Why Yumbe mango fruit factory failed to take off
Children sell mangoes on the roadside in Yumbe District in June. Mango farmers in Yumbe have raised concern over the delayed operationalisation of a factory to process the fruit. PHOTO | ROBERT ELEMA
What you need to know:
- Farmers say they are making losses as a result of the delay to operationalise the factory.
Mango farmers in Yumbe District have raised concerns over the delayed operationalisation of a factory that processes the fruit.
The construction of the factory had raised farmers’ hopes of adding value to their mangoes, but now their produce is left to rot, which has led to them making losses.
The farmers said in late April, Aringa Fruit Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd encouraged them to grow more mangoes for commercial production, promising a ready market. However, despite the factory being completed, nothing has come of it.
In an interview with the Monitor on Monday, Mr Mohammad Anule, a farmer in Barakala Town Council, said: “We were fully prepared to sell mangoes to feed the factory through the Aringa Fruit Farmers Cooperative Society Ltd but they never came back.”
He added: “I have about 60 mango trees but when I harvested and sold the mangoes this year, I earned little money because a sack of mangoes was at Shs10,000. We are badly waiting for the operationalisation of the mango factory.”
Mr Noah Acikule, a farmer in Kei sub-county, said: “The operationalisation of the factory has dragged on for a long time and we continue to lose mangoes every year. When we start something, it is necessary to have mobilisation and preparation skills for such a project. The project has been politicised and it is making the operationalisation of the project take long.”
Ms Khadijja Nakakande, the public relations officer of the National Agricultural Advisory Services (Naads), said they did their part in constructing the facility and handed it over to NileZila, a private company managing the factory.
“We are not in charge of managing the factory now. The responsibility given to us was to ensure the equipment was installed, which we did and additional work of constructing the store, perimeter wall fence, the compound was given to us. When all those were done, we handed over the facility to NileZila that’s currently managing the factory,” she said.
NileZila is a company formed through a partnership between Uganda Development Corporation (UDC), Food and Nutrition Solution (FoNuS), and the Aringa Fruit Farmers’ Cooperative Society Ltd. FoNuS holds 41 shares, UDC has 39 shares, and the Aringa Fruit Farmers’ Cooperative Society holds 20 shares.
The mandate of NileZila is to handle the issues of the factory, processing the mangoes while the cooperative mobilises the farmers and supplies mangoes to the factory through the established chain.
Mr Yashin Angua, the manager of Aringa Fruit Farmers Cooperative Society Limited, said: “We prepared the farmers but we are sorry that we did not buy mangoes in the last season due to technical challenges. We hope to buy mangoes next season.”
He said the factory can crush five tonnes of mangoes per hour and will have both day and night shifts for the workers.
Hopeful
“Farmers should begin preparing themselves and maintain the mango trees for the next season. The extension workers are already forming associations at parish and sub-county levels. That is how we shall be able to move the raw material to the collection centres,” he said.
He said the pricing of mangoes per kilogramme will be determined in the next two to three months, after the NileZila board makes an official decision on the matter.
The director of Aringa Fruit Farmer’s Cooperative Society and also a board member of NileZila, Mr Yassin Taban, said the factory is ready but for it to function properly, additional equipment is needed.
Mr Taban said because the equipment is not manufactured in Uganda, they had to be ordered from abroad. This caused delays in receiving the materials, which is why they were unable to process mangoes this year.
He, however, said the equipment has since arrived in West Nile.
“We also had pending certification issues with UNBS (Uganda National Bureau of Standards),’’ he said.
He added: “…if the mangoes are available by December, we shall buy them. Other things have already been set including the human resource.’’
The Chief Executive Officer of NileZila, Prof William Kyamuhangire, said: “This year the mangoes ran out by the first week of June and I have never seen that before. We had planned that at least, by mid-June, we should have done one week of processing but the mangoes were not there.”
