By Prossy Nandudu
Coffee farmers interested in adding value to coffee have called for the creation of a coffee fund, to be accessed by all categories of farmers.
Farmers led by James Barigye, said current financing regimes are insufficient for lending to farmers.
“That fund should be put in a central place like the Ministry of Agriculture to eliminate the confusion that government programmes such as the PDM, NAADS and OWC have finances for all sections in the agriculture sector including value addition to coffee,” Barigye said.
His suggestion was supported by Perezi Bukumhne, a coffee farmer from Busoga region, who accused the Bank of Uganda of failing to make the Agriculture Credit Facility accessible to the average farmer.
“My problem is about the Bank of Uganda’s Agriculture funds, how in practice is it easy for the average farmer to access the funds because the fund has been there for 20 years yet farmers find it hard to access these funds,” Bukumunhe said.
John Musira, the vice-chairperson of Bugisu Co-operative Union (BCU), said since the Government earns close to shillings one billion from the coffee value chain, they should support the purchase of value addition equipment at both primary and tertiary level.
He explained that at the primary level most coffee processors simply roast and grind the coffee and package while at the tertiary level the coffee is processed further into instant or soluble coffee, which is being promoted by the President.
Farmers raised their concerns on Wednesday at the end of a panel discussion on the financing options for value addition: Lessons for coffee value addition, on the sidelines of the G-25 Coffee Summit at Speke Resort Munyonyo.
From the session, participants learnt that for one to access the smallest soluble coffee processing machinery, they had to part with between $6,500 to $100,000.
For farmers to access the above fees Amir Hamuza, the proprietor of a coffee soluble processing plant in Tanzania, called for grants from governments, just as it is for German and Europe, in addition to making finance affordable.
The conference which cames to an end on Thursday, discussed various challenges in the coffee sector, that are failing value addition.
While opening the summit on Monday, President Museveni, reiterated his call to other coffee-producing countries to focus on exporting processed coffee for employment creation and increased farmers’ incomes
