By Emma Bwayo
The Management of Bugisu Cooperative Union (BCU) has assured coffee farmers of its determination to pay them once prices stabilize and the coffee is sold.
In a press release, BCU says that the delayed payment of some farmers was caused by unstable coffee prices in the global market.
According to BCU, they collect farmer’s coffee for collective bargaining for better prices.
BCU says that it currently has over 2 million kilograms of coffee parchment, adding that its silos and the union owes the farmers Shs6billion. The union says that despite the need for liquidity, they also want to ensure that farmers don’t sell their coffee at very low prices.
On redevelopment of Musundi House in Mbale City into a five star hotel, Wasagali Babra the BCU General Manager explains that the board under the leadership of its chairperson Nathan Nandala Mafabi made the decision aiming at diversifying the union’s business and creating new revenue streams for the benefit of its members.
According to the Wasagali, the BCU board has registered several achievements including the renovation of its estates in Busamaga, securing titles for BCU land and establishment of BCU radio, the only farmer’s radio in the country.
