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BY RICHARD DRASIMAKU
TEREGO: Sunday, July 26, 2026
Annet Otaru, became an orphan at six years following the untimely death of her father, leaving her mother, Matilida Candiru to struggle to raise Otaru and her three-year-old follower single handedly. Growing in the remote Paraku village in Onzoro parish, Aii-vu sub county in Terego district was a rough ride of life without support from relatives and elderly cousins.
It was an experience that left Otaru sobbing most of the time, especially when she was left home alone as she pondered whether she would at all go higher with education.
She however saw a ray of light last year when the Uriama Seff-Empowerment Foundation (USEF), a homegrown nongovernmental organization selected her to be among 28 disadvantaged girls for sponsorship in their secondary education.
On Saturday, Otaru and Candiru were among the 112 parents and students who received training in cocoa farming at Aripea Secondary school in Terego. Of these participants, 56 were farmers from Olimoo, Odoa, Omua, Kulua and Lini villages whom USEF had previously supported, 28 were parents and guardians of the students under USEF sponsorship at Aripea secondary school and 28 were the sponsored students.
Now in S.2, Otaru sat attentive, listening to all the tips being unveiled by the subject matter specialist, Esau Asedri, who drilled the participants through cocoa garden preparation, best agronomic practices including planting besides shade crops, fertilization, irrigation, mulching and pruning.
The cocoa project to empower 84 families to move out of poverty is a 10,000 Euros project implemented by USEF with support from the North-South Bridges, Germany (Stiftung Nord-Sud Brucken), Schmitz Stiftungen and USEF Europe e.v.
Asedri assured the participants that they stand to earn serious money from cocoa if they follow these practices.
“When you look after your cocoa well, you will harvest between 1.5kg to 3kg from a single plant in the first year. That means 150kg to 300kg from the 100 plants that each farmer is going to get. When sold at an average of UGX.20,000, you will get between UGX.3,000,000 to UGX.6,000,000,” Asedri explained, adding that the earnings will increase annually as the yields also increase.
“We cannot accept to die poor. This is the reason for choosing to introduce cocoa in Terego. Cocoa can be harvested for 50 years after which you cut off the overgrowth and after two years it will start to yield again for another 50 years. This means we are planting inter-generational crop,” stressed Asedri.
He was flanked by Richard Obia, the community development officer of Terego district who took the participants through behavioral and mindset change and positive parenthood.
The CDO emphasized building of financial literacy, growing the savings culture and planned spending so as to create family wealth, harmony and support to children’s health and education.
Otaru said the training was eye-opening. But she added: “I don’t who will look after the cocoa when I am at school. My mother is sick with diabetes, ulcer and back ache. She was advised against carrying heavy load and doing hard labour works.”
Although Candiru told her daughter to mind her books and not think about her sickness, Otaru’s reaction was a perfect summary of the feeling of most of the 28 schoolgirls in attendance majority of whom are orphans and survivors of teenage pregnancy.
Ben Anguma, the USEF Executive Director, emphasized that the participants were carefully selected for the training for the purpose of ensuring that three years from now, their families become exemplary in household wealth creation.
He disclosed that the organization will give each family 100 cocoa seedlings for a start and urged them to diligently look after the crops so that they all survive.
“Go home and immediately begin preparation of the planting holes. USEF has done its part; the facilitators have done their part. What is remaining is yours,” he said as he urged commitment from the farmers 56 of whom had already received varied support from USEF in form of pigs and vegetables such as tomatoes, onions and egg plants in an earlier family empowerment project.
Bernard Aguta, the head teacher of Aripea secondary school thanked USEF for the girl-child sponsorship program and the training on cocoa and asked that future trainings target the entire school community including students and teachers.
“We used to feel abandoned but now we feel recognized. The sponsorship program has contributed towards increasing the student enrolment in that we have 280 students up from 210 last year,” Aguta asserted.
Bosco Andiku, the USEF project development officer appealed to the participants to take the lessons and put the knowledge to practice.
He told the young participants, especially the students and the guardians to feel blessed that they have received such knowledge early in life, something that the aging population missed because the emphasis on cash crop in West Nile was placed on tobacco and cotton.
“From today begin to work for self-reliance. Drop behaviors that do not rhyme with money such as poor savings culture. Teach your children to reject money from unsolicited donors because there may be a hidden agenda behind it, such as luring the underage girls into defilement,” Andiku warned.
