East African farmers urged to produce more

Nov 21, 2010

THE East African region should take advantage of the increasing demand for food on the African continent to produce more so as to increase household incomes.

By Prossy Nandudu

THE East African region should take advantage of the increasing demand for food on the African continent to produce more so as to increase household incomes.

This was stated by Dr. Chris Muyunda from the Alliance for Commodity Trade in Eastern and Southern Africa (ACTESA), a specialised COMESA programme which aims at developing effective regional markets for staple food.

Muyunda was addressing a stakeholders meeting on linking small farmers to local and regional markets for staple foods organized by CTA Brussels, at Imperial Resort Beach Hotel, Entebbe.

He said getting farmers in groups is the only way they can be assisted to produce quality for the market.

The chairman of the East African Farmers Federation Philip Kiriro told the meeting that farmers still face problems in accessing high quality seeds, unfavourable external markets and limited access to technology and funding.

Kiriro said East Africa had the potential to ensure that there is food security on the African continent.

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