Farming
Okra, the new cash crop in Manafwa
Ms Kanae Wakasugi, the organiser and marketing officer at Namisindwa Farmers Association, talks to a farmer while on tour of his okra garden. Below: A bag of okra at a collection centre. Photo by David Mafabi.
Posted Wednesday, January 30 2013 at 00:00
In Summary
Since okra was introduced to farmers in Manafwa District with the assurance of a market, there is more income to earn.
Mr Kitongo revealed that since he started harvesting okra this year, he has earned about Shs 800,000 in two seasons, which he had never earned with maize, beans and sukuma wiki.
“We have actually been selling red pepper, okra, beans and maize to Kenya middlemen who cross through Lwakhakha border but with Icemark, we are going to target Juba, Tanzania and European markets,” said Stephen Kimono, a farmer from Bukitongo village.
Rouge contracts
Although from the farms already under okra in Bumoni , farmers expect to yield about 1,000 tonnes—making the area a significant producer of okra in Uganda, there are still problems with the marketing.
According to Ms Wagasuki, some traders take advantage of farmers’ illiteracy to persuade them to enter into rogue contracts.
“In contracts, the middlemen will state they have lent money to farmers and used okra as security, when the actual negotiations were about buying okra, this is what we are fighting.”
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