Maize farmers get Shs 100mln machines for value addition
KIKUUBE– Farmers operating under Bunyoro Tulihamu Cooperative Society and Twimuke Saving Internal Lending Community Association will now process their maize after receiving two milling machines worth Sh100 million, from the government.
The machines were procured through the Matching Grant Facility under the Agriculture Cluster Development Project [ACDP]. ACDP is a five-year government project initiated in 2018 to improve on-farm productivity, production, and volumes of selected agricultural commodities in specific geographical clusters of the country.
With support from the World Bank, government initiated the project to help farmers process their produce, especially maize, and improve the road infrastructure connecting farmers to the various markets.
Under the same arrangement, Twimuke Saving internal lending community association was given Shss180mln while Bunyoro Turihamu cooperative society was given Shs181 million to construct processing house facilities.
According to Samuel Kusiima Kaheesi, the Kikuube Principal Agriculture Officer, the machines, now installed, have the capacity to grade maize and produce quality maize floor.
Kaheesi is very optimistic that machines will not lie idle as farmers have grown and stored enough produce for processing.
Haheesi explained that with the availability of milling machines, the practice of selling the grains will soon end.
He noted that the farmers will also be able to produce feeds for piggery and poultry to make more money.
Gloria Tumuhaise, a member of Bunyoro Tulihamu Cooperative Society was happy they will now make more money.
She noted that traders have been taking advantage of the unprocessed maize to give farmers low prices.
“Traders have been buying our maize at the cheapest price. Imagine selling a kilogramme of maize at Shs 500 or Shs 300, which has been keeping us in poverty. Now that the government has given us processing machines, we are going to start processing and packing maize floor which we hope we can sell at Shs 2000 per kilogramme,” she said.
Evas Mungryeke, one of the executive members of Bunyoro Tulihamu cooperative Society, said that their cooperative, engaged in maize growing, has about 3000 farmers.
He commended the government for the facilities, adding that farmers are going to start processing their maize into finished products.
https://thecooperator.news/nwoya-farmers-cuts-losses-drops-cassava-crop/
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