Africa-Press – Uganda. Banana farmers in Rakai District have called on the government to support them financially to add value to their produce.
The farmers say in a bid to avoid making losses as a result of harvesting more than the consumers can take, they have resorted to making flour out of the leftover bananas, locally known as matooke.
They, however, say they lack the equipment to help in the processing of the flour.
Currently, the farmers use knives to peel the bananas, cut them into three to four pieces, which are later spread out to dry under the sun for about a week. The matooke is then taken to a maize milling machine which grinds it to produce flour. A kilogramme of dry matooke is ground at Shs200.
The farmers say they need racks and modern grinding machines in order to take the business to another level.
Mr Mustafa Ssentalo, a resident of Lwembajjo Cell in Ddyango Town Council, says no government official has offered them any kind of support.
“The only people we received here came from Microfinance Support Centre (MSC). They came after reading our story in the Daily Monitor explaining the little initiative the farmers had started. They promised to come back and guide us on how we can get financial support, but they have not shown up again,” he says.
Mr Wilber Ndawula, a farmer in Buyamba Village, Ddwaniro Sub-county in Rakai District, says the government should also repair the road network in the area.
“We have a huge market for our matooke and other produce but we need good roads to ease transportation of the produce,” he says.
However, Mr Thaddeus Birimuye, a community extension facilitator under the MSC, says the farmers can only be supported financially if they form groups.
“Yes, it is true we visited some of those farmers in the sub-counties of Kyarurangira and Ddyango but we found them operating individually hence making it difficult for us to render our support to them,” he says.
He adds: “We are ready to help such people who have shown interest in improving their household incomes, especially through such schemes. Let them make groups of 30 people and above then we shall intervene and extend the necessary support.”
This is not the first time the farmers are asking for the government’s help. In 2020, the farmers petitioned the government to support them in processing their bananas into flour as a way to avoid making losses.
Banana farming
According to Ministry of Agriculture, more than seven million Ugandans depend on bananas as their staple food.
The country produces about 10 million tonnes of matooke annually, which is 30 percent of the world production.
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