Certification challenges deny organic farmers good income

What you need to know:

Market. US provides Shs8 trillion worth of market for organic products annually

Kampala. Ugandan organic farmers have failed to reap the maximum benefits of the growing demand for their products in Europe because of certification constraints, among others.
The demand for organic products in Europe, particularly the UK, has been growing by 15 per cent every year, the Chief Executive Officer for National Organic Agricultural Movement of Uganda (Nogamu), Mr Musa Muwanga, has said.

Demand for organic food
The US alone provides $3 billion (about Shs8 trillion) worth of market for organic products annually while globally, Mr Muwanga estimated the demand for organic food at $70 billion (nearly Shs200 trillion).
Speaking on Tuesday at the media breakfast meeting organised by Nogamu in Kampala, Mr Muwanga said the glossy statistics indicate an opportunity for organic farmers in Uganda to seize the opportunity. However, this will only be possible if their certification challenges are addressed.
“In UK, the demand is growing by 15 percent per annum and in the US the market is even bigger. We need to capture $1billion [Shs2.7 trillion] worth of the market and that will be a big leap for us,”he said.
Mr Charles Ssekyewa, the head of Uganda Institute of Certification, said without certification, it is difficult to distinguish between organic and non-organic products.
For local farmers, certification can be to a tune of Shs50,000 and for exporters the amount ranges between Shs7 million and Shs13 million, depending on the project and volume.
According to Nogamu, Uganda only taps into $250 million (Shs668 billion) worth of the organic market out of the available $70 billion (nearly Shs200 trillion) globally.