Govt starts sh20bn tea project in Kabale, Kisoro

Nov 17, 2012

The government has started a tea-growing project estimated at sh20 billion in the western districts of Kabale and Kisoro.

Isaac Nuwagaba in Kabale
                                             
The Ugandan government, through its agriculture ministry, has started a tea-growing project estimated at sh20 billion in the western districts of Kabale and Kisoro.

The development came to light during a meeting between tea farmers and district leadership at Little Ritz hall in Kabale municipality a day back.

At the meet, James Musinguzi Garuga, the proprietor of Kigezi Highland Tea which is the lead agency of the project, said that either district will be given 22 million tea seedlings and a sh2m grant to every farmer with an acre of tea.

The project will also potentially boost a tea factory that is being constructed in Kitumba, Kabale municipality, Garuga said.

 When completed, the presence of the tea factory will eliminate the challenge of having to transport tea leaves to Kanungu factories.

The billions-worth scheme will create more employment opportunities to a projected over ten thousand people in the district, loosely translating into every household earning about sh350,000 every month.

Garuga said four factories would be built in the sub-counties of Kamwezi, Ndorwa, Rubanda, and Kabale municipalities in the eight years ahead.

Mary Bebwajuba, the Kabale district vice-chairperson called on the people in the district to grow more tea if they are to benefit from the project.

At the same time, she condemned men who are lax towards work and instead resort to alcoholism, thus leaving the entire burden of work to the women. This, she observed, remains a massive challenge in district households.

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