Group’s Best Farmers competition judge.

Tefula began the venture in 2020 and has never looked back. “Goat farming has always been a part of me and it became my post-retirement hobby,” he said.

The event was led by Daniel Epinyu, the manager of Kasolwe Stock Farm, under the National Genetic Resources and Data Bank (NAGRIC&DB).

From Kasolwe, Tefula received technical guidance and purchased improved brown Kasolwe goats, which make up 25% of the farm’s herd.

At the event’s close, guests, including Epinyu, hailed the farm as Kamuli district’s most organised private livestock venture. The launch also coincided with Tefula’s 67th birthday, making it a gift to Butefula village and Kamuli district.

In his speech, Tefula stressed the importance of empowering communities with farming knowledge.

“When you have something valuable, it’s essential to share it to ensure security and sustainability,” he said.

The goats live in raised wooden shelters that have stairs and floors, allowing them to bask, mate and play freely.

Multi-Million Investmen Guests were greeted by vast green fields with 14 varieties of improved animal grasses planted two years ago.

Dr Moses Tefula, 67, a retired accountant, unveiled the Tefs Goat Farm, a new goat rearing/tourism hub.

These include Muchuna, Brachillia basilisk and Guinea grass. On the northern side of the farm, over 100 goats graze on indigenous pastureland.

“The goats graze on local grasses, while the improved ones are left to grow. We serve the harvested hay in wooden boxes,” Tefula explained.

The goats sleep in modern, spacious shelters with iron roofs, wooden floors and walls, providing a comfortable, safe environment.

According to farm manager Henry Luwano, 18 to 22 kids are born each month, with each nanny producing four to six kids annually. By December 2026, Tefula expects the herd to reach 1,000 goats.

A chain-link fence surrounds the entire 20-acre farm to protect the livestock from intruders, disease and theft. The farm’s biosafety measures, including antibacterial water-filled basins at shelter entrances, prevent disease outbreaks.

The lower part of the farm contains vegetable gardens, with cabbages, green peppers, onions, sukuma wiki, nakati, and pumpkins.

The northern side features a 10-acre pine and eucalyptus forest, purifying the air and creating a refreshing atmosphere for Butefula and neighbouring villages.

The banana and maize gardens thrive on the fertile land, nourished by favourable rainfall linked to the pine forest’s presence.

While Tefula has practiced private livestock farming for years, he now seeks to empower the community by giving them access to the farm for learning and hands-on experience.

He started the farm in 2020, with just 10 goats. Three years later, his venture is thriving and profitable.

Tefula has invested millions into the farm: “It’s not about the cost, but the lifetime value I treasure in it.”

His aim is to revolutionise goat farming in Bugulumbya sub-county and Kamuli district.

Victoria Apili, the female district councilor for Bugulumbya, said the farm launch represents a new chapter for women involved in small-scale enterprises, who can now buy goats with support from PDM cash or Village Savings and Loan Association (VISLA).

Teacher Samuel Wanenge, a Butefula resident and mentor to the Tefula family, expressed pride in Tefula’s return to his roots, helping the community transition from poverty to a more prosperous economy.

The concept

During the guided tour, Tefula said the farm’s concept is rooted in modernising goat farming practices, creating a new industry standard. The farm is designed with long-term, sustainable solutions.

Inspired by Vision Group’s platforms, featuring progressive goat farmers and the inclusion of goat farming in the Parish Development Model (PDM), Tefula saw an opportunity to become a major supplier of goats.

Tefula (centre) showing guests around the farm.

His goal is to reach 1,000 animals by next year. Four years into the venture, and with the goat population nearing 100, Tefula has proven the profitability of the enterprise, having sold both offspring and older animals.

He aims to make Tef’s Farm a goat tourism and breeding hub in Kamuli district and create a transformation in his family and community, helping them escape poverty.

“As my father’s heir, I wanted to return to my roots, share our challenges and find solutions,” he said, adding that his background as an accountant helps him manage the farm financially.

The farm practices smart, eco-friendly goat farming, with a fenced-in area, deep well water and both indigenous and improved grasses.

Unlike heifers, which require intensive care, goats are easier to manage, rarely get sick and require minimal spending on tick spraying and deworming.

Living example

Tefula immersed himself in goat farming after retiring from government service in Canada in 2012.

“The farm keeps me fit, unlike sitting and watching TV, which harms my eyes and causes swelling in my legs,” he says.

Tefula also aims to set an example for other retirees, many of whom mismanage their retirement packages.

“Most retirees invest in businesses they have no experience with or buy cars they do not need,” he says.

Tefula begins each day at 6:45 am, checks on the animals and oversees the relocation of newborn kids.

By 9:00am, the goats are released to graze on indigenous grass, which he believes contains beneficial herbal compounds.

He has yet to introduce artificial insemination, preferring natural mating, which allows continuous pregnancies and regular deliveries.

Farm practices

Tefula has implemented several practices, including cleaning shelters to reduce ammonia emissions.

The goats roam freely in paddocks, allowing the bulls to mate with the females at will, ensuring regular pregnancies and births.

He believes tethering goats strains their bodies and reduces their ability to have more than two kid at a time.

“I wanted to redefine goat farming. Tethering them to pegs denies the animals the freedom to mate and multiply,” he said.

“A free-range goat has a higher chance of giving birth to more kids,” he says.

Other farm practices include chopping grass for feeding, using organic manure for planting fodder and creating natural pesticides from urine, red pepper and ashes.

Plans

Tefula plans to increase the animal population to 1,000 from the current 95 by the end of next year, given that each nanny can have multiple births per year.

He also plans to build a shelter on the farm where guests, trainees and students can receive lectures after guided tours.

Tefula plans to introduce a bull hub, where locals can access free mating services, helping to breed crossbred goats at the household level.

With these developments, his dream of empowering communities and transforming lives in Kamuli district will come to fruition.

Challenges

Tefula has faced several challenges, including the poor mindset in communities, where many people assume that poverty is hereditary and cannot be overcome.

The other challenge is climate change, with its prolonged dry spells, erratic weather patterns and heavy rains, causing floods.

The other is dishonest workers, who collaborate with thieves to steal animals, farm inputs and machinery add to the difficulties.

Who is tefula?

Born in September 1957, to Zakaliya Tefula (deceased) and Zeulensi Nakirya (87), Tefula went to Nawanende SDA Primary School, then Kamuli Boys’ Boarding Primary School and later joined Nabirumba Primary School, where he sat his Primary Leaving Examination (PLE) in 1969.

He then enrolled in Namasagali College for his O’ and A’ levels (1970-1975).

In 1976, Tefula was awarded a bachelor of commerce degree (banking and accounting) at Makerere University and then joined Uganda Commercial Bank as a manager in Kampala and other locations.

He also obtained a master’s in finance and banking from Stirling University in Scotland, UK, after which he worked as a manager at Co-operative Bank for four years. From 1999-2002, he earned a PhD in accounting and banking from the University of Birmingham and continued his studies at the University of Manchester in the same fields.

Tefula worked with the UN for 22 years, as an accounting expert in Geneva, Switzerland and later as the director of finance in UN environmental programmes.

He retired seven years ago and decided to pursue goat farming, which is proving to be a rewarding venture

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