Teso targeted for shea butter project

Oct 07, 2020

Ogwang also said the Government has approved shea butter industrial development projects in the Kaberamaido, Soroti, Amuria and Katakwi districts.

TESO- The Ministry of Science, Information and Technology has earmarked Teso sub-region to become part of the shea butter production targeted belt.

The senior science officer from the ministry, Samuel Baker Ogwang, while meeting stakeholders in Kaberamaido said the Government has already seen the benefits of promoting the producation of shea butter.

He said the ministry had already partnered with the trade and agriculture ministries as well as Uganda Export Promotion Board to promote the growing shea trees in the region.

Other partners are Uganda Small Scale Industries, Uganda Planning Authorities, Association of Universities, local governments, Uganda Revenue Authority, Uganda Investment Authority and some non-governmental organisations.

Ogwang said they will set up 10 laboratories and 11 facilities for science and technology innovation in West Nile, Acholi, Lango and Teso sub-regions and a centralised research and a development facility in one of the universities in the shea butter belt.

Ogwang also said the Government has approved shea butter industrial development projects in the Kaberamaido, Soroti, Amuria and Katakwi districts.

The district forest officer for Kaberamaido, Isaac Olupot, said there was need to safeguard the shea trees.

"Due to ignorance, some people were already cutting down the shea nut trees to burn their wood into charcoal," he said.

Uganda Export Promotions Board has set a target of the production of at least 200,000 to 500,000 tonnes of shea nuts by 2022 and this can be achieved only if shea nut trees are conserved.

Michael Ejupu, a procurement officer in Kaberamaido, said the agriculture ministry should work towards having fast-maturing shea nut trees.

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});