Minister of state for Agriculture Fred Bwino Kyakulaga has concluded his 3 days trip where he officiated the platforms to boost production, productivity, and commercialization of the oilseed subsector in West Nile, Acholi and Lango Subregions.
The Minister highlighted that the country produces only 80,000metric tons of vegetable oil, and yet the annual current demand is at 480,000MT despite the country having the capacity to be self-sufficient in vegetable oil
He further said that currently, Uganda requires 422,000Mt, and that it is expected that under NOSP, the selected 120,0000 farmers will open 960,000 acres of oilseed yielding to 480,000 MT of crushing material per annum.
Kyakulaga says this will lead to an additional production of 156,000MT of vegetable oil by 2028, hence reducing the demand gap by about 70% and the import substitution to about 44%.
“One of the key challenges affecting the oilseeds and hindering both production and the marketing aspect of the sector is post harvest handling. This is an area we should pay attention too a lot” he emphasized.
Hon. Bwino said that the platforms formed are an enabling environment for all the key actors to collectively redefine farming , increase production, improve policy, and link farmers to the market .
The minister called upon the committees formed to actively take lead in oilseed activities within the subregions by proactively monitoring the performance of the project against its outputs, but also work collectively in ensuring that the challenges opportunities, identified and solutions proposed are are achieved.
On this campaign, the Minister was accompanied by the Acting Director Crop Resources Mr. Stephen Byantwale , NOSP manager Mr. Christopher Gumisiriza and the representative of project coordinator Mr. Gilbert Okwong from Ministry of Local Government.
Also, in attendance were the various political leaders, District Local Governments, Offtakers, processors, Agroinput dealers, farmer representatives, High Level Farmer Groups, research and financial institutions, and financial institutions.
These engagements will continue next week in Karamoja, Teso, Elgon, and Bukedi Subregions.
