By: GNNA Reporter
Gulu
An agricultural Cooperative has secured funds to establish six agricultural hubs in northern Uganda to empower small-holder farmers to shift from subsistence to commercial farming.
Northern Uganda Tractor Operators and Farmers’ Association (NUTOFA) is a Saving and Credit Cooperative Organisation (SACCO) that brings over 1,000 farmers in northern Uganda together to empower them to do commercial farming.
Robert Achac Okok, the Chairman of NUTOFA said that the Agricultural Mechanization Hubs will be in Karamoja, West Nile, Acholi, and Lango sub-regions, to help farmers access agro-mechanized equipment for farming.
The SACCO has already acquired 3,000 acres of land in Lakang sub-county and another 1,000 acres allocated in Opara sub-county in Amuru district to set up the Acholi sub-regional hub of shs20b
“It is a holistic means of addressing challenges in Agriculture to enable food security. We are now working in consultations with the World Food Program (WFP), US Mission, and United Nations Agencies by writing proposals to solicit more funding,” Achac said.
Achac explained challenges, such as limited markets and expensive equipment, hinder farmers from commercial farming.
Next season, the group will start supporting at least 1,000 farmers with tractors to open their land with a 50 percent price cut. The price of opening land with a tractor in Acholi is between shs80,000 and shs120,000. However, farmers in groups pay 80,000 shillings per acre.
“We shall plough each acre of land at half a price so that several farmers can do commercial farming,” added Achac.
Farmers welcome the mechanization project
Alex Ocaka, a farmer from Kololo Parish, Lakang Sub-County in Amuru District, who has 80 acres of land, said that he rarely uses all the land because of the tractor hire price.
Ocaka said because the tractors are few, the owners always want to use them before hiring out, which causes delays in opening his land. He is optimistic that subscribing to NUTOFA will boost his capacity to open large land.
Why mechanize?
Charles Uhuru, an Agricultural expert from an Engineering Solution firm working to empower the farmers, said that it is high time farmers are empowered to shift from manual labor to machines like tractors and other farm implements.
“The time has passed for farmers to keep using rudimentary means like ox-ploughs to open land for agriculture. It is time-wasting and difficult,” Uhuru said.
Uhuru said that Engineering Solution has procured new tractors for farmers to buy or hire individually or in their farming association.
Speaking during a marathon organized to raise more funds for the project, Betty Aol Ocan, the Woman Member of Parliament representing Gulu City, urged farmers to embrace cooperatives to improve their bargaining power.
Aol said farmers who sell their products individually hardly get a better market for their goods and are highly exploited by middlemen.
