Farmers in the Kigezi sub-region will benefit from a Uganda Development Bank initiative that seeks to add value to their potatoes before they are put on the market. The initiative will involve the construction of a potato processing plant in the sub region. The project spearheaded by Mr Tom Mugenga – a Kampala based businessman will be bankrolled by the UDB.
Mr Mugenga told the Daily Monitor that the plant will be installed with up-date technology and will be run under the Kisoro Potato Processing initiative.
The Kigezi sub-region is one of Uganda’s largest producers of Irish potatoes but most of it is transported to Kampala, Kigali and South Sudan for marketing with no value addition. According to Mr Mugenga, the new plant will process potatoes into different products benefiting about 10,000 farmers in the region.
“This project will involve a number of farmers who suffer the burden of transporting sacks of potatoes to major towns yet they can easily be processed and some value added on them before being put on market,” said Mr Mugenga said. “The project will be made possible with the help UDB, which seeks to integrate Uganda’s National Development Plan basing on agriculture,” he added.
President Museveni, last year, promised to support the project due to the fact that it rhymes well with the government’s plan of investing more resources into agriculture, which employs about 80 per cent of Ugandans.
Mr Jimmy Kiberu, the UDB spokesperson, said as the bank’s policy it seeks to supporting projects that can uplift Ugandans out of poverty. “This in one of our projects in which we intend to improve the lives of Ugandans. We seek to venture into projects that can ease access to markets for rural farmers,” he added.
