Farmers Urge Government to Revive Agricultural Banks

By Max Patrick Ocaido

Farmers in Bunyoro sub region have called on government for urgent financial mechanisms to further boost agricultural yields.

The call was made during the agricultural exhibition held at Masindi Agricultural Demonstration Centre- Kihonda. Nicholas Byaruhanga, a renowned maize farmer in Masindi said government should revive agricultural banks to help farmers acquire loans at a low interest rates.

“Accessing finance has been a major challenge to farmers and this has always compromised the yields. Failure to support farmers should not happen. We need farmers to be able to access markets and finance, and create employment. We need to make sure we have a bank to help farmers with low interest rates just like farmers in neighboring Kenya,” Byaruhanga said.

Speaking to farmers, Paul Bukenya, the Sales Consultant New Holland tractors said agribusiness is becoming the best employment opportunity for the youth in Uganda. “Although farmers know their work, many still lack knowledge on the kind of farming implements they need to boost their crop yields and where to get them. They need to understand agribusiness market dynamics for them to be empowered by their work,” he said.

He explained that the New Holland tractor is multi-purpose and thus cost effective. Apart from planting, land preparation and harvesting, the tractor can also be used to generate power, transport produce from the farm, make silage and also run a water pump. “There is a component in the New Holland tractors called power take off that can be plugged with a motor and power will be generated. The same process can be used for a water pump or irrigator,” Bukenya said.

During the exhibition, The Cooper Motors Corporation, the official distributors of New Holland tractors also gave the farmers an opportunity to purchase different models at a discounted price and also had tractor spare parts sold at a 30% discount. Organized by the East African Grain Council (EAGC), the exhibition, held under the theme, “Enhancing Value in Agribusiness for Food Security and Sustainable Farm Incomes”, featured exhibitions, a business networking session and farmers training.

The EAGC Agribusiness Expo is informed by the need to increase trade through demonstrating advanced technologies and innovations to farmers, traders, processors and financial institutions. The concept is aimed at addressing issues on the production processes in the value chain to help agricultural stakeholders decide on what to leverage on for maximum income and food security. The expo serves as a platform for the closely linked stakeholders in the agribusiness sub-sector to network in order to improve the agribusiness sub-sector.