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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Stanbic business incubator, an entity that provides business development services for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), has entered into an arrangement to boost the capacity of farmers in the Bunyoro region to adequately supply food in the oil and gas sector.
This will form part of the partnership between the business incubator and an agricultural firm Pure Grow Africa, to improve the standards and quality of foodstuff supplied to oil companies. The move will also see farmers in the region get registered on the National supply database and also have timely information on what is required.
Bobby Juuko Kimbugwe, the Chief Executive Officer of Pure Grow Africa says that many farmers in the Bunyoro region have limited information about opportunities in the oil and gas sector and that it is through the partnership that farmers will be availed timely information to supply the industry.
He says farmers intending to supply the oil sector will be in a position to acquire all the available training that will boost their capacity to produce quality food needed to be consumed by workers. He adds that the Hoima Stanbic business incubator centre will act as a centre for information on oil and gas to the farmers at no cost.
Tonny Otoa, the Chief Executive Officer of the Stanbic Business Incubator says that the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two entities is going to provide an underlining opportunity for farmers to scale up and transform their food and agricultural system. He says that the training to be availed to the farmers will help them to upgrade from practising subsistence farming to commercial farming.
Otoa says the need for supply of quality food in the oil and gas sector is crucial and therefore farmers need to be prepared and equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge on how to supply the sector.
Pius Wakabi, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture applauded the two entities for the initiative that he says will open the gate for farmers not only in the Bunyoro sub-region but the entire country to supply the oil and gas industry. He says the farmers need to be organized and registered in order to know the quality of food they are to supply in the sector.
David Kwezi, a farmer from Kikuube district says the signing of the MoU has come at a time when farmers in the area are yearning for opportunities in the oil and gas sector but can not do much since they have no one to connect them. He is optimistic that the training will be of great value for them.
Edward Barongo, a farmer from Kigorobya sub-county in Hoima district says farmers in the region need to be prepared on how, when and what to supply in the sector.
For long, farmers in the Bunyoro sub-region have been accusing the government for leaving them out from opportunities that will accrue in the oil and gas sector saying they have not fully been equipped with information regarding what they can supply in the crucial industry.
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