By Joshua Kato
President Yoweri Museveni has become consistent with his call to stakeholders to reduce the sale of unprocessed foods to foreign markets and instead support locally manufactured foods.
His argument, and rightly so, is that farmers make losses when they sell raw food items.
Value addition does not start with the actual processing, but rather starts right at planting. Selecting the best breeds or varieties is the first step.
Then, during management, the practices that you select either add or reduce value. Using only recommended farm chemicals and in the right doses ensures that your product can be sold in the niche markets.
Then during harvesting and post-harvest, make sure that you follow the right practices so that you do not damage the product.
Overall, farmers must be assisted to understand value addition through sensitisation and providing them with equipment. It is because of this reason that the 2024 Best Farmers Competition is focusing on value addition.
To take part, call 0789353585 or send an email to jkato@newvision.co.ug .
