Farmers stuck with Shs10b coffee seedlings

A total of more than 100 coffee nursery bed operators in Kasese District are stuck with coffee seedlings in their nursery beds after they were allegedly denied a chance to supply them to farmers in Kasese.

The nursery bed operators say they are now counting losses of about Shs10 billion as a result of being denied a contract by Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) to continue supplying the seedlings.

Mr Jimmy Kalimunda, the chairperson of Coffee Nursery Bed Operators in Kasese, told Daily Monitor at the weekend that since 2016, they had been working fairly well with extension officers in the district by ensuring the nursery beds meet quality and specifications set by UCDA.

Background

He said in 2018, the nursery bed operators acquired a certificate from UCDA to set up coffee nursery beds, promising them a contract to supply seedlings to farmers. However, the farmers say they have not yet received any order from UCDA to supply the seedlings.

Mr Kalimunda said each nursery bed operator had prepared five million seedlings, anticipating to sell each at Shs350.

Ms Lilian Masika, a farmer and one of the nursery bed operators, said for the last two years, she had been preparing her nursery bed but was now counting losses after failing to get market.

 “Many of our local nursery bed farmers were technically kicked out with their certificates not being renewed, instead new nursery bed operators were brought on board to the detriment of existing operators,” Ms Masika said.

The nursery bed operators accuse the UCDA extension officer, Mr Moses Alinda, of not being fair in giving out supply orders of coffee seedlings. The operators now say they want the ongoing process of selecting nursery bed operators to be halted.

Mr Alinda, however, said he doesn’t have any contract with coffee nursery bed operators who are complaining, asking them to register an official complaint in his office.