The government has pledged to support sugarcane farmers in their efforts to add value to their crops as a safeguard against price fluctuations.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Cooperatives, along with the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries, will assist farmers through their cooperatives to pursue value addition initiatives.
Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja stated that registering farmers is the first step toward organizing them and financing their value addition efforts.
“Registration of these farmers will enable them to receive government support through the Parish Development Model, extension services from the Ministry of Agriculture, joint marketing of cane, and self-regulation,” Nabbanja said.
She also noted that the Ministry of Trade would later assist the cooperatives in producing ethanol, paper, and fertilizers from sugarcane to generate better income for the farmers.
According to the Prime Minister, the decline in sugarcane prices can be attributed to farmers cultivating sugarcane without prior agreements with millers. Other contributing factors include negative regional trade practices.
“The imported sugar from global leading producers such as Brazil and India is much cheaper, rendering Uganda’s sugar uncompetitive in the East African Community market. When external forces distort the market, prices drop,” Nabbanja explained.
The Prime Minister made these remarks in response to a question by Hon. Kenneth Kiiza (Indep., Bujenje County) regarding low sugarcane prices across the country.
The sugar industry has been one of the fastest-growing sectors in Uganda’s economy, contributing over Shs300 billion in annual taxes and directly employing over 100,000 people.
The industry produces 600,000 metric tonnes of brown sugar and 75,000 metric tonnes of industrial refined sugar. It also generates over 150 megawatts of electricity from sugarcane pulp, with 70 megawatts being supplied to the national grid.
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