By Darious Magara

THE people of Kabale and Kisoro have been asked to grow tea as a cash crop to fight poverty in the districts. The Minister of Finance, Dr. Ezra Suruma, said his ministry, that of agriculture and the National Planning Authority would support the plan.

Suruma, in an interview last week at the White Horse Inn Kabale, said Government would set up a tea factory in Kabale to which the local tea growers would supply their leaves.

He revealed that scientific tests carried out on the soil from the area by Makerere University department of soil science showed that it was suitable for tea.
“Kabale and Kisoro tea will be of a high grade because of the altitude and rainfall which are suitable for the crop that will fetch a premium price for the farmer,” he said

Suruma advised the Bakiga to supplement sorghum growing with tea because income generated from tea doubles that of sorghum.

The Government will sell seedlings to the farmers at a subsidised price.
Each farmer needs to establish tea farms on at least two acres. Suruma said that the farmers would be funded through savings schemes to enable them hire land and fight the problem of land shortage and fragmentation in the area.