By KT Reporter
Intending oil palm outgrowers in Sango Bay estates, Kyotera District, are frustrated by long delays in seedling supply from contractors, threatening the progress of the project.
In 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, in partnership with Oil Palm Uganda Limited (OPUL), began expanding the National Oil Palm Project by establishing new plantations in the former Sango Bay Sugar Estates.
Under the arrangement, the government allocated about 14,000 hectares of land to OPUL to establish nucleus plantations that would be complemented by production from smallholder outgrowers in the surrounding communities.
Enos Mugisha, the Chairperson of the Kyotera Oil Palm Outgrowers Cooperative, said many farmers prepared their gardens after being mobilized to join the project, but have waited in vain for the seedlings.
Mugisha explained that in 2024, the government approved their initial request for 130,000 oil palm seedlings to be distributed among outgrowers. However, he said the contractor has failed to meet the contractual obligation of supplying the plantlets.
Under the agreement, OPUL committed to supply the required seedlings, herbicides, and other inputs to support government efforts to establish a wider network of small-scale farmers.
Mugisha said the delay has left many farmers impatient and that some are considering cultivating other crops.
He asked the National Oil Palm Project steering task to break the monopoly in the supply of oil palm seedlings.
According to Mugisha, the cooperative has so far registered more than 900 willing outgrowers, but only about 23 percent of them have received small quantities of the requested seedlings.
John Ludungokol, the Assistant Commissioner for Crop Production at the Ministry of Agriculture, expressed concern about the slow pace of seedling supply despite the contract having been signed and funds released on time.
He asked the contractor to liaise with the local district government to secure trucks that can transport seedlings from germination centres to farmers so that they are not kept waiting for long periods.
Patrick Kintu Kisekulo, the Kyotera District Chairperson, said district leaders are under pressure from farmers and have appealed to the ministry to compel the supplier to speed up the process.
He explained that many of the outgrowers are former occupants of the Sango Bay estates who previously used the land for cattle grazing and crop cultivation.
Their livelihoods were disrupted when the government repossessed large portions of the land, and delays in integrating them into the project have increased their frustration.
Robert Anguma, the OPUL Project Coordinator, said the delays were caused by administrative processes that could not be skipped while establishing the plantations.
According to Anguma, it took longer than expected to verify land ownership for the outgrowers and obtain environmental clearance from the National Environment Management Authority.
Records indicate that at least 1.2 million oil palm seedlings have already been planted in the Sango Bay area.
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