Farmers to be trained in negotiating with banks
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200 farmers educated in agribusiness management
LIRA. About 200 farmers from Lira District have benefited from a two-day agribusiness enterprise management training organized by the Agribusiness Development Centre (ADC).
Speaking at the closure of the training, Ms Anja de Feijter, the executive director ADC, said they are optimistic that the training will adequately empower farmers with financial knowledge, business management and marketing skills which lack in farmers in Northern Uganda.
We needed to provide these farmers under farmer organisations and small medium enterprises in the agricultural sector with financial literacy, business management and marketing skills which will positively impact in their different business enterprises,” Ms Anja said.
She added: “Through our partnership with Rabobank Netherlands and dfcu Bank, we have invested in the process that we believe will change the trend of farming and agribusiness in this part of the country (Northern Uganda).
Beneficiary’s view
Ms Margret Acen, a beneficiary, said she discovered that it was possible to store crop produce beyond one season and sell at better prices as well as seek better markets through uniform bargain.
I previously would sell my crop produce immediately we harvest and before I get to the next planting season, there is no money to buy planting seeds but the lesson today has opened my eyes on the significance of good storage, she said.
She said middlemen always cheated them by dictating for them low prices compared to what they were supposed to get as final returns.
Using a team business adviser, ADC plans to select existing farmer groups and train them, carry out regular follow-ups and make sure they are improving and practising the concepts learnt, said Ms de Feijter.
About $1m (Shs3.6b) has been sunk into the programme according to her.
In an interview, Mr Godfrey Mundua, the dfcu Bank head of corporate and institutional banking, said they patterned with ADC and singled Lango region because it has many agricultural activities that are important to support.
Through the resource centre, will be able as a bank to directly support these farmers with business loans and train them different financial management skills. We will also link them with bigger buyers just as we took them to Mt Meru Millers, one of our biggest clients, Mr Mundua said.
After concluding the training, ADC also launched its resource centre in Lira, a centre through which the farmers will directly have training and consultations with ADC expertise on agribusiness.
UDB to inject Shs6b to empower innovators
Boosting Innovations
The Agribusiness Development Centre (ADC) executive director, Anja de Feijter, tipped farmers on the use of modern farming methods such as mechanization to increase production quantities.
KAMPALA – The Uganda Development Bank (UDB) is to inject sh6b to empower innovators to enhance their skills, acquire more machines as well as market their innovation products.
This, according to Prof. Samuel Sejjaaka, the UDB board chairman, is aimed at creating more jobs and enhancing economic development.
Sejjaaka, during the I-Growth Accelerator awards for 2017/2018 financial year, said the bank will invest sh5b as equity in viable projects, meaning they will partner with innovators until they break even, while the other Shs1b will be venture capital. The event took at Hotel Africana in Kampala.
Prof. Barnabas Nawangwe, the vice-chancellor of Makerere University, noted that there is need for the Government to offer interest-free loans to innovators so that their products can compete on the globe, saying they were laying strategies at the institution.
We at Makerere University have started new strategic plan to transform Makerere into a research-led university,” he stated.
The Prime Minister Ruhakana Rugunda, who was represented by Gabriel Ajedra, the state minister of finance in charge of general duties, noted that innovations in the agriculture are necessary for economic development of Uganda.
He reiterated the Government’s efforts in boosting innovation through the innovation funds, which are channeled through the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
The Agribusiness Development Centre (ADC) executive director, Anja de Feijter, tipped farmers on the use of modern farming methods such as merchanisation to increase production quantities.
She said farmer trainings of literacy and entrepreneurship skills are necessary for transformation of agriculture. Last year, ADC got a boost of Shs10.8b for training community-based farmer organisation on train farmers in governance, financial management and risk management, among others.
We have trained 75 farmer organisations and we are going to scale up the number of individual farmers in Hoima, Mbale and Kampala,” she stated.
Over 100 farmer groups set to benefit from 10 billion shilling fund
(From left) The managing director of dfcu Bank Juma Kisaame, ADC’s Anja de Feijter, Ambassador Henk Jan Bakker, state minister for co-operatives Frederick Ngobi, Jimmy Mugerwa and chief executive officer of Rabobank Foundation Pierre Van Hedel cutting the cake during the opening of the agribusiness centre at Kampala Serena Hotel on November 29.
Over 100 farmer groups dubbed farmer-based organisations (FBOs) countrywide that have the potential to contribute to the agricultural value chain are to benefit from the sh10.08b fund ($2.8m) obtained by Agribusiness Development Centre (ADC).
This, according to ADC executive director, Anja de Feijter will improve their operations and ultimately become bankable.
She said the organisations will receive the technical support, training on financial literacy and choice of enterprise.
The development was announced during the official launch of ADC at Kampala Serena Hotel.
The money was injected into the organisation by dfcu Bank and Rabobank Foundation in the Netherlands and the fund is set to benefit farmers for the next five years.
Feijter explained that ADC business advisory team is currently pre-visiting over 100 farmer based organisation’s (FBO’s) countrywide and that since October, 70 FBOs have been selected to receive the training skills in governance, financial management, financial literacy, marketing and risk assessment
With these skills, the farmer based operations will continue to grow their operations in ways that are of benefit to both them and the wider communities,” she noted, adding that ADC which started operations in October this year has skilled 44 farmer leaders from 20 FBOs from Lira, Dokolo, Kole, Alebtong and Oyam with skills in governance.
DFCU’s board chairperson Jimmy Mugerwa commended the efforts being taken by the farmer based organisations to acquire finances through forming groups.
Agriculture is the number one breadwinner for our country and there is a need for collective effort to support it. By facilitating ADC in its operations dfcu and Rabobank are building capacity for the farmers to access much needed financial services, he said.
He added: dfcu already provides tailor-made products for the farmers and with the capacity building delivered through ADC the smallholder farmers will be more eligible for financing from commercial banks.
They will also be better placed to increase productivity and possibly embrace commercial farming which is more profitable at household and national level.
The ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in Uganda Henk Jan Bakker noted that lack of skills is the major deterrent to work with smallholder farmers, hence the need to train and educate them in vocational training.
Allow me to make a reference to the situation in my home country. Educating and training of farmers has been one of the key elements in the successful development of the agricultural sector in Netherlands. Agricultural education and training has developed close farmers in partnership with the private sector, he stated.
