Museveni meets Greater Mubende, Kibaale maize farmers

AGRICULTURE  

MUBENDE - President Yoweri Museveni has advised maize farmers in the country to endeavor and improve the quality of maize so as to be able to sell their produce at regional and global markets. 

"Maize that is not consumed at home should be made into floor and sold to the markets. We must check that we use the right equipment and produce good quality maize. Globally, maize has a market of US$37 billion. Egypt demands 19.2 million tonnes of maize and if we do well, we can make a deal with them and export it," he said.

The President was on Friday addressing representatives of farmers from the districts of Kibaale, Kagadi, Mubende, Mityana, Kassanda, and Kyankwanzi at Mubende State Lodge in Central Region.

Museveni assured the farmers that the government is going to supply them fertilizers to help them improve the quality and the yield of maize. He, therefore, urged farmers to consider using maize for making other products such as livestock feeds and starch that can be used in pharmaceutical companies as opposed to only getting posho from the crop.

"We spend over US$100 million to import by-products materials from maize. We were getting animal feeds from Kenya, Brazil; but now that you have woken up, this must change," he said.

The President advised maize farmers to ensure that they have the knowledge and proper storage facilities for maize to ensure that their produce is free from afflatoxins that affect the quality of maize and are also hazardous to people's health.  

He further advised maize farmers to always use clean tents to dry their produce as opposed to simply spreading it on the mere ground.

Regarding the issue of quality pesticides and seeds, Museveni advised farmers to use trustworthy suppliers to avoid getting fake products that will lead to losses.

Some of the farmers at the event

The President agreed with the farmers on the essence of starting farmers' Savings and Credit Cooperative Organizations (SACCOs) at parish, sub-county and county levels in the country to shield farmers from acquiring loans from money lenders who charge very high lending interests that farmers fail to pay.

Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Minister, Vincent Sempijja, advised the farmers to secure low interest loans and purchase good quality processing maize equipment to ensure that they produce high-quality maize products.

The Minister revealed that the government would soon set up a maize project that would involve purchasing community maize dryers and planters to ensure all maize farmers are able to access those facilities easily.

Later, while on radio and TV talk show transmitted live from Mubende State Lodge, Museveni emphasized the need for Africans to enlarge their market base to be able to compete with big economies like that of the United States and China.

He strongly advised maize farmers to desist from harvesting maize before it is fully grown. He noted that harvesting premature maize by money-hungry farmers is unethical and contributes to poor quality maize products. He said the government would enact new laws to fight this negative behaviour.

The President, however, congratulated the farmers of Mubende for waking up and participating in commercial agriculture adding that they should not fear the challenges they face but rather come together to find solutions and make themselves and Uganda prosper.