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Entrepreneurs in the districts of the western region dealing in food value addition have been asked by the government to certify and register their businesses through the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) and the Uganda Registration Services Bureau (URSB) if they are to get wider markets for their products.

This was during a two-day training organised by the Micro Finance Support Centre to equip entrepreneurs under the Presidential Initiative on Wealth and Job Creation (Emyooga) on how they can standardise their products for international markets and register their businesses for the avoidance of duplication and be able to pay taxes for the country's development.

The Emyooga groups in value addition included those from Kigezi, Ankole and Rwenzori sub-regions met at Oxford Inn Hotel on Thursday and Friday are dealing in bread making, honey packaging, winemaking, liquid soap, body jelly and yoghurt in Mbarara city.

“What has made Ugandans lag behind in development and stuck in poverty is that the biggest percentage sell their food products without adding value for better prices. We love quick money and end up being cheated. Can you imagine what is in a bottle of mineral water? But you cannot compare its price with the price of a jerrycan of water,” said Col. James Mwesigye, the Mbarara city resident city commissioner.

He added that the vision for the National Resistance Movement has always been the social-economic transformation of 68% of Uganda’s households from subsistence to the money economy and market-oriented production.

“And this cannot be achieved when we are still selling a litre of milk at sh500 and when it is taken by a foreigner, it is processed and comes back as yoghurt at a high price about sh3000,” said Mwesigye.

“Having such trainings to enlighten them on how they can acquire the quality mark from UNBS, how they can formalise their businesses with URSB and later be tax complaint is the way to go because they cannot remain producing products for their village mates, they have to think outside the box and grow their businesses,” he added.

Joseph Tukamushaba told entrepreneurs that there is nothing that can stop their products from going to East African countries when the standards are certified by the government.

“Whenever these products like yoghurt, go to the market and a client consumes it, we don’t want to hear that it has caused health issues, or a body jerry has changed someone's body colour, we want them tested and certified not only for domestic but for international markets,” Tukamushaba said.

Bonny Ottokoma, certification officer at UNBS was among the facilitators and told entrepreneurs that it is very risky and illegal to start producing and selling products on the market without first submitting samples for testing and approval to secure the quality mark.

Ottokoma said their role is to ensure consumer protection and trade facilitation, enterprise competitiveness and motivation for certification.

“We have had a challenge of mushrooming products on the market and even some tend to misuse our quality mark yet they have never submitted their samples. We advise you to ensure that all your products have our quality mark of UNBS. This will make your products go to all East African countries,” said Ottokoma.

Brian Eliano, an officer from URSB said, “By registering your trade mark, product and logos, bars any other person from duplicating the same product and protects you from fake products on the market.”

“You might be having good products on the market for some good time but when you are not registered with us, and another person comes to register the same trade mark, he who registers first is the owner of the product. Therefore as entrepreneurs, you need to come and formalise your products and businesses,” Eliano

Nicholas Kiiza from Isingiro North produce SACCOS commended the government for the efforts put into enlightening them about certification and registration of their products but, “We ask the government to handle us with a soft hand as far as standardising our products and paying taxes is concerned.”

Kiiza said that they are still producing on a small scale where some of the entrepreneurs are not yet able to meet the costs involved in certifying and formalising their products and businesses.