By Rogers Sunday
Tea farmers in Kyenjojo District have called for a partnership between them and Tooro Kingdom so as to help find lucrative markets for their commodity.
The farmers made the appeal to Tooro King Oyo Kabamba Iguru on Saturday, September 9, who was visiting farmers in Kyenjojo as part of the activities building up to the Omukama’s 28th coronation anniversary this year.
“Tea is our major cash crop here but unfortunately, it (tea) has since lost value and your subjects are stuck with it,” Adolf Musinguzi, a tea farmer, told King Oyo at Kyarysozi playground.
Musinguzi told Oyo that the farm gate cost of the green leaf has since dropped from sh500 to the current sh200.
“Due to the drop in tea prices, farmers are struggling to maintain their tea fields because the cost of farm inputs like fertilisers and herbicides has continued to shoot up,” he said.
James Birungi, another tea farmer, said that some farmers have started abandoning their tea fields.
“Tea fields now have overgrown bushes while some other farmers have totally lost interest in the crop,” he said.
According to Birungi, farmers are uncertain about the future now that their major source of livelihood has lost value.
Farmers petition King
Onesmus Matsiko, the manager of Mabale Tea Growers, appealed to Oyo to use his capacity to lobby for subsidised fertilisers.
Matsiko told the King that although Toro contributes 40% of the country’s total tea export, most fields are not performing at their maximum due to poor maintenance.
“We as farmers request for the Kingdom’s support in looking out for fertiliser subsidies because, with the current conditions, most farmers cannot afford to ably apply fertilisers,” he said.
Matsiko also requested Oyo to source for better tea markets elsewhere in the world.
“The tea that is grown and processed here in Toro is one of the best in the world, because of our good climate and nature of our soils,” he said.
In his speech, King Oyo asked his subjects to take advantage of the rainy season to grow enough food.
“You should all take advantage of the current rains to grow enough food for home consumption and for sale to be able to increase your household incomes,” he said.
The King rallied the youth to take on farming as a career.
“Farming is that backbone of our country’s economy and the youth being the majority, they should ably position themselves to engage in commercial agriculture,” he said.
While in Kyenjojo, the King also visited Njojo Agro-based industries that specialise in maize and hass avocado farming and value addition.
