It was jubilation as Acowa farmers’ Cooperative Society in Acowa town council, Kapelebyong district received a new modern agro-storage facility constructed by government through Development Initiative for Northern Uganda [DINU] programme.
DINU which is a government of Uganda integrated programme supported by the European Union [EU] and supervised by the Office of the Prime Minister [OPM] is implementing a project code-named, Building Resilience to Enhance Food and Nutrition Security, Incomes and Health in Northern Uganda[BRENU] and spearheaded by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture [IITA].
The agro-storage facility with a capacity of 100 metric tons was constructed by SANQUA Engineering Company Ltd at Shs 120 million provided by the EU.
It was handed over to the cooperative society this week by the state minister of Teso affairs Dr. Clement Ongalo Obote, in a function attended by officials from DINU, Kapelebyong deputy chief administrative officer Daniel Ebunyu, LCV chairperson Francis Akorikin, Deputy RDC Kapelebyong Emmanuel Ojirot and farmers among other dignitaries.
The commissioning of the storage facility comes nearly three down the road after DINU handed over value addition machinery worth millions of shillings to Acowa Farmers Cooperative Society.
Perez Muchunguzi the programme manager DINU said that initiative is aimed at addressing identified gaps in food storage capacity, post-harvest loss eradication, value addition and collective marketing systems, besides improving access to agro-inputs in other parts of the district.
He highlighted that through this storage facility small-holder farming communities will be able to access formal markets through group bulking and marketing.
“The intervention is in line with government initiative to reduce post-harvest losses and improve on the quality of grain produced in Uganda,” said Muchunguzi.
According to Muchunguzi, Uganda is currently producing close to 5 million metric tons of maize annually, however, there are still gaps in the storage capacity of this maize with the current storage facilities accommodating only 800,000 metric tons.
He observed that DINU is investing in post-harvest technologies to reduce food losses could significantly increase the food supply.
“The post-harvest system comprises activities from the time of harvest, crop processing, marketing and preparation to consumption,” he explained.
He further added that DINU has so far constructed five storage facilities in the districts of Apac, Amolatar, Dokolo, Kwania, and Otuke in Lango Sub-region with plans to construct more in maize-growing districts.
Mucunguzi assured the dignitaries who attended the commissioning of the storage facility of their commitment to support the farmers in providing tailored training and capacity building in a number of areas.
The areas of focus are; group management, store management, post-harvest handling, zero food loss, financial literacy, records management, nutrition, gender and market linkages for the sustainability of the farmers’ organizations and their new infrastructure.
“As DDINU, we are concerned about improving the quality of maize, cassava and soya beans produced by farmers in Uganda, Lango and Teso sub-regions in particular and our intervention looks at providing these organized farmers with well-built storage facilities whey they can store their produce for a long time in anticipation of a good market,” said Muchunguzi.
According to Muchunguzi, after harvesting the majority of farmers in the area dry their agricultural produce on bare ground and dirty surfaces exposing it to dust and stones thus lowering its quality.
While receiving the facility the beneficiaries of the storage facility appreciated DINU for the support saying it will help to eliminate the middleman in the maize trade.
George Okolimo the Chairperson Acowa Farmers’ Cooperative Society said farmers have suffered at the hands of middlemen who have been buying their maize and other agricultural produce cheaply.
However, with the store given to us, we shall be able to have good quality maize and negotiate for better prices as a cooperative,” explained Okolimo.
He also said the farmers still need more support, especially in the area of marketing water for production given the climate change which has affected the farming seasons across the country.
While commissioning the facility, the state minister for Teso Affairs, Dr Clement Ongalo Obote urged the farmers to ensure the production of large quantities and quality maize and other agricultural produce.
He said this can be achieved by observing better pre and post-harvest handling methods and bringing their maize harvests to the storage facilities if they are to realize better market prices.
“Use the facility to store agricultural produce so that you can be able to sell when prices are higher,” said the minister.
Many farmers have been complaining about being cheated by middlemen since they don’t have where to store their produce from after harvesting.
https://thecooperator.news/maize-farmers-get-shs-100mln-machines-for-value-addition/
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