Africa-Press – Uganda. Sugarcane growers in Busoga Sub-region have decried the lack of transport for their raw cane to Atiak Sugar Factory in Northern Uganda.
The farmers under the Greater Busoga Sugarcane Farmers’ Union (GBSGU) in December 2020 signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Atiak Sugar Factory to supply 1,500 tonnes of cane every day for six months.
Under the arrangement, the government pledged to intervene by subsidising the transport costs and also avail fueled trucks to ferry the cane.
Accordingly, on January 11, 2021, the Bishop of Busoga Diocese Paul Moses Naimanhye flagged off the first consignment of 50 sugarcane trucks.
However, Mr Godfrey Biriwali, the GBSGU chairperson, says: “We have surplus cane but the vehicles with capacity to carry it to Atiak are inadequate. We need trailers that can carry 20 tonnes and above to reduce fuel expenses.”
“If you use small vehicles which carry 10 tonnes, you get Shs1.2m with about Shs800,000 spent on fuel, this doesn’t make business sense,’’ he said by telephone on Wednesday.
Mr Biriwali said their sugarcane is drying up in gardens because of transport challenges.“We order the big truck from companies but sometimes the companies send their vehicles to South Sudan to deliver food ,’’ he explained.
“Government pledged to finance the transportation of our cane to Atiak, but because of bureaucracy in releasing the funds, the President ordered the proprietor of Atiak Sugar Factory to use her money,’’ he said.
According to Mr Biriwali, a farmer who sells cane to Busoga factory makes a profit of Shs30,000 per tonne compared to Shs50,000 made by one who sells to Atiak Sugar Factory because transport is free-of-charge.
Other issue
Mr Godfrey Naitema, the chairperson of Busoga Sugarcane Outgrowers Association (BUSGA), says the existing factories in Busoga Sub-region should increase their crushing capacity to reduce the challenge farmers face while looking for markets.
“We have many factories in Busoga that can consume our cane, but the only challenge is that they have low-crushing capacity; but if such companies expand, the farmers can make more profits from the cane than trekking long distances looking for markets,’’ he said.
Atiak Sugar Factory started production in July 2020, with a capacity to crush 1,650 tonnes of raw cane every 24 hours, producing 66,000 tonnes of processed sugar annually; but despite such a trend, the Northern region has endured a shortage of cane.
The factory is a joint venture between the government and Ms Amina Moghe Hersi, under Haryal Investment Holdings Limited.
Background
In May 2018, the government of Uganda, through the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), took a 10.1 per cent ownership worth Shs20b and in July 2018, UDC invested another Shs45b, raising its stake in the factory to 32 per cent
