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Frustrated farmers uproot 150 acres of tea gardens
A farmer in Mpungu Sub-county Kanungu District uproots tea plants from his garden last June 7, 2024. PHOTO/ROBERT MUHEREZA
What you need to know:
- Kanungu leaders want President Museveni to intervene.
Farmers have uprooted more than 150 acres of tea gardens in Kanungu District in protest over the reduced prices of tea leaves at the processing factories in the area.
The chairman for tea farmers in southwestern Uganda, Mr Frank Byaruhanga, said the prices of green tea leaves were reduced from Shs550 to Shs100 per kilogramme yet the prices of fertilisers were increased from Shs100,000 to Shs270,000 for a 50 kilogramme bag.
He added that farmers have started planting coffee, beans and maize in the gardens.
Farmers Fred Mande, Ben Kekiriza and Matiya Barikude, all from Mpungu Sub-county, said they have uprooted tea and planted food crops to sustain their families.
“When tea prices were still high, earnings would be used to buy food items for home consumption... If the government revives its support for tea, we shall return to it,” Mr Mande said yesterday.
“It’s the government to blame for failure to protect tea farmers from fake fertilisers and herbicides because in the neighbouring countries of Rwanda and Kenya the prices of green tea leaves have remained stable because their governments provide them with quality fertilisers and herbicides at subsidised prices,” Mr Byaruhanga said last week.
He added that the argument of the government that the falling prices of processed tea from Uganda at the international market was a result of the war in Ukraine is not true because processed tea from Rwanda and Kenya fetches $3.9 (about Shs14,700) and $2.8 (Shs10,600) per kilogramme respectively while that from Uganda fetches $0.7 (Shs2,640) a kilogramme.
“We appeal to the government to obtain a certificate of accreditation, have a tea policy to regulate production and provide subsidies on inputs to tea farmers like it is done in the neighbouring countries. Why should the government feel less concerned in promoting the tea enterprise yet it has injected over Shs300 billion in purchasing tea seedlings for farmers between 2008 and 2020,” Mr Byaruhanga said.
He added that when President Museveni launched tea farming in Kanungu in 2008, the number of tea processing factories increased from one to six and that farmers’ earnings increased from Shs8.5 billion to Shs55 billion per annum in 2022 before the fall of Uganda’s processed tea at the international market.
Last October, the leaders from the tea growing districts in Kigezi and Ankole sub-regions petitioned President Museveni on supporting farmers.
“In our petition, we recommended that the tea enterprise be dubbed as ‘presidential initiative on tea development’ and further recommended that quality control and assurance measures be put in place,” Mr Byaruhanga said.
“We shall be glad to receive your appointment to further discuss these key issues in an attempt to salvage key sector challenges affecting the tea enterprise before it collapses,” part of the October 11, 2023 petition reads.
Leaders from Mitooma, Bushenyi, Buhweju, Kabale, Kisoro, Rubanda, Kanungu,Rukiga, Ntungamo, Rukungiri, Ibanda, Rwampara, Mbarara and Isingiro signed the petition.
Mr Byaruhanga, however, said they have not received any feedback.
