Hi Obolo,
good to meeting you here after missing out for sometime.
The donkeys deliver the vegetables and the women will get the by tricycle motorbikes to off load the goods and sell them the question about stealing hmm! the thieves in the town will not want to steal fresh vegetables they don’t see big money in it and more how it will be hard for them to get an immediate buyer. The thieves will rather steal a goat, sheep,cow,or motorbike.or bicycle. Even stealing the donkeys they will have to kill them or transport them to a far town but I can assure you they will always go back to their original place. so here people who deal with donkeys as transportation knows whose donkeys are carrying the vegetables for the women. Maybe it may happen one day but if they Radio Gurune and the community members will together expose them. so join us to support our communities to live trusting each other and passing on the good values to the young ones
Happy weekend.
Lydia
Hey people,
At last I have joined you after a long struggle, Madam Busi knows it but I am finally with you. Thank God.
My name is Rehema Ndagire from Uganda Broadcasting Corporation, Kampala and I am very glad to be part of this discussion to share about interactive radio and how it can be of use to our people (The Farmers).
AT A STREET MARKET
I went to a busy street market in our city. This is usually there every Sunday were two streets were specifically given to traders and farmers to sell their merchandise ranging from clothes, furniture, household goods, as well as farm products - tomatoes, onions, potatoes…you name it!
'Ever since Jennifer gave us this opportunity to sell our goods on Sundays, I attend to my studies at the university during the week days without any worries, because I know that on Sunday I will be able to sell and earn money", said a vendor of second hand shoes but who happened to be a university student. The “Jennifer” being referred to happens to be the Executive Director of Kampala Capital City Authority, in charge of city operations who some years back stopped vendors and hawkers from selling goods on Kampala streets during week days but allowed them to do so on Sundays.
A woman who had heaped tomatoes, onions and green pepper for sale at 1000/= and 2000/= per heap said she does not mind the dues she pays for trading on the street on Sundays because she earns more than she used to when she was selling things in a market known as Owino.
A male youth said that he opted for the street business after his “bodaboda” (Motorbike) was stolen by thugs who clobbered him and almost killed him. So he said it was a safer way to earn money, selling goods on the street than transporting people on motor bikes.
Please note: Motorcycles are the easiest, cheapest, popular and most convenient means of transport in Uganda today.
Hi Blythe,
Nice to meet you again. Those are nice bicycles you got there; Oh! how I wish I were near there to enjoy a ride on them!
Cheers!!
Yes I went to a market in the rural area where I mostly work with the farmers. This day was a market day, usually they have market where they sell their produce and other things everyday but they also have one day in a week. This day they sell many different things starting from small livestock, clothes and other food stuffs.
Yesterday i went to Mitundu Market, a distance of about 34km from the capital city of Malawi, Lilongwe. Guess what! yesterday being Friday, it is a market day at Mitundu. For starters, a market day is a day that is earmarked for intensive marketing activities every week. During this day, a lot of traders, farmers and not forgetting people from the capital city flock to the market place. Mitundu market specializes in Vegetable/ farm produces. I am talking about every local vegetables you can think of, Meat, and cereals. I interacted with two people; a woman and an old Man. The woman is a regular customer at Mitundu but comes all the way from the nearby City. She likes shopping at Mitundu market because prices there are very cheap, and also the abundance of fresh vegetables. The old man is a trader who sells Maize and pigeon Peas. He had been a trader at Mitundu for almost his entire life. He used to come with his Mother to the Market when he was a Kid.
Hello @krizo
Wow I love this illustration, even before looking at the pictures you posted I could visualize the place. Thank you, this place seems like a place for everything…it is happening!
Lovely!
Hello @rehema
Welcome! I am glad you finally managed to join us. We are looking forward to more shared stories. I think your Sunday market is more like a flea market we have on Saturdays where I stay. During the week it is so quiet but come Saturday you see a lot of different stalls, from food items, household items, electronics etc. For anything you need, there will be someone selling it.
Cheers
About a busy place,
I traveled on Thursday 2nd March to Bududa for a burial, but little did I remember that it was a great market day in Bukigai until I started meeting trucks loaded with bunches of bananas (Kamatoore) being transported to Kampala including neighboring Kenya.
It was an interesting observation for me because the road runs through the market on both sides and it took us 30 minutes to navigate through the narrow rural road lined with huge trucks bearing both Kenyan and Ugandan registration numbers loading food merchandise which the farmers displayed along the way, while small taxis were ferrying in and out the market goers.
Although the drivers kept throwing insults at each other as they scramble for space, I was happy that my home area irrespective of the much talked about famine being experienced all over, they have what to sell out.
The cool temperatures in this part of the world and stead supply of water from the mountains has maintained a stead supply of fresh vegetables, fruits, huge bunches of bananas (Kamatoore) all year round. At home I find mother had boiled my favorite bitter green veges (isuufa) served with smashed steamed bananas which I had yearned for in a long time.
May I invite all of you to this great place Bududa?
Where I stay, a busy place is the Market Place. The common responses I have got why the Market for them are;
- They come to buy produce and other goods.
- They come to make connections with other people.
- They come to sell their produce.
- The market area is a place to spend Leisure
Hello @munguleni
Thank you for sharing, it is indeed amazing that some people go to a busy place just to mingle or connect with others. It really shows, it is not just about buying stuff on sale but to socialize
Cheers
Hello @Gracious
Thank you for sharing.
I guess people manage to get almost anything at very low prices if it is marketed like that. I am sure some go home having sold everything they had.
Nabulagala road side market, One lady a widow commonly known as Mutoro because she is a Mutoro by tribe sells fruits mainly and other foods like cassava,sweet potatoes, pumpkins etc.She says she targets customers who come from work every evening as the market is next to the last destination for the taxis , She can not afford to get a stall in the gazzeted market nearby because she cant afford rent and the stall require a sizeable stock which she cant afford and lastly the road side market is near her one room where she rents with her three children who go to the school opposite the market. She can easily monitor home as well as school and works till late hours without any disturbance and she confesses that the business is good because she is looking after her children , so far she has worked for a year and her savings in the women SACCO ( Kasubi women Vendors Savings and Credit Cooperative) has grown. Her target in the next two years is to buy a plot ,put a house and does her business at her home she she says its possible and she is going to achieve.
Hello @pbaka
Thank you for sharing. Indeed people target certain places for special reasons. The place is convenient for her. She doesn’t have to carry the foodstuff far from home.
Please also visit this week’s topic http://discussion.farmradio.fm/t/week-two-what-is-interactive-radio
We would like to hear what your understanding of interactive radio is.
Cheers
I spoke to this woman at monkeybay market,she sells fruits only and she is good with seasonal fruits.She doesnt come to sell her fruits in the afternoon,she sells them in the evening only from 4 o’clock to 9 o’clock pm.At this hour most of the sellers sell their products along the main road outside the market.According to her this is the best time to do her business because the people she targets are the working class who mostly come to the market in the evening ans those who wander in the road late in the evening.mostly in the afternoon people buy vegetables and other products but not fruits.
Thanks for sharing Rashidah I always wonder the reasoning for starting at that time. There is an area here in Cape Town where in late afternoon to evening you see a lot of Tshisa Nyama (people selling braai meat or barbecue) starting their fires. I had always asked myself why they only start late and not in the morning. Now I understand probably they are targeting people coming from work and really want something quick to eat and probably have no time to do so at home. What still puzzles me though is why they sell the same thing in the same spot because it would be more profitable to sell different items per stall or if still selling the same thing move to your own spot
I sometimes visit the Awka playground which is about 1.2 kilometres away from my work place and Radio House, A make-shift playground that has a pitch for football and an indoor sports complex though not befitting. All form of Sporting activities such as football etc happens there. I had the opportunity of asking two persons why they were there. One a Commerical motocyclist and a Vendor.
Here are their Comments.
COMMERCIAL MOTORCYCLIST: " I am here to convey people to this place and back to their various destinations, Also intend to make money while doing this to make ends meet as i am a family man with 3 kids.
BEVERAGE VENDOR: I normally come here to make money from the Ice Creams i sell, Some days the day may be very hot because of the heat of the sun, so its an opportunity for me to make money and alot of people partronize me by buying my Ice Creams and sachet water i have here.
I think its because people are used to getting them at the usual spots and changing places would make them loose their customers