Women in agribusiness demand 30% of supply deals to government

Women under their body African Women in Agribusiness Network (AWAN) have called for a 30% allocation of supply deals to government.

The women claim they are failing to supply government due to the lack of confidence in the procurement process.

Through their chairperson, Joyce Atuhaire they say on top of lack of confidence, information, the procurement processes is still lacking which has kept many of them lagging in a vicious cycle of poverty yet they have the potential to serve.

“We need that 30% emphasised and implemented among women enterprises doing procurement with government

Women holding some of their products and the branding materials after the training.

This will encourage more women to be involved in business and we shall be able to achieve the status of economy that Uganda needs, given the fact that they hold the biggest percentage, “she said.

She said  many women lack information and knowledge on how to prepare a bid in addition to lack of enough capital and access to finance to supply large volumes noting that if government can bring such trainings down, it would help them.

“Some of them are not even aware that there are stimulus packages for them, requiring continuous encouragement to access finance.

We also need some incentives for woman to supply at a certain price so that there is reduced taxes to be able to tap into opportunities, “she said

According to Atuhaire, AWAN is a network of women enterprises that are specifically in Agri-business and different value chain at different levels.

“We decided to put up this network because we wanted women with the same interests and goals in the same room to discuss issues concerning business and also tap into the available opportunities, in procurement, in finance and market, “she added.

Available statistics indicate that only about 10% of the women are supplying to government with the rest being men yet women contribute the biggest percentage.

“They are failing to supply government not because they don’t have volumes but because they are either not ready or do not have enough capital and it’s the reason for the training.

Mariam Baduka a senior officer procurement and capacity building at PPDA taking women through how to make bids.

As AWAN, we want women to be able to learn and also access available opportunities because Private Sector Foundation Uganda (PSFU) has opportunities for employment and also partners with Public Procurement & Disposal of Public Assets Authority  (PPDA) to give the required information, “she said

During the training, she said they also worked with Stanbic Bank to make sure that their women are bankable such that after getting the information about procurement, they can get finances to finance their LPOs.

Currently, she said they are sensitising members to formalise their businesses such that they can qualify to supply government since many women still fear banks and don’t believe in themselves.

She implored government and development agencies to consider putting up a desk specifically attending to women where they can go and ask for information concerning bids.

Job Kija, the governance expert with PSFU said the training was targeting about 1000 women in electronic governance procurement which is an online platform that conducts public procumbent.

“What we are doing is to try and help the private sector to understand how to navigate the system to be able to submit their bids and be able to win government tenders. This is a strategic intervention and we are reaching out to organized groups like AWAN,” he said.

He implored the business community to organise themselves and seek training.

Women attending the training in E-Governance at the Ministry of Finance.

Kijja attributed the low uptake of e-governance, to the high costs on the internet although it has the potentials to improve efficiency in government service delivery.

Mariam Baduka, a senior officer procurement and capacity building at PPDA said women have the potential to participant in government procurement however she urged them to ask for more training.

“Women must change their mind and attitude, they can also tap into our online training on PPDA so that they can tap into the budget allocation on procurement, “he said.