More than 60% of Uganda’s population is engaged in agriculture, forestry and fishing. Agriculture has grown at average rate of 2.8% per annum in the last 8 years. It represents immense and diverse opportunities for growth along the value chain. It is estimated that smallholder farmers produce a substantive percentage of Uganda’s food production.
There is justified, and increasing attention directly enabling smallholder farmers with the right tools, inputs, post-harvest technologies and storage options. This not only ensures volume production and productivity, but enables quality food production, and the ability to safely store harvests for both home consumption and domestic and international markets.
The collective efforts to enable sustainable production and improve quality at the household level are a priority for a broad range of stakeholders, including Government, Ministries and Private Sector actors across different agricultural value chains.
More applications of agriculture research and technologies in the sector are being made more accessible to smallholder farmers and their families; and even greater productivity and quality gains shall be attained when we collectively give the same attention to reducing post-harvest losses (PHL) and controlling aflatoxins at the household level.
Post-harvest loss reduction is the key to socially and economically transforming prospects for the smallholder farmer at household level, and attaining poverty reduction goals earmarked by National, Regional and International Programs and policies such as the Uganda National Development Plan, the African Union Commission under the Malabo Declaration, and the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Post-harvest losses are a threat to not only to the smallholder farmer. These losses trickle from the garden to market through poor storage and post-harvest practices – which generates another concern, aflatoxins.
Aflatoxins are a silent killer, whose detrimental impact is an increasingly dangerous, emerging threat to public health; consuming aflatoxins beyond acceptable levels in both human and animal feeds can lead to acute poisoning (aflatoxicosis) and can be life threatening. Aflatoxins not only are a lead cause of liver cancer, but reduce immune response across all age groups. Aflatoxins also cause mental and physical stunting in children, which compromises their lifetime productivity.
This is increasingly alarming as grains like maize/posho and beans are a staple for schools hence exposing all Ugandan children and youth to this health threat unless mitigated at the smallholder production level.
Hermetic storage combined with (a) proper post-harvest handling and drying techniques, (b) capacity building at farmer groups / cooperatives enables the adaption of PHL reduction knowledge and, (c) capacity to safely store or aggregate helps to reduce both the initial aflatoxin / mycotoxin infestation, and limit mycotoxin spread in storage.
Acknowledging the importance of organised structures of farmers and cooperatives enhances sustainable control centres for the farmers and the commodities.
Whereas, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Cooperatives is a Government Ministry responsible for promoting Trade, Industry and Cooperatives for the development of the country with a mandate to: