Josinta Kabugho, the general manager for Bukonzo Organic Farmers Cooperative Union, says that the new machines are expected to bring down the cost of production by about 30 percent as it requires less labor to operate and gives out more output per hour compared to the old models they have been using.
Coffee farmers in Kasese District have got a shot in the arm after receiving 57 modern coffee pulping machines valued at Shillings 2.1 billion. A pulper is designed
to remove pulp-the soft flesh from agricultural produce.
The beneficiaries include Bukonzo Organic Farmers’
Cooperative Union, Mt. Rwenzori Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union, Kanone, and
Bunyakalija groups from the Mbunga sub-county. The
Ugandan government donated the machines through the Agro-Industrialization for Local Economic
Development-AGRI-LED program under the National Agricultural Advisory
Services-NAADS.
Josinta Kabugho, the general manager for Bukonzo
Organic Farmers Cooperative Union,
says that the new machines are expected to bring
down the cost of production by about 30 percent as it requires less labor
to operate and gives out
more output per hour compared to the
old models they have been using.
His counterpart, Juvenile Kule Rwantangale of Mt.
Rwenzori Coffee Farmers’ Cooperative Union hailed the donation as
upbeat because the machines will help improve the coffee grade and earn farmers more income.
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Kasese District Principal Production Officer,
Julius Baluku, says that the
donation was part of the major agriculture production support pledges made to
the district in 2019 by Gen. Saleh Saleh, the chief coordinator of OWC. He says that the
district hopes to revitalize the coffee sector, which has been on the decline over the years
due to dwindling prices resulting
from the poor quality of coffee resulting from the use of rudimentary
technologies.
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Hadad S. Ssebunza, the Technical Sales Manager at
Musa Body Machinery Uganda Limited, the company contracted to supply the
equipment, said that the machines can rate coffee berries better
than the ones they had before and only a few people will be required to operate
it cutting down on operational costs.
Ssebunza asked the group members to safeguard the
machines and seek timely technical advice in case of any breakdown.
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The Deputy RDC, Joshua Masereka Kisembo, who delivered the machines to the
beneficiaries on behalf of the government explained that the government and its development partners aim to
improve the quality of coffee and enable the farmer to fetch good prices.
