By Herbert Musoke
There are hundreds of herbs and grasses all around us. Although most of these are beneficial to humans, very few Ugandans utilise them effectively.
This is why adding value to herbs is one of the key training sessions during the Harvest Money Expo aimed at promoting establishment of cottage industries.
Professor Julius Nyanzi, the director of ProBioReseach, the producers of different oils, ointments and herbal products, said he will give trainees knowledge and skills in adding value to different herbs.
“Herbs are around us in the environment we live in. They are used to treat even chronic diseases worldwide, but in Uganda, our herbs have been neglected because we still use them in raw form yet we buy the well processed and packaged medicines from foreign countries expensively,” Nyanzi said.
He urged the public to attend the Harvest Money Expo and get training to understand the relevance of herbs in everyone’s life, as well as knowledge on how to add value to them and earn a living.
The expo will run on February 10-12, at Kololo ceremonial grounds from 8:00am to 6:00pm every day.
Entrance is at sh10,000 plus sh10,000 for training per day.
Nyanzi said he will take participants through adding value to a number of herbs, such as eucalyptus leaves, coffee, Mukuna beans, Rosemary and many other herbs from which one can make oils and powders. “A 20-litre jerrycan of eucalyptus oil, for example, goes for sh6m and from an acre, one can process up to six 20-litre jerrycans, making it sh36m. But those leaves are left in the shambas to rot after the traders get the timber they need from the trees,” he said. The annual Harvest Money Expo organised by Vision group is sponsored by The Netherlands Embassy, Champrisa International, Engineering Solutions Ltd (ENGSOL), National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS) and UpFront, Uganda Warehouse Receipting System Authority in addition to the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries.
