By Joshua Kato
The 2024 Best Farmers competition that was launched Friday, April 2024, will focus on promoting value addition and co-operative societies.
For the first time, the competition will run under the theme of value addition.
According to the sponsors, the theme is intended to improve the quality of the winners and advance the agricultural sector.
Value addition focuses on production or manufacturing processes, marketing or services that increase the selling value of primary agricultural products.
“Over the years thanks to Vision Group’s media campaign, production on farms has increased endless campaigns,” Vision Group’s Editor in Chief, Barbara Kaija, said.
However, farmers still face challenges with post-harvest handling, low-value addition and unstable market prices. And yet, value addition improves farmer’s earnings by over 40%.
In this year’s competition, all winners from the 10 sub-regions must have value addition to their products at the farm.
The 10 sub-regions that will be considered include Central (Buganda, Kampala/ Wakiso/Mukono), East (Busoga), Mid-East (Bukedi/Elgon), North East (Teso/Karamoja), West (Toro/ Rwenzori/Bunyoro), South-West (Ankole/Kigezi), North (Acholi), Mid-North (Lango) and West Nile (Arua, Nebbi, Zombo).
According to the sponsors, promoting value addition is intended to resolve three challenges arising from increased farm production, such as poor storage or lack of storage, poor markets or lack of markets and low prices.
In February and March, a kilogramme of maize grain averaged sh400 in some districts such as Kakumiro, Mubende and Kasanda.
On the other hand, farmers who add value to their maize get a high return because they can store their produce longer until market prices stabilise.
To avoid being confused with large agro-processing firms across different value chains, the sponsors emphasise that the target for the competition is farm-based innovations.
That is, a profiled farmer gets directly involved in the growing, processing, branding, and marketing of their produce.
“The processing facilities may be at the farm, or elsewhere as long as the farmer uses them,” Kaija said.
The stories will encourage other farmers to stop selling raw products, invest in proper storage, add value, brand, etc.
The competition is sponsored by the Embassy of the Netherlands, dfcu Bank, KLM Airlines and Koudjis Nutrition BV.
