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Busoga farmers to be insured against burnt cane
A truck is seen carrying sugarcanes in Jinja City in May 2023. PHOTO/TAUSI NAKATO
Sugarcane farmers in Busoga Sub-region are all smiles after learning that a local commercial bank has offered to offer insurance to those whose sugarcanes are gutted by fire.
Mr Mathias Jumba, the head of Ecosystems-Informal at Stanbic Bank, said farmers have been complaining that when their cane catches fire, its weight reduces and so does the price.
“Some millers end up rejecting such cane, so we are going to give them insurance to cover those fire risks,’’ Mr Jumba said in an interview.
He said their main objective of partnering with the farmers is to increase cane output to meet the rising demand for sugar, both locally and across East Africa.
He added: “We want the farmers to utilise loans so that they can grow more cane and build the economy. We are giving them loans between Shs100,000 and Shs100m for a period of two years at an interest rate of 25 percent per annum and 15.5 percent for women who are engaging in cane growing.”
Mr Geoffrey Kyema, one of the farmers, said they have been suffering to clear loans which don’t cover insurance in case of an eventuality like fire. “We have been promised that in case our cane has caught fire, the bank can intervene through insurance cover unlike before,’’ he said.
Mr Abubakali Omboko, the chairperson of Busoga Out growers Association, said farmers have abandoned sugarcane growing after Kakira Sugar Limited stopped giving them seed cane and fertilizers over the last three years, but believes partnering with Stanbic Bank will bring many of them back on board.
He added: “We have been having limited access to agricultural loans and have suffered with loans that attract high interest yet with a short repayment period yet our cane takes 18 months to yield.”
Busoga Sub-region has since 2017 been hit by a fluctuation in supply of cane which has affected both farmers and millers.
In 2017, millers were buying a ton of raw cane at Shs175,000 before it reduced to Shs96,000 in 2021.
By January 2022, the purchase price had risen from Shs102,000 per ton to Shs210,000 at the moment, which is its highest purchase price in six years.
Currently, farmers are harvesting immature cane at nine months instead of 15 months due to its high demand from six millers, including Kakira Sugar Ltd, Mayuge Sugar Factory, Kamuli Sugar Ltd, Kaliro Sugar Ltd, Bugiri Sugar Ltd and GM Sugar Ltd.
