Open letter to President Museveni

Your Excellency, once again allow me to salute you and congratulate you on the successful celebration of Labour Day 2022.

I write this article at the risk of being stoned and given all kinds of names, including Marie Antoinette, who is believed to have been the cause of the French revolution for saying some statement related to bread. I won’t claim to know much about this being a scientist who didn’t study a lot of history.

Your Excellency, during your Labour Day speech you advised us that in the face of an economic crisis, we should embrace alternative sources of bread in the form of cassava. You have re-echoed this statement many times in the past. I can say without a doubt that “cassava” was trending for the most part of the next few days after your speech for various reasons.

However, Your Excellency, the point many of us missed was the fact that this noble crop, which is a huge source of raw material for various products, has the potential to be the driver of the next industrial revolution for our country. We can use cassava for import substitution in many products in Uganda.

I remember when you launched the commercialisation and industrialisation of cassava, and inaugurated the solar-powered irrigation scheme at Aringomone in Acholibur in Pader in March 2020, you witnessed the production of ethanol as a source of fuel for cooking. This promising venture, if supported, can cut the use of charcoal by a big percentage.

This in turn will mitigate the effects of climate change resulting from the destruction of millions of trees to make charcoal.  Actually, even youth engaged in cassava production would be assured of the market as the demand for its use will go up. The people of Acholi were very excited about this venture.

Your Excellency, additionally, you may also be aware that high-quality cassava flour in the form of industrial starch is a very essential ingredient in the pharmaceutical industry, and yet Uganda imports it from abroad.

These are examples of some of the products that can boost our industrialisation by leaps and bounds.
Your Excellency, to your credit, as a result of your support to scientific research, our own scientists at the National Crop Resources and Research Institute in Namulonge have produced biodiesel and biodegradable polythene from cassava which are potential products to drive the Ugandan industrial revolution! These products can also substitute our imports of petroleum products among others.

On the subject of bread, your Excellency, there is nothing wrong with consuming both cassava and bread, and indeed we can substitute the wheat flour with cassava flour to reduce the costs of bread for those who prefer it.  Our fellow African country, Nigeria, proposed a law to substitute wheat flour by 20 percent as a way of promoting cassava for income generation and also to lower the cost of bread by 23 percent. A similar policy was also passed in Brazil as a means of substituting the expensive wheat with cassava flour. We can also replicate the same in Uganda, after all, most of us already consume cassava in one form or another.

Your Excellency, from your speech on Labor Day, you justified the need for policy guidance on the national utilization of cassava as a substitute for wheat and other products given the rising global prices, and also its use to drive the industrial revolution in Uganda. We the scientists are behind you to provide the necessary process in enacting a national cassava utilization and commercialisation policy.

With your wise guidance, Uganda will ride on cassava in its next industrial revolution for a robust bio-economy. My humble submission is that, as a country, we should not miss the opportunity to commercialise and industrialise cassava for higher incomes and reduced imports.

Lonyo Grace Ocheng Prospero Passionate about Bio-economy