Frustration as Nebbi Farmers Miss Out on Coffee Seedlings
Locals begin to pick coffee seedlings into their basins in Okemu East village Otego sub county. Photo Credit; Clement Aluma
NEBBI – Hundreds of farmers in Atego Sub-County, Nebbi District, have been left disappointed after receiving far fewer coffee seedlings than they had expected from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).
The farmers, who woke up early and converged at Danis Oola’s nursery seedbed in Okemu East village, Paminya Parish, carrying basins and boxes, received only a fraction of what they had demanded.
“I prepared one and a half acres of land and was expecting about 1,050 seedlings, but I was allocated only 50,” said a disappointed Solomon Onencan of Okemu East. “I brought my wife and children to help carry them, but it was not what I got.”
Onencan is not alone. Florence Atimango of Paminya Upper said she had applied for 500 seedlings after preparing her field as directed and having it inspected by extension workers. “They gave me only 50 seedlings. What can I do with that? I don’t have money to buy more,” she said.
Prior to the distribution, both political leaders and extension workers had mobilized farmers since last year to prepare their fields in time for the first rains and to register their seedling demands at the sub-county headquarters. The farmers responded positively.
Stephen Anecho, a local seedling supplier, said he had raised over 300,000 seedlings but was only allocated 30,000 to distribute.
He and other suppliers are also frustrated after the government, through the now-dissolved Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA), failed to pay them for seedlings supplied to farmers since 2023.
“It is painful to see people going home without seedlings,” Anecho said. “Some missed out even when UCDA still existed because they could not afford to buy on their own. Only the government can support them.”
The Nebbi District Vice Chairman, Geoffrey Okello, revealed that the district had submitted a demand of 4 million coffee seedlings to MAAIF but received only 1.8 million.
“When we got the allocation, our chairman immediately wrote to the minister. As we speak, he has travelled to Kampala to meet the minister. We are hopeful the number will be increased,” Okello said.
Consolate Acayo, the Senior Communications Officer at MAAIF, called for cost-sharing, urging farmers who can afford it to buy additional seedlings. She explained that the ministry planned according to the registered demands.
“The number of coffee planters is growing rapidly. Some people registered late because their friends had done so. We need to do cost-sharing where possible. The government will continue supporting farmers, but people should also support themselves,” Acayo said.
She urged farmers to register and get properly verified early to avoid similar shortages in future.