Govt to Boost Oil Seeds Sector with Road Construction in Acholi Sub-region

Summary:

• The Ugandan government, under the National Oil Seeds Project (NOSP), is investing in the construction and repair of 151 kilometers of roads in the Acholi Sub-region. Valued at shs28b, these roadworks aim to connect oil crop farmers to markets, thereby boosting domestic edible oil production.

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The Government through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) is set to commence the construction and rehabilitation of 151 kilometers of community access roads within the Acholi Sub-region to commercialize the oil seeds sector.

The road works worth shs28b under the market linkage infrastructure component of the National Oil Seeds Project (NOSP) are expected to link oil crop farmers to nearby markets and boost the domestic production of edible oil in the country.

The NOSP is a seven-year initiative rolled out by the government in 2021 to support smallholder farmers in 81 districts in oil seed production, value addition, and market linkages.   

Under the total project sum worth shs600b, the government will rehabilitate 2,500 kilometers of community access roads, out of which 1,032 kilometers will be undertaken in Batch A of the project’s infrastructure component.

Gilbert Okwong, a civil engineer under the NOSP, told GNNA in an interview Friday that 10 sub-counties within the eight districts of Acholi will benefit from the road works commencing in August this year.

Okwong said the government intends to improve the road network to link the oil crop farmers mainly dealing in sesame, groundnuts, sunflower, and soybeans easily to the market. According to him, an assessment conducted by the government indicates that bad road networks greatly contribute to low prices of farmer’s produce.

“If the road linking the producers to the market is bad, the pricing will be low. This is because the buyer has spent a significant cost to come up to the location of the farmer and therefore he imposes a price on the farmer which is low,” Okwong told GNNA in an interview.

Okwong noted that they have already completed the designs and intend to advertise the works to ensure contractors come on board.

Delayed works

GNNA understands the road designs for the project were completed in September 2023 and were approved by the funders, IFAD.

However, according to Okwong, the National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA) declined to issue a certificate of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), after project briefs issued by the selected district local governments failed to meet the standards.

He noted that the government lost a considerable amount of time between January and April this year chasing the EIA, which had already been acquired in May.

“We have lost a lot of time, we believe by July, construction should be ongoing. The major reason for the design delay was the EIA and what we need now is capacity building for the environment officers,”

Why community access roads?

According to Okwong, the main objective of the community access roads is to link the existing markets within the sub-counties where farmers can readily pick their products and sell them to the nearby markets at a fair price. According to officials at the Agriculture Ministry, the road networks will link the areas of production where the farmers produce oil seeds, schools, churches, and existing markets.

“The objective is to ensure farmers can readily pick their products and take them to a nearby market that would enable bulking and the farmers would be able to negotiate for a better market,” he said

Farmers tipped

With Uganda’s annual demand for vegetable oil surpassing its production, the government has turned to the regional hubs set up in the country to boost the production of edible oil.

Under the NOSP, the government set up six regional hubs in Busoga, Acholi, Mid-Western, Karamoja, and West Nile regions to tap into vegetable oil production.

According to government data, presently Uganda produces 80,000 metric tons of vegetable oil, yet approximately 410,000 metric tons of vegetable oils per year is required to meet its domestic demand.

Stephen Byantwale, the Director of Crop Resources at MAAIF noted that the Acholi Sub-region presents a unique potential in the production of vegetable oil since it is already popular for growing sim-sim.

Byantwale said farmers should tap into the market for the exports of oil seed crops because they fetch significantly higher prices in the European market. He, however, cautioned on quality processing.

In the European market according to Byantwale, a kilogram of sesame costs between 5.32 Euros (shs 21,700) and 7.62 Euros (shs 31,100), a market he said should be tapped by farmers in the Acholi Sub-region.

In 2020 alone, the country imported 381,320 Metric tons of vegetable oils worth US$289.8 (shs 37.6 b) of which palm oil accounted for 97% of the quantity imported.

The Minister of State for Agriculture Maj (Rtd). Fred Bwino, said while the country has for the past years been spending huge sums of money in importing vegetable oil, it has the potential to boost its local production.

Speaking to local government leaders from the Acholi Sub-region on Wednesday in Gulu City, Maj. Bwino said the government has taken the initiative to boost vegetable oil production using sesame, groundnuts, sunflower, and soya beans.

He said through the project, the government is targeting to work with 10,000 farmers from the 19 clusters within the Acholi Sub-region with each farmer expected to produce an additional 1000 kilograms of vegetable oil.

Cumulatively from the six hubs, the government is projecting to produce 600,000 metric tons of vegetable oil that surpasses the domestic edible oil demand of 410,000 metric tons.

 “Our target is that through this project, we want to create more vegetable oil than what we are currently getting from our farmers,” he said.

During the consultative meeting that attracted district agricultural officers, district chairpersons, production officers, and Chief Administrative Officers, the leaders however raised concerns that the project has taken too long to reach the intended beneficiaries. They also highlighted challenges that have affected its implementation ranging from climate change, pests and diseases, poor storage facilities, and delayed land opening by farmers among others.

Douglas Peter Okello, the Omoro District Chairperson said the oil seed project, especially on soya beans was affected in the district due to the limited processing facilities to complete the project’s value chain.

Okello said without the value chain of the oil seed project being complete, the benefiting farmers will continue to be exploited by middlemen.

“We must have a complete value chain of the enterprises that are being selected for the National Oil Seed Project. If the value chain is not complete, it means the middlemen will take advantage of the liberalized economy where the forces of demand and supply determine the prices,” said Okello.

Okello said MAAIF working with district local governments must establish the processing facilities within the sub-region so that the farmers follow the value chain up to the final processing of their goods.

The seven-year project that ends in 2028 is co-funded with loans from IFAD, Heifer International, and Kuehne Foundation.