ASARECA ED hosts Ugandan Rural farmers in Entebbe

BY ILAKUT BEN MOSES

ENTEBBE: ASARECA Executive Director, Dr. Enock Warinda received leaders of a farmer group in Eastern Uganda on Monday January 29, 2024 at ASARECA Secretariat offices in Entebbe, Uganda. 

Flanked by his programme staff, Dr. Warinda told the leaders from Kaboloi Farmers, Millers, and Processors Association, an independent farmers’ organisation located in Kaboloi Village in Pallisa District that farmers and the private sector are at the heart of ASARECA work.

Apart from acting as a collective group of farmers, the Association, which boasts of 200 registered members, buys rice, cassava and maize from farmers, mills them and sells processed grain in urban markets in Uganda.

The group Chairman, Mr. Moses Olupot, informed the Executive Director, that the Association is interested in working with ASARECA to address key challenges such as post-harvest handling and lack of appropriate machinery. He also noted that the Group desires to take advantages of opportunities brokered by ASARECA such as access to scientific innovations and market linkages.

Following detailed discussions, ASARECA and the leaders agreed to explore partnership in key areas including:

• Syndication with National Agricultural Research and Extension Institutions to access improved varieties and associated agronomic packages
• Participation in benchmarking and peer learning initiatives in Eastern and central Africa
• Capacity strengthening in post-harvest handling, aflatoxin control, and in undertaking Uganda National Bureau of Standards certification.
• Financial intermediation for infrastructure acquisition
• Backstopping to increase the visibility of the Association.

Following the meeting, the group was immediately added to two key ASARECA regional platforms—the ASARECA Private Sector Platform, and the ASARECA Farmers Forum.