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Warehouse sector poised to expand export markets
Warehouses at Kampala Business and Industrial Park in Namanve. PHOTO/ FILE
What you need to know:
An improved export infrastructure is needed, including modern warehousing and cold storage facilities.
The warehousing sector holds great potential to meet increasing market demand and facilitate value addition, particularly for exports, a report by the International Labour Organisation (ILO) has revealed.
The report comes at a time when Presidential Advisory Committee on Exports and Industrial Development (PACEID) is emphasizing the need for improved export infrastructure, including modern warehousing and cold storage facilities.
This is critical for agriculture, where enhanced logistics and storage can boost exports of high-value crops such as fruits, vegetables, and coffee.
According to the report, women make up 15.8 percent of the workforce in the warehousing sector (68 percent of female employees in the logistics sector find working conditions ‘very poor’.
The report titled: “Trade for Jobs Uganda” indicates that the impact of women can cut across all agricultural sectors, where women account for half of the workforce and youth - 63 percent. It further states that the transportation and storage sector, combined can create more than 200,000 jobs if the untapped export potential was fully realised.
Several Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), particularly those focused on agricultural exports generally provide essential services such as cold storage, pack houses, and value-added processing for perishable goods like fruits, vegetables, coffee, and flowers.
Gender Minister Betty Amongin says discrimination at the workplace, cultural and societal barriers, hinder women’s participation in this sector.
