Denmark targets to grow farmers' incomes by sh370b

By David Ssempijja

Local farmers are set to reap big from agriculture as the Danish government continues to pledge more support towards commercialisation of the sector, with the current prediction that the funding initiatives will grow beneficiaries’ incomes by sh370b by end of next year.
 
According to the country’s Ambassador to Uganda, Dan E. Frederiksen, the massive support towards agriculture is occasioned by the fact that more people are increasingly relying on the sector for food security and household incomes.
 
Denmark’s support towards agriculture is channeled through the aBi Trust, established by the Governments of Uganda and Denmark, also with participation from the European Union, Belgium, Sweden, USAID and the Netherlands.
 
“By the end of 2014, aBi’s support will have helped farmers earn an extra sh370b of income. And also importantly, along the way the agribusinesses and financial institutions that aBi is partnering with will have grown and improved their bottom lines,” he revealed.
 
Frederiksen was speaking at a dinner during which different East African organisations and companies were given awards in recognition of their roles in boosting commercial agriculture, the event was part of annual East African Agribusiness Investment Summit held at Serena Hotel.
 
He noted that over the last three years, through the partnerships the aBi Trust has with banks, industry and producer organisations, supported more than 350,000 farm families to improve their productivity and production especially through facilitating provision of 75,000 loans to agribusinesses
 
“Agriculture is still the key to development in the East African economies. In Uganda agriculture still employs 70% of the total labour force and accounts for more than 50% of exports earnings, a call for ore support,” he said.
 
aBi works to improve the competitiveness of Uganda’s agricultural and agro-processing sectors. This is done by supporting famers, small and medium sized businesses, processors and banks, along priority value chains; each to become better and stronger at playing their part.
 
Organisations and firms across the East African region scooped awards courtesy of Focus on East Africa, a body that fosters the region’s trade, investments and partnerships as well as the summit organiser
 
Those that scooped awards include; Agro-Genetics Technologies, Rwenzori Commodities, National Union of Coffee Agribusinesses and Farm Enterprises (NUCAFE) Agri-Vie Fund, Equator Seeds, Golden Bee Ltd, Root Capital, African Seed Investment Fund, Total Land Care-Viphya Project among others.