Manufacturers directed to provide before sale services

State minister for Agriculture Christopher Kibazanga inspects some of the agricultural equipment used in coffee processing at Lugogo last week. COURTESY PHOTO

What you need to know:

Reason. Government says farmers must know about what they are about to purchase.

Kampala. Government wants manufacturers and distributors of agricultural machinery and technologies to start training farmers on how to use farm equipment before selling it to them.
Government says after sale services are no longer enough, stressing that before the transaction happens, farmers must be properly taught how to use agricultural tools.
This, according to the government, will lead to proper use of the machines as well as add value to what they do, ultimately increasing the commercial value of the commodities they produce.
The call was made by the minister of state for Agriculture, Christopher Kibazanga, during the Annual Coffee Technology Expo that was organised by Brazafrica, African Coffee Academy with support from the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), at Uganda Manufacturers Association Show Grounds in Lugogo, Kampala last week.
According to Mr Kibazanga, training farmers will equip them with skills on how to use different machinery and technologies will encourage farmers to add value to their coffee.
“It is important for farmers to learn how these machineries work before buying them so as to use them well in their quest for small scale processing. If that is done we shall have enough quality coffee which will help UCDA achieve the target the President set,” Mr Kibazanga said.
He added that processing for coffee by farmers on small scale will create room for employment which might create over a million jobs for young people, just from adding value to coffee.
Currently most of Uganda’s coffee is exported unprocessed, an issue which President Museveni says makes him lose sleep. He now wants to see increase in the number of coffee bags for export, from the current 4.3 million to 20 million bags by 2025.
In order to achieve that target, UCDA managing director Emmanuel Iyamulemye said they are cracking the whip on farmers who are processing immature coffee and also drying it in dirty places to ensure there is quality production.
The expo was aimed at show casing latest technologies in coffee to help farmers add value to their crops but also cope with climate change.
The three day expo, that ran under the theme: Building Resilience of Small Holder Coffee Farmers through Improved Technology, attracted coffee farmers, exporters, processors among other groups.