Fish sausage investor eyes EA market

At just the age of 28, this mother-of-two is causing ripples in Uganda with her ingenious business.

A former cooperative society secretary, Ms Lovin Kobusingya has become well known in Uganda’s hotel circuit, where she supplies fish sausages.

She is kept busy, trying to satisfy the growing demand for the sausages, which were little known in Uganda just a few years ago.

Six years ago, armed with a degree in administration from Makerere University, Mrs Kobusingya set her eyes on the banking sector, where she wanted to get a job.

But this was not a walk in the park, particularly for a fresh graduate with no work experience.

After “tarmacking” (job hunting) for more than a year in Kampala, she got a break from an unlikely area — a local fish cooperative society.

“I got a job after a rigorous interview. It was not well-paying — with a starting salary of Ush300,000 (about KSh10,000). But it was better than just sitting at home doing nothing.

“The most challenging part of the job was dealing with fish farmers, who were grappling with an unsteady market for their produce,” she said.

Mrs Kobusingya said that despite the low pay, she was happy with the opportunities that the job presented. She soon diversified the products to get a bigger market.

The main problem, she said, was that the major fish processors for the export market were biased against fish grown by farmers, preferring the one from Lake Victoria.

“Most of our members were women who had taken up aquaculture (fish farming). At the time, this was still a novelty.

“We tried selling other products, such as fish feeds, and even selling directly to consumers. But I felt that there was something more we could do to help the farmers earn more,” she said.

As the job consumed more and more of her time, and with constant complaints on market limitations, Mrs Kobusingya decided to venture into small business besides her job. She would buy fish from the farmers, fillet it, then sell to customers.

Filleting, she said, was not new. The competition was stiff and, therefore, the problems of farmers persisted. At times, a lot of fish went to waste.

Then she got the idea to start making fish sausages. The tricky part was that this had never been done before in Uganda. The only source of information then, she said, was the Internet.

“I assembled bits and pieces of information from the Net on how to make the sausages. The advantage was that the raw material for the product was in abundance. Everywhere I went seeking more information, people thought I was out of my mind.

“Nobody had heard of fish sausages but I received support from the Uganda Industry Research Institute in 2011. They helped me to develop a formula for the product,” she said.

Mrs Kobusingya was nervous when she introduced the product to the market. Her starting point were a few hotels in Kampala. But to her surprise, the response was overwhelming.

With about $800 (about Ush2 million), she was good to go... starting February 2012.

Her husband, who works with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees in Namibia, was impressed with the idea and boosted her kitty with Ush10 million.

At the beginning, Mrs Kobusingya produced about 100 kilogrammes of sausages a day.

But three months later, she is now doing 500 kilogrammes — and is unable to meet the growing demand from hotels, food outlets, and institutions.

Through her Kati Farm Suppliers that she founded, which also supplies smoked fish and frozen chicken and beef, Ms Kobusingya is working with 470 fish farmers, mostly women.

“This business has motivated farmers throughout Uganda. Each farmer has about 10 ponds.

“The enterprise, now worth about Ush50 million, has 16 permanent employees,” she said.

At a recent SmartFish trade event in Lusaka, Zambia, that brought together investors in the fish industry, Ms Kobusingya’s fish sausages were an instant hit.

SmartFish is financed by the European Union under the European Development Fund and is implemented by the Indian Ocean Commission in partnership with regional trade organisations. The objective of the event was to increase trade within the region.

Mrs Kobusingya is now eyeing the regional market — especially Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi.

She aims to produce at least five tonnes of sausages a day. “I am sure I will realise this in about three years. What is top on my agenda is to buy modern equipment and set up regional outlets.

“This will include buying land and setting up my own processing plant,” she said.