Masindi farmers demand for coffee hurler from government

Coffee farmers in Masindi district want government to establish a coffee processing machine within the district, saying that they produce enough coffee to sustain it.

Masindi district has four active coffee cooperatives, namely: Bwijanga Coffee Cooperative Society Limited, Karujubu Coffee Cooperative Society Limited, Pakanyi Coffee Cooperative Society Limited and Alimugonza Coffee Cooperative Society Limited.

Bendicto Ssensaga, the Chairperson, Bwijanga Coffee Cooperative Society Limited the cooperative has over200 members, who own more than 600 acres of coffee.

“People have embraced the cooperative after realising the importance of bulking together; farmers no longer need to sell separately,” Ssensaga said.

He added that the quality of coffee produced by the cooperative has been boosted by training members on how to produce quality coffee and on postharvest handling..

Julius Katusabe, the Chairperson, Pakanyi Coffee Cooperative Society Limited, says that his members have over 200 acres of coffee. Moreover, with more than 500 new coffee farmers expected to join the cooperative soon, he predicts a drastic increase in production over the next two to three years.

Moses Kalyegira, the District Commercial Officer, Masindi, said that all the coffee cooperatives in the district are very active, and each of their members owns at least 2 acres of coffee plantation.

“With this capacity, they are fit to receive the coffee processing hurler since they have enough coffee to feed it,” he said.

Julius Twiine the Regional Coffee Extension Officer, is also of the opinion that Masindi’s farmers are justified in demanding for the coffee hurler.

“The volumes they are producing have extremely increased. Currently coffee farmers in Masindi are producing between 50- 70 tonnes of coffee per season,” he said, adding that the volumes are projected to grow even higher.

“I am expecting the volumes to increase to 200 tonnes per season since Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) has given out millions of coffee seedlings to farmers across the district. In addition, this season UCDA has given out 274 bags of fertilizers and other chemicals to coffee farmers as one way of boosting their production.”

Twiine says Masindi district urgently needs a coffee hurler in order to curb the influence of middlemen who “cheat” farmers every season.

He also called upon private players to invest in the primary processing of hurling since production volumes are going to increase rapidly.

Improved agricultural practices

Twiine is optimistic that as more farmers embrace good agricultural practices, the quality and quantities of coffee produced in the district will improve.

”Now farmers are able to produce quality coffee due to the trainings we have offered to them. For example, these days farmers have stopped harvesting unripe coffee or drying it on the bare ground,” he noted.

The government of Uganda through UCDA has been encouraging farmers to embrace coffee growing and has supplied millions of coffee seedlings to farmers through the Operation Wealth Creation programme.

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Lamwo: 400 LDUs deployed to plant sugarcane due to labour shortage

Four hundred Local Defence Unit personnel, LDUs, have been deployed to help plant sugarcane for Ayuu Alali Cooperative Society Limited in Lamwo district.

The Ministry of Agriculture resorted to using the LDUs after Mohamoud Abdi Mohammed, Executive Director Horyal Investment Holding Company Limited, the company overseeing the sugarcane project, last week said 600 tonnes of the sugarcane seedlings had already dried up and 800 tonnes were set to expire this week because of shortage of labour.

According to Abdi, the project had only 200 out of the 900 people needed to plant the sugarcane on 6500 hectares of land that are ready for sugarcane growing, out of a total 15,000 hectares.

The company has struggled to recruit local labourers from Lamwo district and continues to face high labour turnover. Attempts to recruit skilled labour from Kamuli district were halted in April over the COVID-19 pandemic.

Now, 400 LDUs from Lamwo, as well as the neighbouring Kitgum district, were over the weekend taken to the farm to help plant the sugarcane.
Brig. Michael Kabango, the Fifth Infantry Division Commander said the Ministry of Agriculture through other government departments asked for their help in order to save the project.
“After land had been ploughed and seeds procured, government realized there was going to be a very big loss. The ministry approached the relevant leadership, who asked us for help, so that that money, worth billions of shillings, does not go to waste,” Kabango said.
He said all the LDUs involved in the project were screened prior, and will not be allowed to mix with the community, to minimize risks of infection by covid-19.

“We are not mixing with anybody. We are prohibiting contacts with the local population. Ours is easy because it is a force and the soldiers are from within.”

Francis Ojwiya, the Chairperson Ayuu Alali Sugarcane Cooperatives Society said the 400 LDUs will be used for two weeks to help reduce the burden of planting on the 200 civilians.

“There are so many cane seeds drying yet it was bought with public money. Although we are still short by 300 people, the LDUs will help us plant the available cane seeds because they are a heavy workforce,” Ojwiya said.

On whether the LDUs have the skills to plant the sugarcane, Ojwiya said there are many agronomists in the district who are training the LDUs on the job.

“They [agronomists] show you how it is done. The training takes only a short time. Planting is not hard,” Ojwiya said.

Last week, the minister of health, Dr. Jane Ruth Aceng and Agriculture minister, Vincent Ssempijja, visited the sugar plantation and said government had agreed that 400 workers be brought from Busoga sub-region to save the project, on condition that the labourers are screened.

However, Komakech John Ogwok, the Lamwo district Chairperson, said that he, together with all the district councillors later disagreedwith the plan. This is the second time the district leadership is refusing to importlabour from outside.

“Both presidential directives and MoH guidelines prohibit movement of people. It is sad that the very government that set those rules is the very one going against the rules,” Ogwok said.

“The whole district council is against the idea of bringing workers from outside, but they think we are politicking. We are not. We are not trying to frustrate the project but want to protect our people. This is a matter of life and death.”

Ayuu Alali Sugarcane Cooperatives Society comprises of some 3,000 beneficiaries and has distributed five hectares to each member for sugarcane plantation.

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Kasese teachers’ SACCO donates 500kgs of cassava flour

Bukonzo United Teachers’ SACCO has donated over 500kgs of cassava flour to the district’s Covid-19 Taskforce as food relief to vulnerable communities in Kasese district,.

Handing over the donation on Tuesday this week, the SACCO’s Chairperson, Erisania Kule said that members had thought it wise to share what little they could with the rest of the community.

“Our SACCO has both teachers and community membership and therefore we must share the little we have with those in need during this lockdown,” Kule said.

He noted that Bukonzo United Teachers SACCO is majorly based on credit and savings, and therefore had to mobilise from its profits for the donations.

“We (the SACCO) have been in existence for ten years and have been earning income, a part of which we have used for this donation,” Kule explained.

Kasese district deputy RDC, Joshua Masereka, who received the donation on behalf of the taskforce, thanked the teachers for the contribution saying theirs was the first SACCO in the district to make a donation.

He called upon other SACCOs to do emulate them in giving back to their communities.

Covid-19 effect

The SACCO’s Chairperson noted with concern the low loan recovery rate in the wake of the Covid-19-related lockdown. In response, the SACCO has since rescheduled members’ outstanding payments by extending the payback period with no penalties.

The ongoing crisis has also forced the SACCO to be more cautious in extending loans to members, depending on how much one has saved, and prioritising those whose businesses are still in operation.

“We are careful with liquidity and are very mindful of how much we give out to customers, except in cases of emergency and for customized loans,” Kule said.

Resilience

Kule believes that if Bukonzo United Teachers’ SACCO is to survive, members must develop the internal capacity of funding it through buying shares.

The SACCO has two categories of members:

“We have those with the mandatory 10 shares, and those (teachers) who buy shares every month. Dividends are shared at the end of each year,” he explained.

As of February this year, the SACCO had 2400 members, each holding a minimum of 10 shares of Shs 20,000 each and a total share capital of Shs 480m.

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Former hotel employees resort to stone crushing to earn a living

Following the institution of a national lockdown by President Museveni in response to the novel Coronavirus pandemic, several young people in Moroto district found themselves out of work as their employers sought to scale down on staff.

In a bid to earn a living during these hard times, many of these youths have resorted to the arduous activity of stone crushing, the products of which they later sell to cement companies that buy their raw material from Moroto.

Sarah Nangiro, an employee of City Friend hotel in Moroto turned stone crusher told theCooperator that although they are getting some money from breaking and selling stones such as marble and limestone to the cement factories, the work is extremely difficult.

“At the hotel we were assured of breakfast, lunch and sometimes supper on top of earning our monthly salaries, but since they told us to stop, life became hard. We pray that the disease stops so that we can resume our work,” she said.

She added that, when they have a little money, they hire some village youths more experienced at this task, to break the stones for them.

Last resort

John Lokol, who earned Shs 200,000 a month working with Leslona Hotel in Moroto before the lockdown, said breaking stones for sale was the only employment option left for them if they were to avoid getting involved in criminal activities.

“As you know that the idle mind is evil, if we were to remain sitting without doing some work, honestly some of us would have been tempted to do funny things against the law for survival,” he said.

Lokol said since he started breaking stones he has sold about three trips for which he is awaiting payment in two weeks’ time.

According to Lokol, a full tipper lorry of 30 tonnes fetches between Shs 150,000 and Shs 200,000, but is much more labour intensive compared to working in the hotel.

“The funny part of this work is that your stones are taken on credit and the payment comes later so by that while you’re waiting to be paid you have nothing to eat,” he said.

Christine Atimongo another girl who was employed by Sunset guest house prayed that their employers take them back after the Covid-19-related lockdown is lifted.

“I am only praying that when the country is re-opened, our bosses will allow us to continue with our work,” she said.

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