Shea nut, oilseed farmers task govt on value addition

Commercial oil seed growers and local processors dealing in shea butter have tasked the government to intervene and ease access to technology and financing to enable them to maximise the economic potential the crops possess.

With new technologies cropping up, farmers want the government to support them in harnessing emerging opportunities for productivity and sustainability gains in the value chains.

Mr Raymond Cankara, a soybean farmer based in Parak Parish, Lakwana Sub-county, Omoro District, said farmers are running away from oil seed production due to low prices of grains brought about by an unregulated (middlemen) market that exploit farmers’ lack of exposure and poor road networks in villages.

“Soybeans and sunflowers are very important cash crops in the area and they are grown mainly for oil extraction but we end up selling the grains at giveaway prices because we are not adding value to the grains to sell at a better price as crude oil,” Mr Cankara said.

Hurdles
Mr James Kimula, a MEALS specialist with World Vision Uganda, said while many farmers are interested in producing oilseed crops, the production is largely carried out on a subsistence basis with 30 percent of farmers in the region on average growing below 9 acres.

“As a result of lack of mechanisation, the vast and fertile lands in the region are not utilised for production. Mixed cropping and mono-cropping is the routine among farmers, for example, 52.1 percent practice mono-cropping in the region.” Mr Kimula said.    

In terms of crops produced for income generation, Lango farmers majorly produce maize and soybeans while in Acholi, soybeans, cotton, sunflower, sesame and maize are grown but the majority of farmers in the two sub-regions sell their produce cheaply at the farm gate due to several constraints, he said.

“Technology in regard to value addition and post-harvest handling serves as a big boost to oilseed farming by enhancing agricultural productivity and livelihoods and promoting environmentally friendly solutions to agriculture,” said Ms Leonora Abalo Okello, the chairperson of Pader Shea Butter and Agro-Processing Cooperative Society.

She added that a large fraction of shea produce is currently sold to middlemen and foreign firms due to a lack of capacity to add value among farmers, agro-processing technologies reduce post-harvest losses and improve the quality of processed products.

“If the government steps up access to technologies among us, this will expand rural employment opportunities and enhance the sustainability of shea butter production in the region where small-scale production and limited value addition remains the trend,” Ms Abalo said.

Other challenges
In July, World Vision Uganda and the International Trade Centre released a report of a household study that assessed the capacity, competitiveness, and opportunities of farming communities growing oil seed crops and dealing in shea butter in Lango, Acholi and Karamoja sub-regions.

The study revealed that while farmers sold cassava fresh tubers, only a few households rudimentarily chipped and sundried to sell the cassava as chips or processed the flour.

“Production constraints cut across the value chain of oil seeds, the main hurdles were found to be unpredictable weather, limited access to agro-inputs, besides limited mechanisation, the number of households using oxen compared to hand hoes was quite a few due to a lack of collective action,” it said.

Inadequate advisory and extension services, limited access to affordable credit, and limited capital to invest in production and value addition were also found to be hurdles impeding the progress of farmers investing, especially in shea butter production.

Mr Ronald Ario Torach, a Livelihood Officer with World Vision Uganda said:“While many farmers said credit access was limited and many financial service providers did not understand the kind of products suitable for them, with poor road infrastructure also limiting the farmers from accessing the markets for their produce.”

He added: “Almost all the rural households in the sampled areas lacked business skills and had poor market orientation. There was also the use of poor storage facilities, poor post-harvest handling and insecurity, many households kept their food inside the same buildings they resided in.” 

To change the status quo, the study recommended that the government should boost the provision of extension services, and access to financial services, including policies and other initiatives that can facilitate better access to markets for the processed products in rural communities.

“The government should support farmers to engage in value addition, access equipment and do value addition, as well as low-cost subsidies to farmers to be able to boost agro-industrialisation along the same value chain,” the report also stated.

Last month, the government launched the Strengthening Agribusiness Resilience and Competitiveness (STAR) project implemented by the International Trade Centre (ITC) with funding from the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) in north and northeastern Uganda.

Ms Vennesa Erogbogbo, the chief of Green and Inclusive Value Chains at ITC said the three-year intervention will address gaps in the agribusiness resilience and competitiveness in Acholi, Lango and Karamoja sub-regions.

“It will specifically improve the competitiveness of the shea, and oilseed sectors in the region, which has been identified as having significant potential for growth, and investment.” Ms Erogbogbo said.

Govt intervention
This financial year (2023/2024), the government has earmarked Shs7 billion programme to support farmers in Acholi and Lango sub-regions to boost oilseed production.

Out of the funds, Shs5 billion will go for procurement of sunflower seeds, and Shs2 billion will be used to procure soybean seeds.

The intervention rolled out the five-year national oil seed programme, which aims at increasing the production of oil seeds in the country. It is being implemented by the  National Agricultural Advisory Services (Naads).

For the next five years, this intervention targets to add 63,750 metric tonnes to the current production of 80,000 metric tonnes, although this is still below the country’s consumption demand of 480,000 metric tonnes, Ms Erogbogbo said.

Uganda boasts 104 vegetable oil processing factories with an installed capacity of over 3,000 metric tonnes per day.

Mr Richard Akomi Adiradira, the principal technical officer of Business Development Services at the Trade Ministry, said limited access to market and business information services continues to curtail the growth of farmers in the region.

The markets are available, but the people are not aware until you create a platform where buyers and suppliers meet to share information. They also don’t register or formalise their business, making it very hard for the government to plan for them,”Mr Akomi said.

He, however, said the government recently scaled up its efforts in making finances affordable to small and medium sized enterprises by issuing funds through the Uganda Development Bank (UDB).

“The government has put some interventions in place, it has created a fund of Shs200 billion and has put Shs100 billion and then participating financial institutions have also put Shs100 billion to be accessed at an interest rate of less than 10 percent,” Mr Akomi said.

About shea nuts, trees 

A shea tree, called yao in Luo,  takes about eight years to produce its first harvest. However, a tree that has faced bush fires gets stunted and can take about 15 years before it bears its first fruit. The trees are common in Acholi, Lango and Karamoja sub-regions.

During harvest, a tree can yield up to 20 kilogrammes of fresh fruit, which produces about 5 kilogrammes of dry kernel that are made up of almost 48 percent oil. 

The tree can be used as a mosquito repellent, and its bark can be used to treat wounds. 

Other uses are as moisturiser (it balances and hydrates the skin), butter, lotion, aftershave, hair oil, hair food, hair spray, bar soap, lip balm, lip shine and cosmetics.

It’s oil can also be used to fry and make stew and other food stuff.