Community silos will save your grains

Post-harvest handling of produce remains a big challenge in Uganda, undermining quantity, quality and price of produce as well as food security and income in the long term. 

Interventions such as the use of airtight storage equipment and construction of bulking stores for collective marketing have been put in place for farmers to reduce these losses. However, these technologies are not yet accessible to most rural farmers who still use the traditional ways of keeping grains.

The biggest paradox for produce farmers is the unending cry of low prices when they are forced to sell to a middleman, yet the businessmen will always blame the low quality for the prices. The solution is always to wait for the right time to sell, a process that can eliminate the challenge of middlemen that enjoy most of the benefits.

In 2015, the World Food Programme (WFP) and the National Agricultural Advisory Services organisation (Naads) embarked on the construction of satellite collection points (SCPs) to be used by farmers’ groups to improve marketability of their produce in major grain producing districts of Adjumani, Napak, Kiryandongo, Nakaseke, Kyenjojo, Kyegegwa, Mubende and Kiboga worth Shs3.76b.

According to Christopher Bukenya, the Naads head of technical and agribusiness services, the intervention with the WFP started in 2016. Previously, Naads focused on provision of inputs like seeds to farmers before it evolved into value addition.

Currently, there are 12 such community storage facilities in 11 maize producing districts. The latest two facilities have been constructed at Kiigya village in Kiryandongo District and another at Katente Industrial Park in Kyegegwa Town Council. The main role of community storage facilities is to enable bulking while also allowing farmers bargaining power through collective marketing. 

“Household level storage tends to be poor among farming communities because the use of silos and PICS bags can affect farmers’ profit,” says John Bosco Aheebwa, the chairperson of Kyegegwa Grain Producers and Marketing Association. The spacious warehouse is large enough to store 300 metric tonnes of food.

The construction of Kyegegwa satellite collection point has triggered and motivated more smallholder farmers to get involved. The number of farmers actively involved in maize production stands at more than 200 all of whom bulk and sell their maize grain through the satellite collection point.

Like any other SCP across the country, at Katente, members are encouraged to dry their grain at the facility where they have access to the motorised shelling machine and moisture meters.

According to Aheebwa, farmers are also exposed to genuine weighing scales which has saved them from fraudulent buyers who manipulate weighing scales. “Many farmers have not been satisfied with grain traders but now they are happy,” Aheebwa says.

Farmers have been trained in good agronomic practices in maize production to enable farmers to embrace the facility. Robert Mugisa, the district commercial officer says this has enabled farmers to increase yield while expecting fair prices.

“Farmers now have access to good post-harvest inputs such as tarpaulins for drying and sieving materials that are helping us get clean and good quality grain,” Mugisa said.

Emily Doe, WFP head of area office for south-western Uganda, says the satellite collection point constructed as part of the Agriculture Emergency Programme, which is the second in Tooro region, can help in improving the resilience of smallholder farmers. The Shs3b project was aimed at longer proper storage which is key to price stability.

“This facility enables viable marketing to meet the existing food requirements for refugees,” Doe said.
Kyegegwa is home to more than 113,000 refugees at Kyaka II Refugee Settlement.

Linking farmers to markets
To stimulate smallholder local food procurement, WFP focused on purchasing from the satellite collection points. Seven SCPs sold maize and beans to WFP in 2017. But since the WFP changed its approach to cash transfers, to empower people with choice to address their essential needs in local markets, while also helping to boost these markets, collection points have an opportunity to sell directly to refugees.

Despite the fact that refugees are now taking cash for food, the World Food Programme insists on quality. Therefore, farmers in host communities can only benefit by making sure proper storage of the produce that can meet the standards,” Nakakande says. The Kyegegwa facility is on the right track.  

In the second season of 2019 when the facility became operational, 32 metric tonnes were stored at the facility and by the end of last year’s second harvest, 74 metric tonnes were kept at the facility.

Meeting the challenges
Although farmers now have a modern storage facility, the concept of bulking and collective selling is yet to be fully appreciated by most farmers who continue to sell outside the established collection points which could leave the facilities underutilised.

Aheebwa notes that the liberalised nature of Uganda’s economy makes it difficult to effectively get people to keep produce in group storage facilities. Nine groups make the association in a district that is ranked number one in maize production in Tooro region. Dr Bukenya has advised new collection points to learn from the past mistakes and mobilise more farmers.

“This can be done through radio visits where farmers are enlightened about the importance of proper storage. You can even encourage produce dealers to come on board at a subsidy,” he said. Khadija Nakakande, the Naads communications officer stresses that such facilities are demand driven.

“The first target is grain producing regions but a consideration is given to those areas that have special interests. For instance, Kiryandongo has two stores because they supply a big community of refugees. If there is demand, there is no reason why the facility cannot be expanded,” Nakakande says.