Masindi access roads to connect farmers to market

The Masindi district Local Government is set to receive Shs. 8 billion to construct access roads under the Agriculture Cluster Development Project (ACDP).

Job Byaruhanga, the District Agricultural Officer Masindi, made the revelation yesterday at the launch of an agro inputs distribution drive to farmers’ clusters under the project.

ACDP is a World Bank-funded project that seeks to raise on-farm productivity, production volumes and marketability for specific agricultural commodities. In Bunyoro sub-region, the districts of Hoima, Kikuube, Kiryandongo, Kakumiro, Kibaale and Masindi stand to benefit from the project.

During the event, 26 members of Kyakaaki’s maize farmers cluster in Bwijanga Sub County received ten kilograms of maize seed plus 100 kilograms of maize-specific fertilizer.

Byaruhanga, who is the ACDP project’s coordinator in the district, told the farmers that in addition to the inputs, the district expects a Shs. 8 billion injection from the World Bank next financial year to rehabilitate access roads within the district to enable the project beneficiaries easily sell their produce

Under the six year project, the beneficiaries in their different clusters pay 148,500 shillings each (33% of inputs cost) and government is supposed to top up 301,500 shillings (67% of inputs cost) to make 450,000 shillings, the value of support that each farmer receives for three planting seasons.

In Kikingura Trading Centre, each member of Bwijanga Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Society received 100 kilograms of coffee-specific fertilizer to improve their crop yields.

Byaruhanga assured the beneficiaries that coffee farmers will each get pesticide, herbicides, pangas, tarpaulin and a coffee pruning saw, while each maize farmer will soon receive pesticide, herbicide and tarpaulin.

Beneficiaries, who included Robert Kambaire, a maize farmer from Kyabikule village, hailed government for the support.

“It will help us increase the quality and quantity of our produce,” he said. 

They, however, singled out lack of market and unreliable rains as some of the factors that may hinder them from achieving their goal.

 Byaruhanga promised government assistance for the farmers’ cooperatives in finding market for their products.

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