Farmers breach Nile deal

Sep 21, 2003

OVER 100 tonnes of epuripur sorghum, a raw material used by Nile Breweries in the making of its Eagle beer brand, has been bought up by unknown produce dealers,

OVER 100 tonnes of epuripur sorghum, a raw material used by Nile Breweries in the making of its Eagle beer brand, has been bought up by unknown produce dealers, reports By Richard Otim in Soroti.

Charles Aben, the district National Agricultural Advisory Services coordinator, said last week the farmers had sold the sorghum to the dealers contrary to what had been agreed with Nile Breweries.

He said a group of the dealers suspected to be from Sudan had gone to Serere where a big portion of epuripur seeds had been distributed. They convinced the farmers to sell after offering a price higher than sh300 a kilogramme NBL had set.

“These scavengers came in and lured the farmers to sell out the sorghum that we have found out to be more than 100 tonnes. We are told they could be from Sudan where the crop is on high demand," Aben said.

According to the NBL agreement with Soroti farmers, any harvest of the crop would be sold only to the company. Aben said it was not proper for the farmers to go against what they had agreed on, because this would block opportunities for farmers from other parts of the district.

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