One of the staff of Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) explaining how the processing machine is supposed to work. Photos by Walter Okot
By Walter Okot
Oyam: A shs199m coffee processing machine in Oyam district has been lying idle for three years.
The machine was installed in 2021 at Ipopong Village in Loro town council, Oyam district, and was meant to process coffee beans for coffee farmers in Lango, Acholi, and West Nile sub-regions.
However, the machine which was installed with funding from the agricultural cluster program for coffee farmers in Oyam under their association “Loro Coffee Growers Cooperative Society”, is 1.2km away from the electricity grid.
Tony Ongar, the chairman of the Loro Coffee Growers’ Cooperative Society said the 800 registered coffee farmers in their cooperative society now sell unprocessed coffee beans cheaply at shs 4,000 to 8,000 a kilogram, instead of shs 10,000 or shs 15,000 a kilo if the coffee beans were processed.
Ongar said the low price of coffee per kilogram has forced some farmers to travel to Luwero to process their coffee beans.
He requested the government to consider connecting the factory to electricity so that farmers could profit from their business.
Coffee farmers in Oyam collectively have 12,000 acres of coffee producing 18,000 tons of coffee annually, according to information from the Oyam district agricultural department.
Tony Opio, the District Agricultural Officer of Oyam said an estimated shs 103m is required to buy electric poles and a transformer to connect the power to the processing machine.
Cox Ogwal, the Production Officer of Oyam, district said the machine was purchased to support not only coffee processing, but also beans, cassava, and rice.
“The lack of power to run the processing machine will demoralize farmers as they sell cheaply, but when their products are value-added, it will attract more farmers as the price of processed coffee is high in the market”, Ogwal said.
Benson Walter Dilla, the chairman of L.C 5 Oyam district said the machine was put in an area without power because the cooperative society lacked land to put the machine and decided to buy land on the outskirts of the town council.
Dilla argued that setting up machines far from urban areas would take development to areas that are less developed and requested the Minister of Agriculture and the Ministry of Energy to connect the machines to electricity under the rural electrification program.
“We have production of power here in Karuma which is part of Oyam district. We cannot say there is a lack of power when we supply other countries. We need power here so that we can add value to the coffee we grow here,” Dilla remarked.
William Komakech, the Oyam Resident District Commissioner, said he is disappointed with the Ministry of Agriculture for allowing a machine meant to support a government program to be installed in an area without an electricity grid.
“The component of construction and installation should have included the supply of power which is about 1km from here or the condition should have been for farmers to look for land which is nearer to the electricity grid,” Komakech said.
Komakech said they are left with no option, but to immediately intervene to have electricity supplied to the processing facility so that it starts supporting coffee farmers in northern Uganda
Moses Asiimwe, the Northern region manager of Uganda Coffee Authority (UCDA), confirmed that the coffee processing machine in Loro town council is the only coffee processing machine in Northern Uganda and since it isn’t functional, farmers have to sell their coffee beans cheaply.
There are 82,173 households growing coffee in northern Uganda producing over 24,000 kg of coffee beans annually, according to information from the UCDA regional office.
Irene Birungi, Chief Executive Officer of the presidential CEO forum, said the coffee processor would be connected to electricity before the end of this year.
Birungi pledged to engage the president in July this year when he comes to meet farmers in Northern Uganda in Gulu City.
