NWOYA– Over 6,000 fruit farmers in Nwoya district do not have market for their ready mangoes as there is no juice-processing factory in the district to add value to the fruits.
The affected farmers are members of the Nwoya Fruit Growers Cooperative Society and have over 10,000 acres of mangoes in the sub-counties of Lii, Koch Goma, Lungulu, Alero, and Anaka.
Vincent Langole, the Chairperson of the fruits cooperative society says his mango fruits are rotting on the farm because the available market cannot absorb all the mangoes.
Langole, who owns 20 acres of mango trees says that he invests a lot of money to keep his orchard clean, trap fruit flies and other insects, coupled with collecting and burying the fruits that fall off the trees.
Langole estimates that he loses Shs 20,000 annually from each of his 15,000 mango trees as he does not have a reliable market for his fruits.
Rev Stephen Tokwaro, like Langole, also says the local market can`t consume all the mangoes he produces.
Tokwaro blames the government for rallying them into fruit growing but has now failed to provide market for their products, making them incur losses.
Christine Apiyo, a member of the cooperative society, says that whereas she is getting bumper harvests from her mango trees, she is forced to sell each fruit at Shs 500, even though not all her mangoes are bought.
Apiyo fears that if not assisted, her children might not finish their education, saying her mango project is her only source of income given that her health is weak.
Julian Adyeri Omala, the Managing Director of Delight Uganda Limited, who mobilised the over 6000 farmers to form the fruit farming cooperative society, says in 2019, the government promised to support them with a fruit processing factory as well as a direct and reliable market to the farmers.
Adyeri says government promised to build the factory but to date; there is no communication on the commencement of the construction of Shs 19 billion factory.
Adyeri says that as a result, she is also struggling to find market for her over 20,000 acres of mangoes, though she says she transports some of the fruits to Kampala.
Richard Todwong, the Secretary General of the National Resistance Movement [NRM] while visiting the farm in Lukai, Lungulu Sub-county in Nwoya district over the weekend said he was not aware that the funds haven’t been released by the government.
Promising to follow up the matter with the Ministry of Finance and Uganda Development Cooperation, Todwong, said that when constructed, the factory will provide a direct market to the farmers in the sub-region which will in the long run play a huge role in fighting household poverty in the community.
Upon construction, the 12 metric ton per hour factory will add value to the mangoes, oranges, and guavas grown in Nwoya and the neighboring districts.
https://thecooperator.news/factory-delay-frustrates-nwoya-fruit-farmers/
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