LIRA – Government has given sunflower and soybeans seeds on a loan basis to 22 farmer cooperatives and 48 large-scale farmers in Lango and Acholi sub-regions.
According to Dr. Charles Aben who is in charge of crop development at the National Agriculture Advisory Services [NAADS] secretariat, 500 tonnes of soybeans, as well as 75 tonnes of sunflower seeds, were given to farmer cooperatives for planting this season.
The new development is meant to increase oil seed production and reduce the shortage of vegetable cooking oil in the country.
Aben said the intervention is a result of the scarcity of vegetable oil in the country, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic and the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine.
“This intervention has been put in place because of the shortages of vegetable oil caused by the War in Ukraine, which was the main supplier of oil seeds globally, and the effects of Covid-19,” he said.
He said the low supply of oil seeds in Uganda is the reason for the skyrocketing prices of cooking oil, soap, and others.
“This financial year 2022/2023 we are focusing on Lango and Acholi sub-regions and the reason is that these areas have the potential for sunflower production of sunflower and soybeans,” he added.
He said soybean is also used in the manufacturing of animal feeds as well as confectioneries.
The regional manager of Uganda Oil Seed Producers and Processors Association, Fred Doi said the production of sunflower is high but the cooperatives are not doing enough to consume the produce due to financial challenges.
On the challenges cooperatives are facing, Doi added: “We are not processing, transporting. We don’t have our bank, or source of funding. We have to go to the same commercial banks where other traders go for loans, yet in the past, we used to have a farmers’ bank.”
The chairpersons of the cooperatives signed a memorandum of understanding with the government and a contract agreement as a commitment to meet their obligations.
The agreement indicates that the government will recover 30 percent of the seeds after four months.
https://thecooperator.news/price-of-oil-seeds-goes-up-in-lango/
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