Investors to construct three tea factories in Buhweju

Investors from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) under the Elite Agro are set to construct three tea processing factories in Buhweju in September, the government has announced.

Mr Ephraim Biraaro, the Member of Parliament of Buhweju West Constituency, said President Museveni called upon tea investors during the World Trade Expo in Dubai, UAE, 2021.

He said the factories would uplift the people of Buhweju economically.

Maj Julius Rubahimbya, the officer in charge of tea in the Operation Wealth Creation and National Agriculture Advisory Services Secretariat, told Daily Monitor last Friday that UAE investors chose Buhweju due to the capacity to feed the factories at a time when the district lacks enough machinery to process the overwhelming volume of tea leaves.

“Due to a number of farmers growing tea, that is more than what the current factories can absorb, two factories are going to be established by Elite Agro from the United Arab Emirates. One is going to be in Kanuuka, and another one is going to be in Marinde or Rwajere. Then the third one is also going to be built and facilitated by USAID,” said Maj Rubahimbya

He said government would add another processing line at Buhweju Tea Factory, under Igara Growers’ Tea Factory.

The Buhweju tea factory in Nyakashaka Town Council was constructed in 2010.

“We are planning to have an extra line in the existing Buhweju Tea Factory. These two factories are a heavy investment. We estimate each factory to be around $5 million (about Shs18.9 billion). Buhweju residents will have market for the tea and this translates in increased household income. The two factories are going to begin in November and we expect by end of March 2023 they should start crushing,” he said.

The construction of the factories comes at a time when two others, Tea-Maria and Kashenyi Tea company limited, are under construction in the area. Tea-Maria, which is owned by tycoon Hassan Basajjabalaba, is expected to start processing tea in September.

Kashenyi Tea Company Limited, a factory on Buhweju-Rubirizi road, is expected to process 50,000kgs of green leaf per day and five million kilogrammes of tea per year, according to one of the promoters, Mr Godfrey Kereere Byamukama, who said they would be creating more than 1,250 jobs.

“We want to promote planting of tea on at least 3,000 acres and this requires about 25 million seedlings. We have identified partners who have land and we continue to identify more. We are working on modalities of establishing some outgrower schemes in a period of three years,” he said.

Mr Byamukama, however, said the opportunities come amid challenges such as poor roads, which compromise the quality of the products and also make accessibility hard.

“While we are planning all these, we need good roads, stable power supply and seedlings. We are planning to expand gardens but we can’t do it through private means. Government should come in and support farmers with seedlings,” he said.

background

In October 2021, tea farmers in Buhweju were stuck with their green leaf after their only tea factory failed to process huge intakes of tea. The factory, which has capacity of 85,000kgs per day was stretched to 100,000kgs yet farmers produced up to 450,000kgs.

During the peak period, Buhweju gets more than 264,050kgs of green leaf and 185,500kgs during the off-peak period. The peak period comes in August, September, October, November and December while off peak months are May, June and July, according to the district production officer, Mr Ian Atamba.

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