Museveni has tasked sugar cane farmers to draft a detailed development plan that will be implemented by Uganda Development Cooperation-UDC to construct a sugar mill for the farmers.
Busoga has four major sugar factories in Jinja, Kamuli, Mayuge and Kaliro districts with an estimated 44,000 registered cane out-growers.
According to Museveni, farmers are in dire need of the market for their yield but factories lack sufficient capacity to absorb the cane.
He says the government will construct the plant and on completion, the project shall become a public-private partnership between the state and the farmers.
Issa Budhugo, the Chairperson Busoga Sugarcane Out grower’s Union says mills can no longer consume 50% of the out-growers’ produce, which is costing farmers.
“Farmers invest almost one million Shillings in every acre of sugarcane but if there is no market for the cane then farmers will derail in loses,” he said.
Museveni noted that although sugar mills within the Busoga region are suffering raw material scarcity due to the increased number of mills, there is an increase in the number of cane farmers who lack where to sell their harvest.
