Government tasked for community critical sensitization over Coffee Farmers’ registration

Amos Tayebwa

Mbarara

As the Government of Uganda moves to start a process of registering all coffee farmers in the country, the Government has been encouraged to carry a massive and critical sensitisation with farmers before the registration exercise is embarked on.

According to UCDA, the government has so far allocated about Shs13 billion towards the coffee farmers registration exercise.

However, the coffee farming stakeholders and some of the Legal experts have informed the Government that the coffee farmers in the deep areas will reject the registration exercise unless critical sensitization is done on why their coffee is required to be registered.

Speaking to this publication, Eliakim Atumanya Kapson, who is a coffee farmer and the Advocate of the High Court of Uganda and High Court of Kenya has emphasised that the government must portray the purpose of registering coffee farmers so that the farmers can easily embrace this program.

Atumanya who also intends to stand for Kajara County MP seat has revealed that there has not been any sensitization made to local farmers since the recent coffee bill controversy started in the country.

“Let our people understand about the issues concerning their coffee, there is no sensitization, people don’t understand why the government is even registering the coffee farmers, they don’t even know why the government is transfering UCDA to the Ministry of Agriculture. In my opinion as a legal person and a stakeholder in coffee farming, there should be critical sensitization, let the authorities go and senstize communities, the Local Leaders and religious leaders. Tell our farmers  why you are registering them and this will make our people understand and they will cooperate, but if you don’t do so and  you just come and start registering them, definitely the people will reject the exercise and they will be right to because they won’t be understanding why you are registering them. So I would encourage the Government officials concerned on this exercise to first sensitize the communities” said Atumanya Kapson

“We need also to make our people understand why UCDA is being transferred to Ministry of Agriculture, this should have been done first  by allowing our Leaders like Members of Parliament to gather People’s views and opinions about the coffee issues and be presented,  then later you show them the good side of transferring UCDA to Ministry of Agriculture. Coffee is a national treasure, most people studied on the money for coffee, whether they are farmers or they are traders of coffee in anyway but many people have been benefiting from coffee so that’s why coffee is becoming a contentious issue across the country” he added

Atumanya further asked the communities especially the people of Kajara which is one of the most coffee producing areas in the country that they should not be discouraged about the transfers and heated debates about the coffee in the country. He urged the farmers not to be worried and  keep planting more coffee.

He appealed to the ministry of Agriculture to support the farmers by providing more seedlings, fertilizers and creating for them more markets for their coffee.