Masindi cooperative installs Shs 380mln weighbridge for farmers

MASINDI-After being cheated for a long time by the buyers, Masindi Sugarcane Growers and Processors Cooperative Society [MACAPO] Limited, a primary cooperative society of Bunyoro Sugarcane Growers Cooperative Union Limited, has installed a farmers’ commercial weighbridge to weigh their produce.

The cooperative established the weighbridge in partnership with Equity Bank Uganda at a cost of Shs 380 million.

According to MACAPO vice chairperson, Rogers Rwampwanyi, the weighbridge installed at Miirya Cell in Kigulya division, Masindi Municipality will help farmers know the exact weight/ tonnage of their sugarcane before it is bought.

Rwampwanyi said the farmers were always at the mercy of buyers who had their own weighing equipment that they used to cheat the farmers.

“We decided to establish an automated commercial weighbridge to help people measure their sugarcane before they leave Masindi. We started three years ago and people have embraced it. As sugarcane farmers, we have decided to come together such that we benefit from this business of sugarcane growing,” Rwampwanyi noted.

He added that the weighbridge is not only for sugarcane farmers but also for traders dealing in other farm produce like maize, soybean, beans, and ground nuts among others.

Rwampwanyi further explained that all companies buying non-contracted sugarcane from Masindi are going to be using it, adding that different companies are going to station at the facility such that farmers are paid instantly.

“We are also planning to start buying different items including sugarcane and others for sale. Farmers were being cheated because they did not have access to the weighbridge. But this one [weighbridge] is accessible by everyone,” he said.

According to Rwampwanyi, the cooperative charges Shs 50,000 for the big trucks, Tata lorries Shs 30,000 and tipper lorries Shs 25,000.

Benjamin Byarugaba, who is a member of the same cooperative said that most of the farmers in Uganda are being cheated at the weighbridges owned by buyers of the farm produce.

“This is where we are cheated because we don’t access them [weighbridges]. I have grown sugarcane for 27 years and sold it to different companies but I have never accessed any weighbridge. We came out with the idea of buying our own weighbridge after suffering too much. Due to lack of transparency on the side of the buyers, when it comes to weighing our sugarcane, we have lost billions of money,” said Byaruhanga.

He further noted that they are not fighting anyone but promoting cooperation rather than competition.

Launching the facility on Wednesday, Cosmas Byaruhanga the Masindi district LCV said that with unity among the sugarcane farmers, many things are going to be achieved.

“We have already formed a union called Bunyoro sugarcane farmers’ cooperative union wants. It’s comprised of over five cooperatives. Our aim is to be a very strong union such that we are able to have bargaining power. This is the beginning of our development,” he said.

Since this term began, Byaruhanga has been agitating for the formation of sugarcane farmers’ cooperatives and so far, nine cooperatives have been formed.

“Sugarcane farmers would be the ones controlling this economy but the problem has been the millers not giving us what we are supposed to get. The millers determine the price depending on only one product that’s sugar but other products like bagasse, electricity, refined sugar among others are not considered hence making us poor. A sugar Caine farmer is not supposed to be poor at all,” he said.

The district boss noted that now the next step is to get the farmers’ sugar factory.

“I am calling upon the farmers to buy more shares in these cooperatives. Even government is ready to support people who are united. This weighbridge, the cooperative has established is going to address many challenges that were being faced by the sugarcane farmers. This is the time to benefit from our efforts because most times we don’t access the weighbridges but now whoever is buying sugarcane and other products from Masindi will be using this,” Byaruhanga noted.

Xvier Kamanyia, a sugarcane farmer from Bulima town council said that the coming of such initiatives is helping to break down the monopoly of owning weighbridges by millers and buyers of farm produce.

“Buyers of sugarcane from different places are already using this facility and the farmers are happy because they are no longer grappling with the challenge of overgrown cane like it was in the past,” said Kamanyi.

Olivia Mugisa Atugonza, also a sugarcane farmer said that the weighbridge platform in the area will help farmers have fairtrade since they will not be cheated by the buyers.

“We have been putting in a lot but getting little out of sugarcane growing, but after getting our own weighbridge, I am optimistic that we are going to benefit. We are also going to easily pay our loans because we shall get the actual money from selling our produce,” she noted.

https://thecooperator.news/masindi-district-boss-wants-sugarcane-farmers-to-form-cooperative/

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