Lango gives up sunflower growing over poor prices

Thousands of farmers in Lango Sub-region are giving up on sunflower growing due to low prices of grains brought about by an unregulated market.

Sunflower is an important cash crop in Lango, Bunyoro, some parts of Teso and West Nile regions mainly for oil extraction. 

In 2015, an estimated 20,000 farmers in Lango Sub-region had switched to sunflower growing. 

Lango consists of nine districts; Lira, Amolatar, Dokolo, Alebtong, Otuke, Kole, Oyam, Kwania, and Apac. 

However, a recent survey conducted by this newspaper indicates that many people in the sub-region have now turned to soybean.

The distressed farmers say they are making losses because they spend a lot of money to grow the sunflower but earn little profits.

Mr Jaspher Okello, a farmer at Ajunga Cell, Lira City East Division, says many farmers in Adekokwok Ward have given up on sunflower growing because of its low grain prices.

Abandoning the crop

Mr Benson Odongo, the chairperson of Abella Parish, Aleka Sub-county in Oyam District, says more than 5,000 farmers in his sub-county have abandoned sunflower farming because of the challenges they face in growing the cash crop. 

Prices of commodities such as sunflower and cotton are determined by global trends, and they fluctuate depending on seasonal factors, and demand-supply dynamics. 

Many sunflower farmers depend on private markets to sell their produce. In private agricultural markets, price risks are high and recurrent yet the prices of seeds are often too high for small-holder farmers, according to experts. 

Daily Monitor understands that Mukwano Group of Companies currently sells hybrid sunflower seeds from South Africa at Shs60,000 per kilogramme.  

Oilseed companies, including Mukwano, are buying a kilo of sunflower grain from the farmers at between Shs1,700 and Shs1,800. 

Mr Francis Ojok, the Amolatar District production and marketing officer, says limited access to seeds has resulted in low production of sunflower in Lango Sub-region.

“The yields have also reduced because many farmers lack enough land for crop rotation so they keep on growing sunflower on the same field yearly,” he says.   

Oyam and Apac districts have been leading in growing sunflower.

The Uganda National Chamber of Commerce and Industry (UNCCI), an organisation focused on enhancing business opportunities in the country, says the farmers’ concern is genuine. 

The organisation says over the past years, low domestic commodity prices have taken a toll on agricultural incomes and affected the livelihoods of thousands of people in the country.

Mr Deo Kibirige, the UNCCI Lira branch chairperson, says farmers often sell their produce cheaply because they have weak bargaining power.

“If there is a very big shortage [of the product], prices will go up because the law of supply and demand will come in. Now when the law of supply and demand comes in, there is nothing you can do,” Mr Kibirige says.

“There is no way prices of oil itself or even the seeds will remain high when they are low on the global arena,” he says.  

“Now what farmers don’t understand is that there is a difference between grains and seeds. A kilo of sunflower seeds can cost Shs40,000 but it is unlikely that a kilo of grains would cost the same amount,” Mr Kibirige adds.  

“This is because one kilo of seeds can be planted on an acre of land and an acre can yield between 600 and 1,000kgs of grain. There is no way you can say since you bought seeds at Shs40,000 or Shs50,000 per kilo, you should also sell grains at the same price.  Grains are for crushing while seeds are for planting.  Seeds give yields!” Mr Kibirige says.

He says farmers have weak bargaining power because they are ‘disorganised’.   

“An institution such as Lango Cooperative Union would work out the cost of production and, for instance, say for soybeans, a kilo should not be sold at less than Shs800. This is because the government has liberalised the economy,” he explains.

Nonetheless, Mr Kibirige notes that there is a need to regulate the private market.

“Now when an industry is sustained with policies, whoever comes into it is aware of the rules of the game,” he says. 

What they say...

Sarah Okello, farmer in Barr Sub-county in Lira District, “For the last eight years that I have grown sunflowers, there is no single year that I have realised any good profit. The seeds are very expensive but when we harvest the crop and take it to the market, the prices on offer are very demoralising.”

Francis Ojok, Amolatar District production officer, “The other reason other districts are not taking up sunflower farming is that the crop erodes soil fertility very fast and it needs a lot of reinforcement in terms of fertilizer use and efficient crop rotation system.”

Deo Kibirige, UNCCI Lira branch chairperson, “Agriculture has dynamics and these have not been appreciated by farmers. If we have a bumper harvest this season, prices would fall and farmers will abandon that crop, then the next season, we would face a scarcity of that crop and prices would go up.”

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