By Pauline Luba
Mark Seeti didn’t like farming.
Though his mother tried her best to nudge him into an agriculture career, he remained adamant against it. When Seeti stopped thinking of education after completing Senior Six (grade 12 or the senior year in American high schools), and following months of cajoling, the then 19-year-old gave in to his mother’s request.
“We used to visit the farm together,” the now 29-year-old student at Uganda Christian University (UCU) said. “Although I wasn’t initially interested, my mother’s persistence paid off.”
Born and raised in Kampala, Seeti grew up in a small family with one other sibling. His father, a lawyer and a retired lecturer at Makerere University, separated from his mother during his formative years.
Seeti’s turning point toward agriculture came when his single mother introduced him to the commercial aspects of farming on land that she had bought in the Mukono district. Starting with five cows that were producing 20 liters of milk a day, Seeti’s farm, Maps Premium Fresh Dairy, has grown to 30 cows that produce about 150 liters of milk per day – a testament to Seeti’s hard work and strategic planning.
In addition to the dairy farm, Seeti rears chickens on a commercial scale, practices fish farming and owns donkeys that people hire for labor. From his farm, Seeti earns about sh300,000 ($81.60) per day.
When the farm business bloomed and at his mom’s urging, Seeti returned to school.
One decade after finishing his secondary education, Seetti is pursuing a Bachelor of Social Work and Social Administration at UCU. At first, Seeti says he was worried that he would neither fit in with the younger students nor understand what is being taught in class. However, he says he soon discovered that that was not the case.
One of the reasons he went back to school, he says, is to improve his academic status to compete for a political office. The minimum qualification for one to compete for the position of Member of Parliament in Uganda is Senior Six certificate.
“Social work and social administration align with my passion for leadership, especially because it has a course unit in political science,” Seeti said.
Managing a dairy farm while pursuing studies is no small feat. Seeti’s day starts at 5 a.m. to oversee the milking process, as well as other morning routines at the farm before heading to the university.
Seeti’s farm has positively impacted people who live near it. He occasionally employs workers to provide labor. There are others who have been inspired, with some setting up their own farms in the neighborhood.
Currently, Seeti’s focus is on increasing the value of the milk by venturing into the production of cheese, yogurt and ice-cream. He also hopes to improve the breeds of his cows on the farm to give more milk.
Senti’s journey has not been without challenges. The biggest hurdle he has faced was dealing with middlemen who take farmer’s produce at lower prices. He found a solution of establishing contacts with market vendors, so that they could get milk and other products direct from the farm.
At the UCU Main Campus, Seeti says he supplies the Joy Canteen with some of the products from his farm.
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