The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
Lira, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Uganda National Chamber of Commerce Lango sub-region has called on the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) to strengthen the enforcement of quality assurance.
The Lango sub-region is one of the largest producers of grains and cereals such as beans, soya beans, maize, and sesame among others. However, the region has not benefited much from the shares of these agricultural products.
Morris Chris Ongom, the Director Chamber of Commerce and Industries Lango sub-region says that poor quality of produce has limited the ability of the region to export agricultural produce. “We are eight million people plus in the world and that means if you are producing beans and producing cereals and producing all this, you have potential going to be rich.
Ongom also castigated the farmers in Lango for being greedy and selfish saying their actions negatively impact honest and potential business people.
“If you are at the community level and you are involved in making these grains dirty, imagine how much you are costing the region. Now when that happens that means many people will not come to our market because they will not trust our quality. I’ve talked to friends in Canada, I’ve talked to some of the contacts, we have some Lango people that we have been talking about markets, and some of them do not trust anymore the grains that are coming from Uganda.” He said.
Adding “We want the presence of quality assurance in our region because the truth is that we cannot get rich at the expense of others.”
Sylvia Kirabo, the UNBS Spokesperson explained how it is the responsibility of every stakeholder involved in the process to ensure quality. Adding that UNBS is currently conducting sensitization.
Meanwhile, Robert Solar Lakidu, the Senior Agricultural Inspector- Zonal at the Ministry of Agriculture blames poor quality produce on incorrect use of pesticides, quarantined pests, and climate change and argues that there is a need for farmers to be trained on the best practices.
“The farmers, exporters, all the people who are involved in the value chain must be trained so that they know these requirements because these requirements are given to us by the importing country and we must comply. Now when we don’t do that, then we are not able to export our products to the international market.”
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