GULU – Gulu University is seeking at least Shs27 billion to set up a complete, independent juice processing factory.
Last year, the University launched the “Gulu University Muyeme Juice” pilot project which majorly targeted the fruit farmers in northern Uganda.
Under this pilot project, the University borrowed the fruit processing machine from Makerere University to the pilot project which was being implemented by students in the Faculty of Agriculture.
James Ojok Onono, the Gulu University Public Relations Officer says, they now want to set up an independent factory which will be stationed at the university to consume all the fruits planted and produced in northern Uganda.
The Shs29 billion, Onono says, would cater for buying processing machines, vehicles, human resources among others.
Already sseveral middlemen who deal in fresh mangoes, mostly from Kampala and Jinja are in the villages of Atiak sub county and Town Council in Amuru district, something locals and leaders say has left fruit farmers in losses.
Currently, a bucket of fresh mangoes from Atiak costs between Shs5000 to Shs7000 up from between Shs2000 to Shs4000.
In a recent interview with theCooperator, Margate Olok, a vendor of mangoes along the Gulu-Juba highway in Atiak sub county expressed concern on the rate at which buyers from Kampala throng and comb through the villages of Atiak sub county buying mangoes and taking them to Kampala.
Olok said that in some cases, the middlemen want to buy a whole mango tree. “This I think is due to the amount of money they make from our mangoes that we labored to plant and grow,” said Olok.
“I would love to see our children establish juice factories within the region to directly help us who mostly take care of the fruits in the villages here,” Olok added.
One of the middlemen, who only identified himself as Amanya says, there’s a ready market for fresh mangoes in fruit factories in Kampala and yet the locals can’t take advantage of these business opportunities.
Aggrey Akera, the LCV Councilor for Atiak sub county in Amuru district says, the government has on several occasions rallied farmers to turn to perennial crops and fruits yet there’s no ready market, for the case of northern Uganda.
Currently, there`s no larger scale mango juice processing factory in Acholi sub region, something Akera and other farmers believe has given way for the dealers mostly from outside northern Uganda to cheat the farmers.
https://thecooperator.news/gulu-university-stuck-with-11-tons-of-mango-juice/
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