For many years, Julius Kabole, a maize and rice farmer with Yetana Farmers Group in Kibiniko, Mbale, eastern Uganda, has watched his hard-earned harvests disappear before his eyes. The pain in his voice is unmistakable as he recalls seasons of devastating loss.
“Last year, I harvested 900 kilogrammes of maize, but, by March, I was left with just about 400kg. Watching all that hard work go to waste was painful. I didn’t know the problem was how I was storing it—pests had attacked the grain,” Kabole says, as he displays a handful of damaged maize—grains eaten through, full of holes and dust.
