Vincent Ssempijja, the Minister of Agriculture
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries have set out stringent measures against poor practices of handling crops during and after it is harvested.
Vincent Ssempijja, the Minister of Agriculture, says that whoever dries any crop on bare ground will be arrested. He says that the Police, Parish and Sub County Chiefs have been told to be on the lookout.
The guidelines come in the wake of a trade dispute between Uganda and the Republic of Kenya.
Two weeks ago, Kenya’s Agriculture and Food Authority (AFA) directed a ban on maize imports from Uganda and Tanzania over food safety reasons. However last week, the ban was lifted under strict terms.
Among the terms is that all importers and exporters shall require registration accompanied with certificates indicating that the level of aflatoxins isn’t exceeding 10%.
Ssempijja says that the Ministry has found it meaningful to move in with utmost strictness towards securing the quality of all types of food crops produced by the country.
He says the new guidelines will address the laxity of farmers and other persons involved in the food production chain.
Figures of the Uganda Agriculture data brief show that the exports an average of 330,620 tonnes of maize to Kenya.
According to Ssempijja, Uganda’s maize quality has also slid back on the regional market standards; from grade one to three, which necessitates putting in place serious interventions to secure the country’s export market for its grain and serial produce.
He adds that apart from the crops, they are also working on a broader policy that comprehensively targets the whole agricultural sector to ensure that all farm products are free from toxicants that can compromise their quality and eventually the prices.
Moses Muweesi, a commercial Coffee farmer under Kabonera Farmers’ Cooperative Society in Masaka has appreciated the new policy, however, challenges the government to work towards eliminating middlemen who he says also compromise standards.
According to Muweesi, many middlemen are known for making advance payments to farmers which compels them to harvest their crops before they are due especially when market prices are at the peak.
Muweesi urges that the government workout intervention to strengthening farmers’ cooperative societies and Unions that will naturally become the primary enforcers of quality of agriculture produce right from the farms.
