Lango Archives - The Uhuru Institute for Social Development

Government assures Lango of Sh3.5b palace construction

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LANGO – The government is to kick start the construction of Lango palace and 149 offices for clan chiefs to ease their work.

The Minister for Gender, Labor and Social Development, Betty Amongi said, the construction would kick off soon because the government has advanced money to the contractor. The contract was awarded to CMD investment Ltd.

The scope of the work according to Amongi who is also Oyam South legislator, includes construction of the administration block, a cultural center, palace and offices for the clan leaders.

Early this year, the government held a ground-breaking ceremony for the construction of the palace at Lango Cultural Center. The then Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Jacob Oulanya represented President Museveni.

Since then (May 2021), the construction of the palace which was supposed to last 18 months has not started prompting both the community and cultural leaders to raise red flags.

Minister Amongi, who has intervened in the Lango cultural institution leadership conflict said, the government would request for a supplementary budget as soon as the contractor starts the work.

For ten years now, there has been a rift in the leadership of the institution, since the then Speaker Wakeli Okello claimed he was sidelined during a tour by the Chief and his delegation to Europe and America.

The row escalated and a section of clan chiefs rallied behind former Uganda Road Fund (URF), Executive Director, Eng. Dr Michael Odongo Okune who had shown interest to become the Paramount Chief (Won Nyaci) and elected him in 2017.

The two operated differently with Eng. Dr Odongo calling himself the legitimate Paramount Chief waiting to be gazzeted while Odur remains the head of the institution.

“The confusion has affected many developmental projects which were supposed to come to Lango,” Amongi says.

“As the government, we were not sure of the person we should invite when there is a national function like celebrating independence,” she adds.

“But I want to assure the people of Lango that the palace will be built and the confusion is coming to an end,” Amongi said.

Meanwhile, the government has adopted the resolution passed by 118 Lango clan leaders out of 149 to continue to recognize Odur as the Paramount Chief.

They also resolved that President Museveni should also be informed about the development including banning Eng. Dr Odongo from officiating at cultural ceremonies.

https://thecooperator.news/lango-mps-query-the-verified-cattle-compensation-list-by-government/

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CNOOC partners with kingdom to prepare youth for oil Opportunities

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BUNYORO – China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) Uganda has stepped out with projects aimed at preparing Bunyoro kingdom subjects to tap into opportunities created by the oil and gas sector.

While the discovery of oil in the Albertine region has raised fears of a likely resource curse, government and oil companies are putting in place strategies to mitigate the negative impacts associated with the industry.

Last week, CNOOC in partnership with Bunyoro Kitara kingdom launched a training campaign for the heavy goods truck drivers as one way of preparing them for the oil and gas opportunities.

CNOOC is taking the Kingfisher oil field in Buhuka parish, Kyangwali sub-county in Kikuube district onshore of Lake Albert.

Kingfisher field development area is spread over approximately 344km2 in the Lake Albert Rift Basin in Western Uganda. The oil field is situated on the Eastern bank of Lake Albert, which acts as a border between Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It was discovered by the Kingfisher-1 wildcat well in 2006.

Speaking during the launch at the Kingdom administration offices, Mathew Kyaligonza, the National Content Manager, CNOOC Uganda said, the training program was initiated following an extensive industrial baseline survey which was conducted to determine and align potential planned projects for goods and services within the Ugandan market.

He explained that the survey highlighted 100,000 to 150,000 direct and indirect jobs that will be created during the production phase of the oil and gas.

He added that it found out that the oil and gas sector will need 2,500 skilled drivers and these skilled drivers are not available.

He says, these opportunities are the reason why the oil company has initiated training of drivers in the region to position the Kingdom subjects to grab the opportunities.

According to him, the training will benefit 70 drivers and the training will take three months.

The beneficiaries will be equipped with driving skills which will allow them to operate beyond the East Africa region.

“The participants will learn key issues in dealing with heavy goods vehicles’ driving in accordance with East African Community curriculum,” he explained.

More than 86 people applied for the training but only 70 qualified and this training will be conducted every year. The training will be conducted by Uganda Driving Standards Agency.

While launching the campaign, Kingdom Prime Minister, Andrew Byakutaga Ateenyi commended CNOOC Uganda for the initiative adding that there is still need to prepare the Kingdom subjects for the upcoming oil and gas opportunities.

He noted that the discovery of oil and gas has created a lot of excitement and anxiety adding that many people are flocking the kingdom hunting for opportunities in the petroleum sector.

“Almost daily, the kingdom receives people inquiring about available opportunities in the oil sector and I am happy that some of the inquiries are being answered with this training which we are launching today.”

Byakutaga says, the issues of local content are still lacking, adding that there is a need for concerted effort to address this challenge, if the kingdom subjects are to benefit from the sector.

“The national oil and gas policy provides an elaborate way through which Ugandans can benefit from the local content in the oil sector; we are pleased that the government has gone ahead to create guidelines for implementation of oil and gas policy, and the government has also passed laws to govern the sector,” he said.

He also said, the challenge is implementing the local content policy and regulation to enable people to benefit from the sector.

https://thecooperator.news/minister-urges-oil-companies-to-expedite-the-signing-of-the-final-investment-decision-fid-on-oil-and-gas/

According to him, this calls for concerted effort from every one. “People need training to be prepared to produce required goods and services and their capacity to be developed to match with the oil and gas standards, the more we delay the more we lose opportunities.”

Apollo John Rwamparo, the Bunyoro Kitara kingdom Second Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism, called on the oil companies to come up with a program of preparing the business communities in the region for the sector.

He says, the kingdom subjects owning businesses are missing out on several oil and gas opportunities because they lack information on how to join and tap in the sector.

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Poor management to blame for collapsing Lango SACCOs-Expert

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Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (Saccos) in Lango Sub-region are collapsing due to mismanagement, experts have said.

Speaking during a 5-day training of Acan-pe-Kun SACCO members on Thursday, the Chief Executive Officer of Ngetta Tropical Holdings, Paul Omara, said that, so far, five prominent SACCOs in Lango have collapsed in the past two years, and more others are on the verge of failure.

Those that have collapsed include Abutabera Youth SACCO in Apac district, Aloi Women SACCO in Alebtong district, and Dokolo United SACCO Limited in Dokolo district, among others.

Some of the co-operatives have also failed to repay the Shs 198m that they borrowed from the Government through the Microfinance Support Centre, while members are in court seeking a refund of their savings and shares in billions of shillings.

But Omara, an Economist and former banker pointed out poor management, political influence and conflicts between the SACCO boards and managers as major issues tearing SACCOs apart.

He noted that oftentimes the SACCO Managers are responsible for their collapse because they embezzle members’ money.

“When you are electing board members, you choose the uneducated and then employ well-educated managers and other staff who manipulate the system and steal all the money. The board cannot supervise them because they do not know anything,” Omara argued.

Philip Otim, the Apac District Commercial Officer concurred with Omara’s diagnosis, adding in such cases it is difficult to prosecute the culprits.

“There are many managers who have run off with cooperatives’ money in this district. It is hard to prosecute them because they manipulate the board, banking on the members’ limited education. There are so many such cases in court,” Otim said.

Acan-pe-Kun SACCO Limited was opened in 2011 by farmers in Chegere Sub-county. The SACCO, which has a loan portfolio of Shs 975m, operates on its own piece of land and office premises at Ololango trading centre, Chegere, Apac district.

Allan Okii, the cooperative’s Chairperson, says they have 473 members who are committed to the aspirations of the SACCO.

He appealed to the government to provide cooperative societies with low-interest agricultural loans to enhance their production and alleviate poverty.

“The major goal of SACCOs is to promote access to finance, especially among the poor who are actively engaged in any economic activity. The government should extend soft loans to SACCOs with the interest of as low as 1 per cent to help eradicate poverty,” he said.

In June last year, the Prime Minister, Dr Ruhakana Rugunda, said the government was considering strengthening SACCOs in rural areas in order to fight household poverty.

“We are studying how to strengthen the SACCOs because the Youth Livelihood Programme (YLP) and Uganda Women Entrepreneurship Programme (UWEP) as measures to reduce poverty have made little impact,” Dr Rugunda said.

The Prime Minister said the YLP and UWEP funds had been abused to the extent that the beneficiaries had failed to repay the money yet they are supposed to be revolving funds.

He added that despite the government injecting billions of funds into the programmes, little has been achieved on the ground.

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Bwijanga Coffee Cooperative targets coffee processing machine

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Bwijanga Coffee Cooperative Society Limited in Bwijanga Sub-county, Masindi district is in the process of acquiring a coffee processing machine that will enable them to add value to their coffee.

According to Benedicto Ssensaga the Chairperson, Bwijanga Coffee Cooperative Society Limited, the processing machine will be established in Kikingura village Kitamba parish Bwijanga sub-county.

“We are now going to benefit from our coffee because we going to add value to it instead of selling raw materials. We have enough coffee to feed the machine, and I am optimistic that our economic status is to change due to this investment,” he explained.

Ssensaga says that the members of the cooperative have a combined acreage of over 500 acres of coffee, a figure he predicts will rise even higher since they are still admitting more members.

MAAIF support

Ssensaga also revealed to theCooperator that the cooperative has secured the support of the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) towards its goal of acquiring the coffee processor.

“Last year, we were told that we would be supported under the Agriculture Cluster Development Program (ACDP). Under the matching grant, we were asked to contribute 33% of the price of the machine, which amounts to 75 million shillings, and the government promised to put up the remaining 230 million shillings,” said Ssensaga.

He explained that the coop’s contribution will be made in form of materials and land.

“We already have the land and have bought the necessary building materials,” he said, adding that they are now waiting for the relevant district officials to come and assess the situation on the ground.

“In the meantime, internally we are mobilizing our members to ensure that they solicit for the required money to bring the machine to our cooperative.”

Simon Wairima, the Cooperative Secretary, revealed that some of the necessities have been acquired, including a Tax Identification Number, Pro forma invoices from the machine supplier, and developing the farmers’ register.

Last Thursday, the concerned district officials and the cooperative’s leadership had a planning meeting on how to proceed.

About Bwijanga Coffee Coop

Founded in 2019, Bwijanga Coffee Cooperative Society Limited already has over 1000 active members drawn from the entire Bwijanga sub-county.

The same cooperative introduced a saving scheme last year that requires every member to buy a minimum of two shares, each at Shs 30,000.

Bwijanga Coffee Cooperative Society Limited is one of four active coffee cooperatives in Masindi district, the others being Karujubu Coffee Cooperative Society Limited, Pakanyi Coffee Cooperative Society Limited, and Alimugonza Coffee Cooperative Society Limited.

Coffee growing has picked up significantly throughout Masindi district following the distribution of coffee seedlings to farmers by the Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) under Operation Wealth Creation (OWC).

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West Lango diocese opens SACCO, elects new leadership

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Philip Otim, the Apac District Commercial Officer, has been elected Chairperson for West Lango Multipurpose Cooperative Society Limited.

The nascent SACCO was opened last December by the Diocese of West Lango under its key objective of “Socio-economic and social transformation, financial management and control”.

In a meeting held at the diocesan headquarters on Wednesday, the SACCO members elected its full Board and the new leadership took office with immediate effect.

Adeline Elem, the Administrator of Uganda Registration Bureau, was elected the SACCO’s vice Chairperson, Rev James Moro Treasurer, and Sam Olili Egiri General Secretary.

Rev. James Okee, the West Lango Diocesan Secretary warned the new leaders against serving their own interests while executing their duties at the diocesan SACCO.

“Be honest and patriotic because we have a lot of confidence and trust in you. We shall always be there in case you need any strategic guidance so that you serve for the betterment and transformation of the West Lango SACCO. Christians have a lot of hope in you. Don’t let them down,” he said.

“Always keep the members informed about whatever you are doing because we must change the negative public opinion about the SACCO.” He said the diocesan management will do whatever is in its means to ensure the Sacco is moved forward.

The formation of West Lango Diocese SACCO follows a request from Maj. Gawera Fred, the Kole and Kwania Operation Wealth Creation Coordinator (OWC), said that the church is more faithful in handling funds.

Meanwhile, speaking at the function, West Lango diocesan Bishop Julius Caesar Nina revealed that plans are underway to register the Diocese as a Multi-purpose Cooperative Society Limited to mitigate poverty among the Christians.

“We are planning to register the Diocese as a Multi-Purpose Cooperative Society Ltd to mitigate poverty challenges in the diocese through Agriculture production, Animals and Fishery Projects; poultry, Bee Keeping, and Tourism.”

West Lango Diocesan SACCO covers the four districts of Apac, Kwania, Oyam and Kole. The Diocese has 86 parishes and 720 Sub-parishes in total. Christians from all over the diocese are supposed to come to its headquarters to withdraw their savings.

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Government injects Shs 1.6bn into Masindi SACCOs

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The government has given Shs1.6 bn to 54 SACCOs in Masindi district under the Presidential Cluster Initiative on Wealth and Job Creation (Emyooga).

The cash injection was made in fulfillment of a pledge made by State Minister for Microfinance, Harunah Kasolo Kyeyune while launching the Emyooga program in the Bunyoro sub-region last year.

At the time, the minister revealed that government would inject Shs 620m into each constituency to fund businesses under 19 selected clusters that include Boda-boda riders, salon owners, carpenters, taxi operators, welders, market vendors, Journalists, performing artists, mechanics among others.

Under the project, each enterprise group with a minimum of 30 members is supposed to receive up to Shs 30m in funding, which will be accessed as a revolving fund by members to boost their respective income-generating ventures, at interest rates as low as 5 percent annually.

Earlier this year, theCooperator reported that 54 SACCOs had formed out of over 1000 such groups. Groups of individuals involved in similar enterprises were tasked to form SACCOs through which they would receive financing under the scheme.

The SACCOs were formed from three counties including Masindi municipality, Bujenje, and Buruli, with 18 from each.

Funds inaccessible

While members of the different SACCOs report having started receiving the Emyooga funds on their accounts in late December, many are bitter over the fact that they are as yet unable to access it.

“We have no clear explanation as to why this is happening. There is an information gap as far as this matter is concerned,” the perplexed members complained.

When theCooperator contacted Moses Kalyegira the Masindi District Commercial Officer to ascertain the cause of the delay, he confirmed that 54 Emyooga SACCOs received the money but members cannot access it until their SACCOs have presented a certificate of registration.

He explained that the requirement to present the certificates, which was supposed to have been done prior to account opening, had been waived temporarily at the time, with the understanding that the SACCOs would acquire them before accessing funds.

“The SACCOs were given a go-ahead to open bank accounts without certificates of registration because the State minister for Microfinance, Harunah Kyeyune Kasolo, wrote to the banks requesting them to allow the SACCOs to open the accounts without them,” Kalyegira intimated.

However, he promised that the SACCOs’ managers would be able to access their money.

“We expect the Certificates of registration to be ready by next week such that the SACCOs can be able to transact their money with the banks. After receiving the certificates, we shall call all the SACCO leaders to come to pick them,” he said.

Training

Kalyegira noted that sensitization of prospective beneficiaries is currently underway, saying that a section of people think that the money is meant to be shared out or is just a token of appreciation for mobilization of votes.

“This money is a grant to the SACCOs, which will lend it out to at an interest of 8% per annum. People should use this money resourcefully because it can change their lives,” Kalyegira urged.

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Farmers shun Agoro irrigation scheme water

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Members of Agoro self-help irrigation cooperative society have stopped using water from the scheme blaming it for destroying their crops and causing their gardens to lose fertility.

Agoro Irrigation Scheme was rehabilitated between 2012- 2013 at a tune of Shs 27 billion by the ministry of water and environment, to boost agricultural productivity in the area. It is used by about 900 farmers, including 187 members of the society.

However, some members of the society, who mainly grow vegetables, told theCooperator that their crops were negatively impacted after the irrigation scheme was rehabilitated.

Corina Aloyo, a farmer and member of the Agoro cooperative, watered her vegetables using water from the scheme, said the water causes yellowing and stunting of vegetables.

“I planted 3 acres of eggplants, cabbages, and beans but they all died,” she said.

Aloyo believes the same water is to blame for the cooperative’s loss of 10 acres of vegetables worth Shs. 40m, last season, which many had blamed on a mysterious disease.

Denis Ocan, another member of the cooperative, said the water caused his garden to become very hard with white patches, as though the water was mixed with salt. The result, he said would be very low yields and loss of soil fertility.

“According to my own observation, this water for irrigation has a problem. First, if you spray it in the garden, even healthy crops start changing and withering. Secondly, the garden becomes very hard and whitish and loses fertility after a short time,” Ocan said

Ocan revealed although the problem has existed since 2013, the true impact of the scheme on yields has been masked because farmers kept abandoning the gardens that lost fertility, for fertile ones.

“This water for irrigation has been used for long. But, since we still have vast farmland here, farmers have abandoned several plots that have lost fertility,” he said

Francis Todwong another member of the cooperative, adds that the majority of their members have abandoned the irrigation scheme and the gardens around it, resorting instead to farming in wetlands and virgin land far away from it.

Brenda Acao, the Communications Officer for the northern region in the Ministry of Water and Environment, said the ministry is unaware of any issues with the water from Agoro irrigation scheme and has thus far received no report about the farmers’ concerns.

“As far as I know there is no problem with the water. But since the concern is from the users, we shall send a team of experts to do an assessment and understand the concerns of the users,” she said.

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SACCOs grappling with fraud, poor governance

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A significant number of Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCOs) in Uganda have suffered fraud and poor governance, a new report indicates.

The report was released by the Project for Financial Inclusion in Rural Areas (PROFIRA), an organization that monitors the performance of different SACCOS in Uganda.

A study by the organization found that 64 out of 453 SACCOs supported under the program had collapsed, while 312 are grappling with fraud and poor governance issues, among other challenges.

Collins Agaba, PROFIRA’s Program Manager, says that only 77 of the SACCOS supported by PROFIRA had no issues.

“141 have at least one problem, and the rest have suffered more than three problems,” he noted, adding:

“We found that the main challenges facing SACCOs include defaulting on payment of loans by members, low volume of business and poor financial practices.”

Agaba explained that whereas cooperatives are managed by elected committees, the leaders chosen often lack the knowledge required to manage them.

“They then end up depending on untrustworthy staff who embezzle members’ deposits.”

In response, he revealed, PROFIRA has embarked on empowering members of different SACCOs with the requisite financial skills.

Robert Odur, the Chairperson Board of Directors of Ikwera SACCO, agreed with the report’s findings.

He cited the case of Ikwera SACCO which was established in 2009 which has had its portfolio drop from over Shs 170m two years ago,to less than Shs 50m currently.

“169 million shillings was loaned out by Ikwera Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited in the financial year 2018/2019, but in the last financial year, we only gave out 42 million shillings as loans. Our clients are not able to repay the money in time and loan recovery is a challenge,” he said in an interview.

Kwania District Commercial Officer, Patrick Bura expressed concern about the rate at which SACCOs in the district are collapsing, saying it could lead to an increase in poverty rates among the population if not urgently dealt with.

” There is an urgent need to rejuvenate the failed SACCOs and equip the SACCO leaders with management skills or else many people will suffer and even lose their assets in search of the financial services that SACCOs are meant to offer.”

Joyce Acio, a resident of Aduku town council notes, people are likely to run to money lenders whom she says are worse than banks given their exorbitant interest rates.

She argues that having SACCO members manage them introduces a conflict of interest, thereby negatively impacting their performance.

“When the SACCO staff are also members, they start taking loans and bringing them back without interest because no one is supervising them,” she said.

Acio advises all Saccos to establish Internal Audit Committees whose task should be to regularly audit the financial institutions to avoid embezzlement.

She also called on District Commercial Officers to ensure capacity building for the SACCO leaders as one measure to minimize the chances of their collapse.

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Lango Cooperative Union in battle to recover lost assets

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The leadership of Lango Cooperative Union is struggling to repossess its prime assets that were lost to private individuals.

Formed in 1952 to promote cotton growing in the greater Lango sub-region, it collapsed in the 1980s due to fluctuation of cotton prices and defaulting on loans taken from microfinance institutions by the Union’s then Board of directors

The government, a few years ago, offered to compensate the Union for the losses, and records at the Ministry of Finance indicate that at the beginning of this financial year, the government paid out Shs 2 bn under Lango War Claimants, out of a total debt of Shs 17 bn it owes the union.

However, Maxwell Akora, the Lango Cooperative Union Vice Chairperson, who doubles as Maruzi County MP, says that while the Union needs to recover all its assets in order to expand its projects, some people occupying the properties are reluctant to return them to the Union.

“We have secured our land assets located in Angayiki Village in Chawente Sub County, Kwania. The land, measuring about 1,165 hectares, is equivalent to 9 square kilometers. It had been previously claimed by the Microfinance Support Centre for sale to recover a debt of Shs 1.46 billion,” he said, adding:

“We have now found means of settling that debt and so we have secured the land. We are waiting to take possession from the court bailiff who has been evicting people from the land,” he said.

Some of the Union’s properties still in private hands include three separate pieces of land and one big plot under rehabilitation, an Administration block, and stores at plot 16, Station road in Lira City, among others.

Akora says while some of these assets were sold off by commercial banks that had attached them as after the Union failed to pay back loans, some were taken over by unscrupulous people occupying them as encroachers.

According to Akora, the Union is in the process of reassembling its maize and soya bean processing plants and factories, which would require it to own sufficient land, preferably in locations they formerly occupied.

Agnes Abote, a member of Akia Primary Society is happy with the move to repossess the Union’s assets and hopes it can help settle the rampant cases of land conflicts involving different primary societies.

“The Union’s leadership should be transparent and accountable. The Union’s record ended on a twist, but now that it has started recovering its assets, I believe this will benefit the primary societies as well as the farmers at the grassroots,” Abote said in an interview.

Tom Odoc, a farmer and resident of Acaba Sub County in Oyam district, advised the Union leadership to sell or lease out its land to investors as a potential source of revenue.

“The Angayiki land had been redundant for too long,” he argued. “The Union’s leadership should auction the land to an investor in order to get the money that may be divided to the different primary societies, facilitate the Union’s activities, or be loaned out to farmers.”

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Farmers in Northern Uganda to embark on growing Rosemary

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Hundreds of farmers in Acoli and Lango sub regions have received training on Rosemary growing from Special Anointing Oil, SAO-Uganda, an NGO that promotes growth of the popular herb around the country.

Rosemary is a perennial evergreen herb with blue flowers and minty, piney aroma. Native to the Mediterranean, it is now naturalised in East Africa.

In August this year, SAO-Uganda started training farmers interested in growing Rosemary in Lango sub-region.

Peter Otim, a farmer in Atuku town Council in Kwania district, is among the farmers who received training in growing the medicinal plant.

Otim told theCooperator that about at least 26 farmers in his area underwent the training, and more are showing interest in joining.

“I took interest in the plant because I learned about its numerous medicinal benefits. Secondly, the plant is drought-, pest- and disease-resistant,” he said.

Otim, who confessed that he first heard about Rosemary during the training, plans to dedicate two acres of land to growing the herb because he is convinced that he will get good returns from the venture.

“Besides, the company that trained us will buy the harvest, so I won’t have to worry about marketing it,” he added.

Pascal Osire, the Northern Uganda Regional Coordinator SAO-Uganda observes that the company trained farmers in all districts in Lango and Acoli sub-regions, except Amolatar, Dokolo and Amuru districts. The company expects to recruit 36 farmers per district after the training.

“Planting of the crop will start next season. Right now, we are training farmers and preparing their mindset. Next month we will be able to know how many people per village are willing to do the Rosemary growing,” Osire said.

“We want to recruit community investors who will be in charge of our projects in each district, then ambassadors at the parish level, for effective communication, reporting and quick response when a farmer needs assistance,” he added.

The agreement

Osire said the company is drafting a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to be signed by the farmers on acquisition of seedlings and marketing.

Under the proposed MoU, the company would supply farmers with seedlings on credit, which would then be paid for by the farmers in two instalments.

Osire said a farmer requires 6,000 seedlings of Rosemary to cover an acre of garden, which will be sold to them at Shs 1000 each. Other dealers in Rosemary seedlings, he says, sell each seedling at Shs 5,000.

“This implies that if a farmer wants to plant an acre, they will need Shs 6m. But we are giving the seedlings on credit because most of our farmers can’t raise Shs 6m at once,” he said.

“This will motivate the farmers take care of the crop well, knowing that they have a debt to pay,” Osire said.

Harvesting and marketing

Osire said the first harvest of Rosemary is done after 6-7 months, with a minimum yield of 1500 kilograms per acre, which is then sold at Shs 5000 per kilogram.

“That means a farmer will get Shs 7.5 million in the first harvest, and the same amount after subsequent harvests that will be done after every four months, for five years,” Osire said.

“However, when one does value addition, by for instance drying the Rosemary, they get between Shs 11-12m per harvest,” he said.

Osire noted farmers’ concerns over marketability of the product, but assured them that under the proposed MoU to be signed with the farmers, SAO-Uganda would commit to buying all the their Rosemary harvests.

Why Rosemary?

According to Osire, the company chose the Rosemary project after researching on and learning of its numerous health benefits.

“We found that it [Rosemary] heals many diseases. So, we want farmers to grow it and we make herbal medicine out of them. We can make 40 products out of Rosemary,” he said.

In addition to being used to treat headaches, poor circulation, depression, muscle cramps, to detoxify and boost the immune system, Rosemary is also used in the kitchen for food seasoning.

Osire said the company recently installed a machine for processing Rosemary oil in Kyengera.

“When we start using that machine, we will need about 10 tonnes of Rosemary every day,” he said.

Buy your copy of thecooperator magazine from one of our country- wide vending points or an e-copy on emag.thecooperator.news

The post Farmers in Northern Uganda to embark on growing Rosemary appeared first on The Cooperator News.

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