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Kanungu farmers pick billions from tea
Economic activity. Farmers pick tea leaves in Kigezi Sub-region in November last year. Kanungu is one of the districts in the area that has flourished in tea farming. PHOTO BY ROBERT MUHEREZA
What you need to know:
- Expansion. The district has three tea processing factories and three others are underway.
Kanungu. Tea farming in Kanungu, which started in the mid 2000s, has spread to almost the entire district and transformed livelihoods of local farmers.
The chairperson of the South Western Nursery Bed Operators Association, Mr Frank Byaruhanga, says statistics from tea processing factories in the district show that payment to farmers supplying tea leaves increased from Shs13b in 2008 to Shs41b in December last year.
Mr Byaruhanga also says tea leaves supplied to factories in the area has increased from 12 million kilogrammes to 29 million kilogrammes annually.
He says farmers are paid Shs550 per kilogramme.
“We thank government for supporting the tea enterprise because if it was not for this intervention, we would not be boasting of this success,” Mr Byaruhanga says.
“Those that have been peddling lies to the President that tea nursery bed operators in the area supplied ‘air’ are not happy with the positive impact,” he adds.
President Museveni launched tea growing in the area in 2008 and encouraged more residents to grow the cash crop.
He directed the National Agriculture and Advisory Services (Naads) officials to supply free tea seedlings.
The district had only Kayonza Tea Growers factory then, but two more have since been established in Rugyeyo and Buhindi sub-counties.
Construction of three others is underway at Mpugu, Kayonza and Kyeshero.
“It is our humble appeal to the government that the unpaid but verified tea seedlings worth Shs36b be paid so that the farmers can get money to plant more seedlings,” Mr Byaruhanga says.
He says in 2008, there was one privately owned vehicle in Mpungu Sub-county but there are now more than 40 as a result of tea farming.
The Kinkiizi West MP, Mr James Kaberuka, hailed businessman James Garuga, for initiating good tea farming practices.
Kinkiizi East MP Chris Baryomunsi acknowledges that tea enterprise has stirred economic growth in Kigezi, but adds that some individuals have been implicated in cases of supplying fake seedlings.
“The Naads secretariat has delayed paying genuine farmers that supplied tea seedlings in the region because they want to avoid payment for the false claims by individuals that want to defraud government,” he says.
