By Prossy Nandudu
Government has embarked on the profitability and global market analysis for Hass avocado, Cashew nuts and Macadamia before promoting mass production.
“As the government, we are first carrying out profitability analysis before advising the population to grow massively. In the analysis, we are examining the global market of those products, market stability, comparing costs of production and the profits before we can advise the population better,” said Minister of State for Agriculture, Fred Bwino Kyakulaga.
He said this while briefing the media about interventions by the ministry in the agriculture sector ahead of celebrations to mark Uganda’s Independence Day celebrations next week.
Bwino explained that through market analysis, the government can guide better just as is done for crops like coffee, oil from the Oil Palms in Kalangala among others.
“We know the market size of coffee which is about $46 billion globally and is bound to increase, while for oil palm is about $77 billion because we have already studied the market and know that it will remain stable for the next 20 years and have advised farmers on mass production because they cannot go wrong with the market,” Bwino added.
The three are some of the new commercial agriculture enterprises that were introduced to the public by the National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS) last year.
Estimates from the NAADS baseline survey indicate that although the crops are profitable, their profitability depends on the number of trees grown, the quality of the seedlings and tree management.
The cost of establishing and managing 1 acre of Hass avocado costs about sh3,740,000; the survey adds in the first one to three years a farmer can harvest fruits worth sh8,300,000, making a profit of sh4,560,000.
Potential markets include Asia, UAE, Qatar and China as well as Italy.
In Dubai, Hass fruits fetch about $3.5 per kg, in China about $ 8 and in Europe and the USA about $6 per kg, according to NAADS.
At the time of the survey, the global demand for Hass avocado was estimated at 27 MT, but the market was being supplied with only 11 MT.
The market for processed crude oil in Italy, Spain, France, Portugal and the Netherlands is at USD 4.8 – 6.5 per kg.
For Macadamia, in the first to 12 years, sh24,862,000 and shs82,500,000 can be realized; a profit of 57m/acre. The price per kg of nut in the shell is sh4000, adds the baseline survey report.
PHOTO CAPTION: Farmers taking lessons on the production of Hass avocado in Buwama farm recently. Photo by Prossy Nandudu
