Tea Farmers lose billions of shillings
Mbarara – Tea Farmers in Buhweju are stranded with their produce following the failure of Igara-Buhweju tea factory to buy out all the available green leaves.
Igara-Buhweju tea, the only establishment in the area has a consumption capacity of only ten (10) tons every day, yet the farmers’ production is in the excess of 25 tones.
This leaves an excess of at least 15 tons of already harvested tea going to waste, causing considerable losses to the farmers.
Boniface Kanyantore, a tea grower in Bunyaruguru says, the losses are immense and this may affect their livelihood.
“We may be forced to change and switch to production of other crops. Igara factory has not helped us, because they told us to produce and they buy, but look at the waste we have,” he told theCooperator news.
Igara Tea factory was constructed in 2010, with an estimated consumption capacity of at least 10 tons per day, with a projection of at least 5-7 tons of production from the farmers.
The number of farmers enrolling into tea production has since grown beyond the projection, creating an over flow of the produce to the factory.
The Chairperson of Igara-Buhweju tea factory, Julian Amutuhaire attributes the challenge to the unstable electricity supply that unexpectedly stopped production.
“The challenge is basically due to power. Electricity here is so unreliable. The farmers are apparently producing more than what the factory can process,” Amutuhaire says.
A technician at Igara Tea, who preferred anonymity told theCooperator that, the factory requires investment in excess of Shs 4bn to create expansion and increased consumption and thus productivity.
“Management would need at least Shs300m to have this increase, although we can also work on a piece mill basis, which would require small amounts of money over time,” he intimated.
Mzee Gedeon Mugabo, a tea grower who owns 12 acres of tea in Nyakishana says, the wasted tea is so much that many think otherwise about the crop.
“We are now thinking about other options. We may want to go back to banana production because the pain in tea has become too much,” he says.
The areas most affected include; Nyakashaka TC, Engaju, Nyakashaka rural, Bureere Nyakishana and Buhweju
The District Commercial Officer, Buhweju Ian Atamba says, the amount of the green leaves produced in the area would require at least 4-5 different factories to consume the produce, and sustain the farmers.
“The number of farmers has really increased, that we need about 4 or 5 factories to consume all this tea,” he said.
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“The district needs at least four factories that will accept green leaf tea from the farmers,” he said.
The Chairman Buhweju District, Atuhaire Deo says, the Council wrote to the Ministry of Agriculture regarding the excessive production of tea and the capacity of Igara Tea factory, but have since not received a formal response.
“We are hopeful that we shall have a solution from the ministry to mitigate these losses,” he added.
Farmers, who spoke to this reporter had collected heaps of the green leaves that was drying up at the farmland, while more produce had dried up at the collection center.
In July 2021, the factory cut the price of the green leaves from the farmers by Shs 50 making Shs 400 per kilogram. It was reported that the cut was due to the Covid 19 effects to the factory which had put the factory into a hard business positioning.
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