Farmers To Resume Cassava Growing

NWOYA – After a three-year cassava mosaic imposed lay-off, farmers will resume cassava growing in the northern district of Nwoya next year.

Farmers allied to Nwoya Rice and Cassava Cooperative Society Limited abandoned the crop after cassava mosaic ravaged their farms in 2019.

Several farmers lost more than 40 acres of cassava to the mosaic wilt disease.

Cassava mosaic is transmitted by whiteflies, which primarily infect cassava plants.

https://thecooperator.news/nwoya-rice-farmers-hit-by-falling-prices/

Interviewed for this story, Alfred Ocen, the chairperson of the cooperative, told theCooperator that members suspended cassava growing after losing millions of shillings.

“It was terrible at that time (2019) and it’s on that basis that we decided to suspend cassava growing for three years,” he said

“We were advised by some technical people. They said within three years the diseases will be no more in the soil and that is when we plan to resume,” he said.

“Of course we were affected in terms of resources we used in opening up the land but we immediately had to embark on growing soya bean and beans in addition to rice,” he said

One farmer, James Cherimo Okullu, said he did casual work to pay off a loan he got to open up land for cassava growing.

“It was a hustle to pay off the loan. I lost everything I had planted in the garden. But I have not lost hope in farming,” he added.

Okullu’s eight acres of cassava were wiped out by the cassava mosaic.

Kenneth Kitara, the district commercial officer, said, “We however, advised them to first put that land to rest for some time before they use it again. We also told them to plant other crops before they resume growing cassava,” he said.

“It was not only members of the cooperative who were affected, other farmers who grew cassava at that time were equally affected,” he said.

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The post Farmers To Resume Cassava Growing appeared first on The Cooperator News.

Farmers To Resume Cassava Growing

NWOYA – After a three-year cassava mosaic imposed lay-off, farmers will resume cassava growing in the northern district of Nwoya next year.

Farmers allied to Nwoya Rice and Cassava Cooperative Society Limited abandoned the crop after cassava mosaic ravaged their farms in 2019.

Several farmers lost more than 40 acres of cassava to the mosaic wilt disease.

Cassava mosaic is transmitted by whiteflies, which primarily infect cassava plants.

https://thecooperator.news/nwoya-rice-farmers-hit-by-falling-prices/

Interviewed for this story, Alfred Ocen, the chairperson of the cooperative, told theCooperator that members suspended cassava growing after losing millions of shillings.

“It was terrible at that time (2019) and it’s on that basis that we decided to suspend cassava growing for three years,” he said

“We were advised by some technical people. They said within three years the diseases will be no more in the soil and that is when we plan to resume,” he said.

“Of course we were affected in terms of resources we used in opening up the land but we immediately had to embark on growing soya bean and beans in addition to rice,” he said

One farmer, James Cherimo Okullu, said he did casual work to pay off a loan he got to open up land for cassava growing.

“It was a hustle to pay off the loan. I lost everything I had planted in the garden. But I have not lost hope in farming,” he added.

Okullu’s eight acres of cassava were wiped out by the cassava mosaic.

Kenneth Kitara, the district commercial officer, said, “We however, advised them to first put that land to rest for some time before they use it again. We also told them to plant other crops before they resume growing cassava,” he said.

“It was not only members of the cooperative who were affected, other farmers who grew cassava at that time were equally affected,” he said.

Buy your copy of thecooperator magazine from one of our country- wide vending points or an e-copy on emag.thecooperator.news

The post Farmers To Resume Cassava Growing appeared first on The Cooperator News.

Farmers To Resume Cassava Growing

NWOYA – After a three-year cassava mosaic imposed lay-off, farmers will resume cassava growing in the northern district of Nwoya next year.

Farmers allied to Nwoya Rice and Cassava Cooperative Society Limited abandoned the crop after cassava mosaic ravaged their farms in 2019.

Several farmers lost more than 40 acres of cassava to the mosaic wilt disease.

Cassava mosaic is transmitted by whiteflies, which primarily infect cassava plants.

https://thecooperator.news/nwoya-rice-farmers-hit-by-falling-prices/

Interviewed for this story, Alfred Ocen, the chairperson of the cooperative, told theCooperator that members suspended cassava growing after losing millions of shillings.

“It was terrible at that time (2019) and it’s on that basis that we decided to suspend cassava growing for three years,” he said

“We were advised by some technical people. They said within three years the diseases will be no more in the soil and that is when we plan to resume,” he said.

“Of course we were affected in terms of resources we used in opening up the land but we immediately had to embark on growing soya bean and beans in addition to rice,” he said

One farmer, James Cherimo Okullu, said he did casual work to pay off a loan he got to open up land for cassava growing.

“It was a hustle to pay off the loan. I lost everything I had planted in the garden. But I have not lost hope in farming,” he added.

Okullu’s eight acres of cassava were wiped out by the cassava mosaic.

Kenneth Kitara, the district commercial officer, said, “We however, advised them to first put that land to rest for some time before they use it again. We also told them to plant other crops before they resume growing cassava,” he said.

“It was not only members of the cooperative who were affected, other farmers who grew cassava at that time were equally affected,” he said.

Buy your copy of thecooperator magazine from one of our country- wide vending points or an e-copy on emag.thecooperator.news

The post Farmers To Resume Cassava Growing appeared first on The Cooperator News.

District Chairman Vows To Revive Cooperatives

KIKUUBE – Peter Banura took the oath on May 24 as the first elected chairman of Kikuube District and pledged to revive cooperatives to their full glory and riches.

In his maiden speech, Banura, son of Uganda’s Ambassador to Burundi Maj Gen. Matayo Kyaligonza, said cooperatives can help people climb out of poverty but local governments have not fully supported them.

The interim district council chaired by Francis Kazini approved a Shs 36.83 billion budget on April 9 for the financial year 2021/2022. This was a climb down from this financial year’s Shs 42.4 billion.

Education and the health sector took the lion’s share of over Shs 10 billion and Shs 5 billion, respectively. The wage bill was allocated Shs 11.5 billion, domestic development, Shs 14.96, and the non-wage expenditure got Shs 8 billion. Cooperatives didn’t get a penny.

Banura vowed to engage the district technocrats to ensure that cooperatives get a share of the budget.

He said the government wants to revive cooperatives back on their feet and urged the local government leaders to support that commitment.

https://thecooperator.news/kikuube-36-saccos-receive-emyooga-funds/

Through strong cooperative societies, he said, the district will be able to mobilize farmers to embrace modern agriculture, value addition and get markets for their agricultural produce.

He also promised to teach people about the importance of cooperative societies to ensure sustainability of cooperatives in the district.

“Management of cooperatives societies is still a challenge; sometimes members think cooperatives’ money is free money. Members borrow money and don’t pay back, which affects the growth and sustainability of cooperatives,” he said.

He also promised to deal with the rampant land conflicts.

“Over 90% of the people in Kikuube district depend on agriculture, so when they are threatened with increasing land grabbing and eviction, they cannot plant coffee, banana and other cash crops,” he said.

He also promised to tap into the district’s rich flora and fauna to promote tourism and prop up the district’s purse.

Denis Senjobe, the chairman Mukama Natumanya Saving and Credit Cooperative Society in Ruhunga village, Buhimba sub-county, commended the new district boss’ commitment to revive cooperatives.

Buy your copy of thecooperator magazine from one of our country- wide vending points or an e-copy on emag.thecooperator.news

The post District Chairman Vows To Revive Cooperatives appeared first on The Cooperator News.

District Chairman Vows To Revive Cooperatives

KIKUUBE – Peter Banura took the oath on May 24 as the first elected chairman of Kikuube District and pledged to revive cooperatives to their full glory and riches.

In his maiden speech, Banura, son of Uganda’s Ambassador to Burundi Maj Gen. Matayo Kyaligonza, said cooperatives can help people climb out of poverty but local governments have not fully supported them.

The interim district council chaired by Francis Kazini approved a Shs 36.83 billion budget on April 9 for the financial year 2021/2022. This was a climb down from this financial year’s Shs 42.4 billion.

Education and the health sector took the lion’s share of over Shs 10 billion and Shs 5 billion, respectively. The wage bill was allocated Shs 11.5 billion, domestic development, Shs 14.96, and the non-wage expenditure got Shs 8 billion. Cooperatives didn’t get a penny.

Banura vowed to engage the district technocrats to ensure that cooperatives get a share of the budget.

He said the government wants to revive cooperatives back on their feet and urged the local government leaders to support that commitment.

https://thecooperator.news/kikuube-36-saccos-receive-emyooga-funds/

Through strong cooperative societies, he said, the district will be able to mobilize farmers to embrace modern agriculture, value addition and get markets for their agricultural produce.

He also promised to teach people about the importance of cooperative societies to ensure sustainability of cooperatives in the district.

“Management of cooperatives societies is still a challenge; sometimes members think cooperatives’ money is free money. Members borrow money and don’t pay back, which affects the growth and sustainability of cooperatives,” he said.

He also promised to deal with the rampant land conflicts.

“Over 90% of the people in Kikuube district depend on agriculture, so when they are threatened with increasing land grabbing and eviction, they cannot plant coffee, banana and other cash crops,” he said.

He also promised to tap into the district’s rich flora and fauna to promote tourism and prop up the district’s purse.

Denis Senjobe, the chairman Mukama Natumanya Saving and Credit Cooperative Society in Ruhunga village, Buhimba sub-county, commended the new district boss’ commitment to revive cooperatives.

Buy your copy of thecooperator magazine from one of our country- wide vending points or an e-copy on emag.thecooperator.news

The post District Chairman Vows To Revive Cooperatives appeared first on The Cooperator News.

District Chairman Vows To Revive Cooperatives

KIKUUBE – Peter Banura took the oath on May 24 as the first elected chairman of Kikuube District and pledged to revive cooperatives to their full glory and riches.

In his maiden speech, Banura, son of Uganda’s Ambassador to Burundi Maj Gen. Matayo Kyaligonza, said cooperatives can help people climb out of poverty but local governments have not fully supported them.

The interim district council chaired by Francis Kazini approved a Shs 36.83 billion budget on April 9 for the financial year 2021/2022. This was a climb down from this financial year’s Shs 42.4 billion.

Education and the health sector took the lion’s share of over Shs 10 billion and Shs 5 billion, respectively. The wage bill was allocated Shs 11.5 billion, domestic development, Shs 14.96, and the non-wage expenditure got Shs 8 billion. Cooperatives didn’t get a penny.

Banura vowed to engage the district technocrats to ensure that cooperatives get a share of the budget.

He said the government wants to revive cooperatives back on their feet and urged the local government leaders to support that commitment.

https://thecooperator.news/kikuube-36-saccos-receive-emyooga-funds/

Through strong cooperative societies, he said, the district will be able to mobilize farmers to embrace modern agriculture, value addition and get markets for their agricultural produce.

He also promised to teach people about the importance of cooperative societies to ensure sustainability of cooperatives in the district.

“Management of cooperatives societies is still a challenge; sometimes members think cooperatives’ money is free money. Members borrow money and don’t pay back, which affects the growth and sustainability of cooperatives,” he said.

He also promised to deal with the rampant land conflicts.

“Over 90% of the people in Kikuube district depend on agriculture, so when they are threatened with increasing land grabbing and eviction, they cannot plant coffee, banana and other cash crops,” he said.

He also promised to tap into the district’s rich flora and fauna to promote tourism and prop up the district’s purse.

Denis Senjobe, the chairman Mukama Natumanya Saving and Credit Cooperative Society in Ruhunga village, Buhimba sub-county, commended the new district boss’ commitment to revive cooperatives.

Buy your copy of thecooperator magazine from one of our country- wide vending points or an e-copy on emag.thecooperator.news

The post District Chairman Vows To Revive Cooperatives appeared first on The Cooperator News.

Go big on Coffee, Bushenyi Farmers Told

BUSHENYI – Large-scale coffee farming could be the surest way to draw into the district a steady stream of investors from across the country and guarantee big pay-days for Bushenyi farmers in future, Asaph Bainomugisha, treasurer Nyeibingo Co-operative society, has said.

“I appeal to all Bushenyi farmers to plant more coffee because it is our main economic cash crop. This will also attract investors to open more coffee factories in the district,” Bainomugisha said recently at the opening of a coffee facility at Nyeibingo Co-op Society Coffee.

The facility was constructed under the Agriculture Cluster Development Project (ACDP). The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) has rolled out the project in more than 50 districts in Uganda.

Bainomugisha said he has never regretted going into coffee farming.

“Personally, I have four children studying in good schools and I clear all their school dues in time just because of coffee. I have also taken on many other projects like banana, dairy farming and tree planting all on the back of coffee farming,” he said.

According to Chris Gumisiriza, the project grants manager at MAAIF, the 57-district Agriculture Cluster Development Project (ACDP) is funded by the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) to the tune of Shs 532 billion.

He said the project began in 2018/19 in five pilot clusters covering 25 districts and later spread into another seven clusters in 2019/2020 and will end in March 2022.

Gumisiriza said the project was first piloted in the six districts of Amuru, Isingiro, Kalungu, Iganga, Ntungamo, Nebbi and later moved into 19 more districts in 2019 to raise on-farm production, productivity, and marketable volumes of beans, cassava, coffee, maize and rice in farmer organizations in specific geographical clusters of the country.

https://thecooperator.news/bwijanga-coffee-cooperative-targets-coffee-processing-machine/

“From project inception to-date, the ministry has signed grant agreements with 192 Farmer Organizations from 25 pilot districts worth Shs 62.8 billion, in which the Government of Uganda (67%) will contribute Shs 42.1 billion while farmers will contribute Shs 20.7 billion (33%),” Gumisiriza explained.

The Ntungamo Cluster, which hosts the six districts of Bushenyi, Ntungamo, Rubanda, Rukiga, Kabale and Isingiro received 38 grant awards worth Shs 11.9 billion.

According to Bainomugisha, Nyeibingo Cooperative Society Ltd. in Nyeibingo Parish, Ruhumuro Sub-county, Bushenyi District, received a grant of Shs 278m in December 2020 to construct a 60 metric tonne coffee storage facility and install a coffee huller supplied by China Huangpai Food Machines Ltd.

He said however, that funds were not enough and members sacrificed their premium pay to finish construction, which started in April 2020.

Nyeibingo Co-operative Society Ltd was formed on July 22, 1993 and currently has a total of 632 members.

Bainomugisha said the newly completed modern coffee facility will boost their bulk production.

“Last year we sold 220,000 kilograms of coffee but with this new coffee warehouse and with every household planting an acre of coffee, our coffee production projection is around 400,000 kilograms and our membership will increase from 632 up to 10,000,” Bainomugisha emphasized

According to a report from the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), Uganda’s coffee exports soared in March 2020, despite an overall contraction in international trade as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Uganda’s major export destinations include; Italy, Sudan, Germany and Spain.

A total of 477,56160-kilogram bags worth about US$ 45.87 million (Shs171bn) were exported with an increase of 38.39% and 35.72% in quantity and value respectively, compared to March 2019.

Buy your copy of thecooperator magazine from one of our country- wide vending points or an e-copy on emag.thecooperator.news

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