OTUKE, November 5, 2026 – Otuke Town Council Farmers’ Cooperative and Credit Society Limited has appealed to government to connect its milling facility to the national electricity grid, saying rising fuel prices in the country are driving up production costs and eroding its profit margins.
The cooperative, established in 2024 with support from the Sasakawa Africa Association [SAA], says access to electricity would significantly reduce operational expenses and strengthen its capacity to support local farmers.
According to Macdonald Ojok, the Chairperson of the cooperative, it currently relies on a diesel-powered generator to mill rice, millet and sorghum, but the high cost of fuel is increasingly undermining its operations.
A litre of diesel now costs more than Shs 7,000 in Otuke district, he said.
Ojok said the cooperative charges Shs25 0 per kilogramme for rice hulling and generates a gross income of approximately Shs 50 million annually. However, about Shs 28mln is spent on fuel alone, excluding machine repairs, engine oil and other maintenance costs.
“At the end of the year, you realise little money, yet we have already done great work, but the impact on the cooperative is low. I pray that if the government listens to us and wants us to move faster, it should dedicate one transformer because we already have a power line passing here,” Ojok said.
He made the remarks while briefing SAA officials, led by Joseph Bbemba, Deputy Country Director, during a field monitoring visit to farmer groups and schools in Otuke and the Karamoja sub-region.
The milling facility is among 18 centres established across the country to strengthen market-oriented agriculture, improve produce storage, promote value addition and support climate-smart farming practices.
Ojok said connecting the facility to the national grid would lower production costs, improve the quality of processed products and enable the cooperative to employ more workers.
He added that the cooperative was also grappling with inadequate infrastructure, noting that its existing storage facility serves multiple purposes, including training, produce bulking and marketing, creating an urgent need for additional structures.
“Our motive is to improve the livelihoods of the people, but without reliable electricity and adequate infrastructure, our operations remain limited,” he said.
Margaret Akullo, a farmer, said the rising cost of milling was also affecting farmers and consumers, forcing the cooperative to increase processing charges.
She said the cost of milling a kilogramme of posho had doubled from Shs 1,000 to Shs 2,000, although customers were still struggling to adjust to the higher charges.
Akullo added that rice milling charges had increased from Shs 150 to Shs 250 per kilogramme, making it difficult for farmers to sell processed rice at Shs 1,500 per kilogramme while maintaining reasonable profit margins.
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