West Nile Farmers Exhibit High Quality Products in Agribusiness and Clean Energy Exhibition

ARUA – Chocolate factory is coming in one year to process cocoa beans into powder and chocolate in Koboko district. This was disclosed by James Baba, Former Internal Affairs State Minister and Member of Parliament for Koboko County.

Baba who has been one of the pioneer cocoa promoters in the region was speaking in an interview at the third edition of agriculture tradeshow and clean energy exhibition where he also exhibited cocoa seedlings and Kobococo, a high-quality chocolate made from cocoa produced in Koboko district.

“We have supported cocoa growers in Wes Nile and Korea International Corporation Agency has committed to building another factory at the farmers one stop center in Koboko district,” Baba said on Saturday, March 28, 2026.

He asserted that the upcoming factories are a culmination of years of emphasis on promoting perennial crops, mainly cocoa and coffee to eradicate poverty in West Nile in line with the government’s development agenda.

Baba, expressed optimism that the goal of turning around the economic fortunes of the region is getting closer to realization.

Kobococo alongside new bean varieties produced by Muni university and Amani Juice, a product based on pulp produced in Yumbe district were some of the high-end value-added products showcased during the three-day agriculture and clean energy exhibition at from Thursday to Saturday.

Omia agribusiness group organized the event in partnership with the MasterCard foundation, Palladium among others.

Launched on Tarehe sita, Amani juice that was aimed at showcasing the peace dividends has been marketed in Kapeka, Kampala and its suburbs and now in West Nile in Rhino Camp, Lia and Yumbe and Arua City.

Faith Cecilia, the marketing manager says they buy pulp from a processer in Yumbe and reconstitute it to make 85% mango juice.

The exposition was organized under the theme: “inclusive agribusiness and renewable energy for climate resilience.”

Razak Omia, the group chief Administrative Officer said Omia agribusiness exists to make sure farmers are producing enough food for themselves and their communities’ families, and make money for supporting their children in schools and afford medicine and live better lives.

Expo contributes towards that vision by providing platform for networking, business to business linkages and capacity building.

Razak said we are operation in a period of unpredictable climate in a region of low-income levels. This is the reason for the inclusive youth livelihood project being funded by the MasterCard foundation targeting 250,000 young women in five years and the climate smart jobs under Palladium.

Lawrence Alionzi, Mayor elect, Arua city congratulated Omia agribusiness for organizing the event and the support they give to farmers through input provision, extension services and market linkages.

He called them cultivators of dreams and urged the people to embrace commercial climate smart agriculture for wealth creation.

Rtd Maj Gen Michael Ondoga, the Operation Wealth Creation Coordinator for West Nile, acknowledged that agriculture in the region has been severely affected by vagaries of weather and disturbed climate.

He rallied the people to adopt climate smart practices such as agroforestry, small scale irrigation among others to enable farmers increase productivity and cushion against climate shocks.

He said OWC approach has shifted and evolved in strategy from distributions of planting materials to value addition for sustainable income generation.

Gen Ondoga said the shift in agriculture practice to climate resilience will open avenue for green jobs in the agriculture sector and related technologies such as solar technicians to manage irrigation systems and processing plants.

He called on development partners to facilitate innovation and asked farmers to adopt the new agriculture technologies and renewable energy initiatives. “Let us go green and do things that will protect our environment for the future,” said Gen Ondoga.