Kikuube farmers take up cashew nuts growing

KIKUUBE-After encountering several challenges in sugarcane growing, some farmers in Kikuube district have decided to grow cashew nuts, with the expectation that the business will be profitable and improve their lives.

The over 150 farmers from different sub-counties in the district have formed the association dubbed Kikuube District Cashew Nuts Farmers Association. The association was formed with the help of the district Woman Member of Parliament, Florence Natumanya.

The farmers picked interest to grow the crop after being sensitised about the benefits of growing the crop.

Speaking during a sensitisation meeting held at Wambabya village in Kidoma parish, Dickson Tukamusima, the executive director of Uganda Cashew Nuts Value Chain stressed that cashew nuts can fetch farmers good money if they take good care of the plants as they grow.

He noted that cashew nuts have a ready market globally, adding that its market demand currently stands at 12 million metric tons. He said countries like Tanzania, Gambia, and Mozambique produce only four million metric tons, leaving the market undersupplied.

He noted that a kilogramme of cashew nuts costs Shs 100, 000, adding that 60-70 seedlings can be planted on an acre of land, with each tree earning a farmer Shs 600, 000 for a year at the first harvest.

MP Natumanya who donated 50 kilogrammes of cashew nut seeds worth Shs 5milion, said there is a need for farmers in Bunyoro Sub-region to embrace cashew nut growing,  adding that the crop is one of the enterprises selected by government under the Parish Development  Model [PDM].

She explained that apart from being a high-value crop that could help farmers to move out of poverty, it can help in the conservation of the depleted environment in the region.

The former Archbishop of the Church of Uganda, Stanley Ntagali, a member of the newly formed association, was concerned that government had delayed introducing cashew nuts growing in the area, further noting that farmers are not benefiting much from cane growing.

Mpairwe Akwira the secretary of the farmers’ association said several farmers in the district want to grow the crop but have no seedlings.

https://thecooperator.news/naads-introduces-cashew-nuts-growing-in-lango-sub-region/

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