Uganda National Farmers Federation

On July 25, I was with Margaret Kaggwa of the National Agricultural Research Organisation on Jinja's Bamboo FM for a talkshow that focused on agriculture. The timing was important because the agricultural trade-show was taking place in Jinja at the time.

Secondly, famine is still ravaging many parts of the country. A myraid of callers were optimistic that famine and disease can be overcome in many parts of the country. Several callers were sad over the unchecked spread of fake agricultural inputs.

We should note that underhand profiteering tendencies of some input dealers can, in the long-run, lead to the death of the agriculture sector in Uganda.

Fake chemicals have a big destructive impact on farming. If it is a pesticide, the pests will not die even when a farmer applies it regularly. If it is a herbicide, the grass will just continue growing even after the harmless chemical has been applied.

Consequently, the farmer will notice a decrease in yields and adverse effects on the environment and human life. The fake chemicals accelerate soil deterioration resulting in substantial crop losses and in the end, affects economic growth.

The Government and its responsible agencies have failed to regulate and enforce a standards regime in the agriculture sector.

Why should we, for example, have adulterated chemicals like Glyphosate, Dithane M45 or Mancozeb 80WP, Dursban 4E, Ridomil Gold MZ 68WP, Ag. Basle and Furadan on the market?

Why should we have an adulterated fertiliser like NPK, DAP and Urea on the market? Why should farmers buy expensive seeds on the market whose germination rate is 20%. What happened to agriculture inspectors in the Ministry of Animal Industry and Fisheries? What is the Uganda National Bureau of Standards doing?

Farmers are left at the hands of unscruplous agriculture inputs dealers. The dealers have abused the favourable zero rate agriculture input tax regime in the country to exploit and cheat farmers. For instance, in 2007 the price of 50kg NPK fertiliser was sh45,000, it is now sh140,000. A one-day-old chick has doubled the price, from sh500 in 2008 to sh1,000 in 2009. A hand hoe which cost sh2,500 last year, now costs sh4,500. Ox-plough have risen from sh125,000 in 2007 to sh250,000 in 2009.

Farmers need protection from this distorted market otherwise the good action by the Government of removing taxes on agro-inputs will only benefit private input importers at the expense of farmers. Even genuine agro-input dealers are going to suffer if they do not come out to work with farmers to expose those involved in distortion of input markets. As a farmers federation, we are going to open complaints desks in all our branches across the country such that dealers who sell fake inputs to our farmers are exposed and reprimanded. We are in discussions with pro-farmers' groups like Advocates Coalition for Development and Environment and AT- Uganda to pursue a public interest litigation against fraudulent agro input companies and auxiliary dealers that are increasingly becoming painful to the farmers fraternity.

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