Bundibugyo moots plan to tax cocoa farmers
Cocoa farmers sort out their produce in Bundibugyo District last month. Photo | File
What you need to know:
- This comes as cocoa prices in the district hit a record high of Shs28,000 per kilogramme, bringing a smile to farmers and other business persons
Bundibugyo District authorities have announced plans to levy a tax on some cocoa farmers in the area.
This comes as cocoa prices in the district hit a record high of Shs28,000 per kilogramme, bringing a smile to farmers and other business persons.
The district commercial officer, Ms Joyce Tusabe, said they have embarked on identifying cocoa farmers eligible to pay the commercial tax to boost the district’s local revenue basket.
“We are going to register cocoa farmers per acreage and we hope this assessment will help us to identify farmers who are going to start paying commercial farmers tax,” Ms Tusabe said
She, however, said the district does not only focus on local revenue collection but also emphasises good agronomy practices to improve quality production.
However, Mr Geoffrey Musinguzi, a farmer with two acres of cocoa in Kanyamwirima Village, Tokwe Sub-county, said the proposed tax is a challenge to the farmers since production has drastically decreased due to the aging of some plantations as well as pests and diseases.
“Cocoa production is currently very low; I used to harvest six basins of cocoa every two weeks but I now harvest only two, so this thing of taxes is going to suffocate us,” Mr Musinguzi said.
The district secretary for production, marketing, and natural resources, Ms Juliet Biira, urged farmers to ensure quality produce.
“The price is now fluctuating between Shs30,000 and Shs28,000 because some farmers have started harvesting immature cocoa pods and also contaminating it with jackfruit seeds, which affect the quality,” Ms Biira said.
Meanwhile, the district vice chairperson, Mr Joel Bwambale, said the cocoa price increase has improved cooperation between the cocoa-buying companies and the area leadership through their corporate social responsibility programmes.
“Some of these companies are doing great work in transforming our community, recently Olam Uganda Limited constructed 3 classroom blocks and renovated other blocks at Njanja Primary School in Mirambi Sub-county,” Mr Bwambale said.
