Nema clears mega oil palm project in Kyotera

The   National Environment Management Authority (Nema) has given a green light to the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries to expand its national oil palm project to Kyotera District.

According to Nema corporate communications manager Naomi Namara, the environment watchdog has approved the Environment and Social Impact Assessment (ESIA) report in respect to the Sango Bay Oil Palm project and stakeholders are free to use it in implementation of the project.

“We have passed every detail of the procedure and farmers are unrestricted to plant oil palms in Sango Bay area,” she told Monitor on Friday.

 “Our team will carry out follow up inspections to ensure that mitigation measures are fully implemented,” Namara added.

The clearance by Nema comes at a time when BIDCO Uganda Limited (investor) has already set up nursery beds for oil palm seedlings to be planted on the nucleus estate and also give some to out growers.

Anthony Wanyoto, a communication and knowledge management officer at the National Oil Palm Project (NOPP) in the Ministry of Agriculture, said Nema’s approval is timely and actual planting of oil palm trees will start with immediate effect.

“Farmers have already been mobilised and grouped into a cooperative to simplify skilling and financing them,” he said.

Oil palm cultivation is a strategic component of Uganda’s National Development Plan III, and the government together with Solidaridad East and Central Africa- with financial support from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (FAD)- have a   ten-year plan to expand production across the country.

Kyotera District chairperson Patrick Kisekkulo said the project will spur economic development.

“We expect people’s living standards to improve. So, we ask the government to compensate Project Affected Persons as promised so that there are no delays in its implementation,” he urged.

Districts like Kalangala, Buvuma, Kyotera and Mayuge  have embraced oil palm growing and more districts in Central, Eastern, Northern and West Nile regions are yet to be considered under the second phase of implementation of the project.

In Masaka, government has already secured 2,000 of the targeted 4,000 hectares of land in sub counties of Bukakkata, Buwunga ,Kyanamukkakka and Kyesiiga where oil palm trees are expected to be planted.

Over 1,225 people have already registered with the Sango Bay Oil palm Growers Cooperative Society Limited and with facilitation from the government they are ready to plant over 4,250 acres.

In October 2021, government embarked on reclaiming Sango Bay Estate land measuring 247 square miles for oil palm growing. The project is expected to create about 20,000 jobs for youth, especially from Kyotera and Rakai districts.

The land covers the sub counties of Kabira, Kakuuto,Mayaanja , Kyebe, Mutukula and Kasensero  in Kyotera District and part of it previously harboured the refugees.