Minister of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries, Mr Vincent Ssempijja
Government has partnered with Delight Uganda Limited (DUL) to establish a Shs30 billion fruit processing plant in Nwoya district, Northern Uganda.
According to the Minister of Agriculture Animal
Industry and Fisheries, Mr Vincent Ssempijja, the funds will facilitate
the private sector to increase productivity and competitiveness within
the agricultural sector.
“This will increase incomes through
increasing production and productivity for both households and the
economy and promote value addition of agricultural products,” Mr
Ssempijja said on Tuesday in Kampala.
Speaking at the signing of
the partnership, he noted that Shs16 billion has already been secured
in this year’s budget. Of this, National Agriculture Advisory Services
(NAADS) has provided Shs6 billion while government through Uganda
Development Cooperation has offered Shs10 billion.
He noted that the balance will be provided in the subsequent budgets.
Nuclear farming model
In
addition, the production plant will promote the nuclear farming model-
which will in turn boost proper planning and marketing of agricultural
produce and promotion of the agricultural value chain.
Ms Julian
Adyeri Omalla, the chief executive officer of DUL, said her dream of
setting up a factory which started in 1996 requires a lot of cooperation
from the private and public sectors.
“Something that started as a
family project has expanded and is benefiting the community of Northern
Uganda which now boasts of employment for the informal sector,” Ms
Adyeri said.
Partnerships
She added that the
collaboration brings on board experts to train informal small holder
farmers on how to add value to their products.
Mr Charles Ocici, the
executive director of Enterprise Uganda, emphasized the need to empower
farmers with business knowledge and skills if the government is to
reduce poverty through modernising agriculture.
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