The Chinese deputy ambassador to Uganda, Fan Xuecheng, has implored Busoga farmers to exploit their vast agricultural enterprises and tap into the existing free export market opportunities to spur household incomes.
He cited the long-standing partnership between Busoga and Liaoning province geared at exporting agricultural products to China.
Fan also announced another pact where Uganda is among the African countries under the 2024 free export protocol of their products to China, which Busoga needs to embrace.
He said the Beijing Protocol emanated at last year’s Forum for China-Africa Co-operation where the Vice[1]President, Jessica Alupo, represented President Yoweri Museveni.
Fan explained that the two countries decided to elevate and strengthen their relationship further to a comprehensive strategic co-operation to export Uganda’s products such as fish and dried chilli, among others.
“So, both countries are working together to explore the potential of the export from Uganda to China,” he said during his fact-fi nding mission of the ongoing mass soya bean growing at the Mashaiga village agricultural model (VAM) located in Kityerera sub-county, Mayuge district last week.
The VAM programme is being implemented through a collaboration between China Agricultural University, Office of the Vice-President, Busoga Consortium for Development (BCD), the Chinese and Uganda governments.
The BCD is a regional local government-led initiative geared at fi ghting poverty and food insecurity among locals.
Anthony Mula, the director general of BCD, informed Fan that the VAM project was being piloted in Namayombe and Busana villages in Namayingo and Kamuli districts respectively, as well as in Mayuge district.
Mula said the project aims at transforming villages as the epicentre along with the Parish Development Model being promoted by the Government at national level.
“We believe that for us to have an economically and prosperous parish, we must have economically prosperous villages,” he said.
Mula said their plan was to have 12 model villages in the sub-region, with one per district, which would holistically be transformed using agriculture as the lead sector along with others.
He said this would enable them meet their 2030 target of ensuring that the entire Busoga sub-region would be transformed the way China is.
Mula explained that working with the China Agricultural University, they agreed to begin with the soya crop enterprise alone for export with technical support on how it should be cultivated on an acre and reap sh2.7m per harvest.
“The soya market price is sh3,000 per kilogramme and each farmer is expected to harvest about 900 kilogrammes from an acre, which is sh2.7m after three months,” Mula said, referring to this as a good transformation journey.
So far 40 out of the targeted 100 farmers have embraced the soya production in Mayuge.
Fan described the initiative as very interesting and it would promote the livelihood of farmers in the area.
He said the Chinese embassy is always ready to support such models because Uganda remains their life-time partner and friend.
“We find this very interesting geared at promoting the livelihood of the farmers and the embassy is always ready to support such models because Uganda remains China’s life partner and friend,” Fan said.
The envoy stressed how their president, Xi Jinping, announced more plans of supporting and importing Ugandan products beyond agriculture for free to the Chinese market.
He said China was considering prioritising support in areas of infrastructure, health, clean energy, as well as people to people exchange among others.
Fan clarified that the Busoga and Liaoning relationship was also cemented last year when the Uganda’s Third Deputy Prime Minister and chairperson of the ministerial co-ordination committee for BCD, Rukia Isanga Nakadama, led a delegation that included the Kyabazinga, William Gabula Nadiope IV.
“They signed protocols for exporting agricultural products from Busoga to Liaoning province and this was in full implementation. Make use of this partnership to export agricultural products from Busoga to China,” Fan told farmers.
Frank Tibagendeka, the Mayuge district chairperson who is also BCD’s governor, who represented Nakadama, said their focus was on value addition.
Working together with the Chinese embassy, he said they wished to source a soya processing facility per village to process soya milk, which is nutritious for children.
They also want to process the soya beans into flour and chicken feeds to improve incomes and nutrition.
Tibagendeka said their dream was to guide each household to at least earn sh20m per annum as per Museveni’s vision of poverty reduction by 2030.
LEAD PHOTO CAPTION: Mula (centre) briefing Fan (right) about the mass soya bean growing through the village agricultural model in Mayuge district on Thursday. (Photo by Jackie Namboga)
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