Government starts construction of food storage facilities across the country

The Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, Hon. Vincent Bamulangaki Ssempijja says government working with the private sector is constructing food storage facilities across the country to solve both food shortage and post-harvest losses for farmers.

While touring Mandela Millers today in Busega-Kampala, the Minister said medium sized storage facilities of at least 300 metric tonnes are being constructed at Sub-County level and later at village level across the country and so far 10 have been put in place.

The Minister said the agreement between Haji Mandela and government was three years for completion but the facility which is going to help in buying farmers produce is in its final stages even before the deadline.

Uganda, currently, produces at least five million tonnes of maize annually but only half is consumed domestically. The rest is exported to deficit maize countries such as Kenya and Rwanda.

However, the said countries, due to favorable weather this year, have had a bumper harvest leaving Ugandan farmers stuck with their produce.

The situation forced many farmers to abandon maize in gardens citing the low prices on the market. Construction of such food storage facilities will help government in stabilizing food prices for the farmers also to benefit.

Remember: The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries` “Vision” is a competitive, profitable and sustainable agricultural sector, while the “Mission” is to transform subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.