President\nYoweri Museveni has said that the Government of Uganda has lifted the ban on\nthe export of raw sugarcane to Kenya for a period of only three months\neffective next week. The move, he said, aims at allowing Ugandan farmers sell\nthe surplus sugarcane that is not consumed locally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMature\nsugarcane that doesn\u2019t have ready buyers from local millers, should be\nexported,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\ndecision to export sugarcane was reached at last evening during a meeting\nchaired by President Museveni at State House, Entebbe that brought together\nsugar millers and sugarcane farmers from Busoga Sub-Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Ugandan\nfarmers, for the last few months, have grown too much sugarcane resulting in a\nsurplus supply on the local market in Uganda. The decision to lift the ban will\nsee Uganda export raw sugarcane to allow Kenya-based factories that are\nwilling, to buy sugarcane from Uganda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nmeeting emphasized and agreed that only mature sugarcane should be exported\nadding that an Agricultural Officer should determine sugarcane maturity and its\nfitness for export.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nmeeting also resolved that if a farmer had credit with a miller, the miller is\nobliged to buy all the mature sugarcane within the agreed contract period. If\nnot, the miller should compensate the farmer for the loss.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
President\nMuseveni directed that all bond warehouses should be banned with immediate\neffect in order to harmonize the price of sugar and root for the expansion and\ngrowth of the sugar industry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The\nPresident also asked sugar millers and farmers to work together adding that the\ntwo players need each other in order to ensure the survival of the sugar\nindustry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He, however, cautioned sugarcane farmers about the low returns from sugarcane production saying that the venture will not get them out of poverty mostly those who have small pieces of land. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He, therefore, called on them to diversify their production ventures and concentrate more on crops like coffee, poultry, piggery and fish farming, among other enterprises that can yield good income for their homesteads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Trade,\nIndustry and Cooperatives Minister, Hon, Amelia Kyambadde, said her Ministry\nwill allow Uganda sugarcane farmers to export excess sugarcane to Kenya for\nonly 3 months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She\nrevealed that her Ministry is doing all that is possible to secure licences for\nfarmers to sell their raw sugarcane to avert incurring losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She strongly advised sugarcane farmers to form a consortium in transportation of their sugarcane to ensure realization of tangible benefits. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
President Museveni and his counterpart, Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya, met on the sidelines of the 8th<\/sup> TICAD Conference in Japan last month and discussed issues related to the sugar business in their neighbouring countries. <\/p>\n\n\n\n They agreed to fast track the process of enabling traders in Uganda and Kenya to access each other\u2019s markets with ease. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" President Yoweri Museveni has said that the Government of Uganda has lifted the ban on the export of raw sugarcane to Kenya for a period of only three months effective next week. The move, he said, aims at allowing Ugandan farmers sell the surplus sugarcane that is not consumed locally. \u201cMature sugarcane that doesn\u2019t have […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":27983,"featured_media":11213,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_paywall_metabox":[],"jnews_override_counter":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[98],"tags":[31],"class_list":["post-11212","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-featured"],"yoast_head":"\n