By George Bita
Farmers growing soya beans in Namutumba district are adding value to the crop to earn more cash out of it.
This has been partly influenced by the generally low soya bean prices with some dealers offering just sh1, 000 for a kilo of the unprocessed crop.
Hellen Kyakuwaire, a farmer, explained that 35 soya growers received training in value addition during a workshop held in Iganga in 2020.
Kyakuwaire added that they were given vital tips on how to make buns, soya coffee, bagiya and soya powder for sale.
“There is a high demand for soya products in the locality. Our soya bread and beverage often sells out within Namutumba,” Kyakuwaire told New Vision on Monday.
Badru Mukasa, a resident of Kibaale village testified that he often buys locally-made buns made out of soya to take with tea.
“Bread is very expensive at sh6, 500. So many villagers here prefer the cheaper locally-made buns going for sh500 each,” Mukasa said.
Catherine Baidi, a soya farmer from Ivukula village argued that the soya coffee obtained from a kilogram of soya bean flour can fetch much more cash than that unprocessed kilo.
“Each coffee container of 200g costs about sh2, 000. That means a farmer would earn almost five times after value addition had it not been for the costs of production,” Baidi asserted.
She noted that soya sells at Sh2, 000 per kilogram after it has been harvested and dried to remove excess moisture.
According to Henry Naabye, the Namutumba district planner, local farmers have been encouraged to practice value addition so as to benefit a lot from their produce.
“The president often talks about value addition and it is the song we chorus out here. It equally makes the farmer earn much more from his or her sweat,” Naabye emphasised.
Rita Sabano, another farmer, revealed that after adding value to soya, the farmers organised under a local soya producers’ group, use bicycles to take soya products door-to-door around the district.
“In the second season of 2022, we got 17 tonnes of soya beans from our communal farmland. Three of the tonnes were sold while the rest was used in our value addition arrangement in Ivukula town,” Sabano said.
Jennifer Namulawa, a resident of Nsinze town observed that the value addition has created jobs for youths in the area used to sell the products from door to door.
“Most of these jobless boys would wake up to go play cards at trading centres. Now with such current engagement, they are assured of earning some money at the end of the day,” Namulawa said.
Gerald Tayebwa, the Ivukula sub-county agriculture extension worker encouraged farmers to keep embracing value addition as it implies better pay.
“The amount of time and resources put in by farmers need to be rewarded significantly. So there is no better way than gaining much more after adding value to the crop harvested,” he said.
He warned that if the farmers opt to sell directly to soya dealers, they would be the ones reaping much out of other people’s sweat. He advised soya farmers to embrace bulking which would give them better bargaining power and increased sales on the international market.
