Teso orange farmers await Museveni with a bucketful of complaints
Robert Okello, one of the orange fruit farmers at his farm in Serere District in the Teso Sub-region. PHOTO/SIMON PETER EMWAMU
What you need to know:
- The farmers are concerned about high farming costs, substandard inputs, low returns, lack of government support, poor market access and uncertainty due to new management of the Soroti Fruit Factory.
Orange farmers, who make up three-quarters of the agricultural community in Teso Sub-region, have called for a meeting with President Museveni to address challenges impacting their livelihoods.
The president is scheduled to visit Teso this week as part of his oversight of government anti-poverty initiatives. In an interview at the weekend, the farmers expressed concerns about the complexity of citrus farming, which has become increasingly expensive due to the need for agro-pesticides to maintain healthy crops. Despite these high costs, the harvest season often yields disappointing financial returns.
Mr Filbert Okello, an orange farmer in Anyara Sub-county, Kalaki District, said as much as the President has long believed in the cultivation of oranges as one of the means to eradicate poverty in Teso, that reality has now become more difficult. “We want the President to help us have an incentivised institution that will import recommended pesticides at cheap prices,” Mr Okello added.
Mr Okello pointed out that the current agro players often import substandard farm inputs that are expensive and ineffective. He also emphasised the need for training programmes with the Ministry of Agriculture on fertiliser use to rejuvenate soil fertility. “We are in a situation where we don’t see help from the district agricultural department, so we are appealing for a direct engagement with the powers that be to find a solution for us,” he said.
Ms Grace Akullu, a citrus farmer in Kamuda Sub-county, Soroti District, said the President’s earlier appeal for farmers to grow citrus should be re-energised by putting into place actionable measures that will address the plight of the citrus farmers. Mr Akullu said about Shs750,000 per acre on fungicides is spent on purchasing pesticides, but the returns are low.
“In the early 2000s in his tours of Teso, the President hyped the citrus industry as the solution to the collapsed cotton, and as a farmer, I am yet to feel the benefits,” Ms Akullu said. She also raised concerns about the recent transfer of the Soroti Fruit Factory to an Ethiopian investor, noting uncertainty about the impact on farmers.
Mr Julius Obubula, a farmer from Asuret Sub-county, Soroti District, with 3,000 orange trees, criticised the lack of government support for market access.
“That thing [lack of market access] has lost meaning and middlemen have taken advantage of our plight,” he added. Recently, Ms Azeb Mesfin Zenawi, the director of Chimaki, which is running operations of Soroti Fruit Factory, told farmers that they are working on securing international certification for the products produced at the fruit plant.
Under previous management by the Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), farmers held 20 percent shares through the Teso Tropical Fruit Growers Cooperative Union (TETFGCU), but these shares have since been nullified. The new management has indicated that shares will be offered for acquisition at an appropriate time. “I am passionate about fighting poverty,” Ms Zenawi told farmers during a recent meeting.
Presidential tour and focus
The farmers’ call comes at the time when the President will be touring the Teso to popularise his four-acre model in the fight against household poverty in the country. Mr Peter Pex Paak, the Resident City Commissioner of Soroti City, confirmed that President Museveni’s tour will include meetings with key stakeholders from the region.
“The President aims to address issues related to household poverty and promote pathways to middle-income status,” he said, noting that existing programmess such as the Parish Development Model (PDM), Emyooga, and the Youth Livelihood Project would be part of the discussions. Mr Paak added that the tour will include visits to model farmers as a demonstration of successful agricultural practices.
BACKGROUND
Teso’s economy, once reliant on cotton and cattle, shifted to citrus farming in the late 1990s after the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) introduced improved citrus varieties.
This initiative was part of a broader government effort to boost income for a region heavily affected by political instability. Following pleas from farmers, President Museveni ordered the establishment of the Soroti Fruit Factory in 2014, which began operations in 2019 but has since struggled with various challenges
