Sh7b to build maize stores

Jan 03, 2010

The Government will disburse a total of sh7b for the construction of maize stores.

By Frederick Kiwanuka

The Government will disburse a total of sh7b for the construction of maize stores.

The stores will be constructed by the Micro-Finance Centre (MSC).

The MSC chairperson, Specioza Kazibwe, said stores of 1,000 cubic tonnes each will be constructed in various parts of the
country.

“Storage of maize is a very big problem. Estimates show that we shall need about sh7b,” Kazibwe said while addressing members of Nakaseke Maize Initiative on Saturday.

The initiative, whose membership consists of over 5,000 commercial farmers, is a joint venture between Gen. Salim Saleh and Nakaseke MPs to boost food security and household incomes through the commercialisation of maize growing.

The members expect to produce a total of about 6,000 tonnes of maize worth sh300m this season, according to Livingstone Wamala, the chairperson of the farmers’ association.

Wamala also said they would require sh1.3b to clear about 1,000 acres of land, sh400 to buy 120 tonnes of seeds for the next season and sh300m for crop finance.

Kazibwe said the Micro-Finance Support Centre would provide the required sh2b provided the members form an Area Co-operative Enterprise through which the money can be disbursed.

She urged the members to transform their association into a co-operative, arguing that it would give them more protection because it has binding laws.

Kazibwe said there was a new arrangement by MSC to start lending money directly to farmers through Area Co-operative Enterprises instead of SACCOs.

“We want agricultural funds to reach the grass root farmer. That linkage has been lacking. All the money has been put in SACCOs in Kampala.”

Kazibwe also said they had instituted an affirmative programme for women whereby there will be a special SACCO for women in each sub-county.

She noted that although the women formed 80% of SACCO membership, their share of the loan portfolio is usually less than 20%.

The co-coordinator of Nakaseke Maize Initiative, Kyofa Kabuye, urged the farmers to be patient when marketing their maize so as to avoid being exploited by middlemen who offer low prices at a time of over-supply.

Salim Saleh pledged to provide a market for the maize through Namunkekeera Agro Processing Industry Limited, a joint venture between him and a Chinese. He pledged to buy all the produce at a price not lower than sh500 per kilogramme.

Saleh, who is the major partner in Nakaseke Maize Initiative, has leased out 2,000 acres of his land free of charge to landless farmers in Semuto and Kapeeka, for commercial cultivation.

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