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Coffee processing Machine Installed at Loro town council in Oyam district that is lying idle due to lack of electricity.
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A coffee processing machine that was meant to process coffee bean for farmers in Northern Uganda has been lying idle for two years due to lack of electricity.
Installed in 2021 at Ipopong Village in Loro town council, Oyam district, the machine has never been operational following lack of power.
It is located 1.2km away from the electricity grid in the outskirts of the town.
The machine was bought at a tune of sh199m including cost of constructing the house with funding from the Agriculture Cluster Development Project (ACDP) to support coffee farmers in Oyam under their association “Loro coffee growers cooperative society”. It was meant to serve the coffee farmers in the entire northern sub-regions of Lango, Acholi and West Nile.
The ACDP is a 6-year project funded by World Bank under the Ministry of Agriculture. The project aims to raise on-farm productivity, production, and marketable volumes of selected agricultural commodities in specified geographic clusters.
Tony Ongar, the chairman of Loro coffee growers’ cooperative society says they bought the machine in 2021 after writing to the Ministry of Agriculture in 2019 for support to add value to their coffee.
He says at the moment they have 800 registered coffee farmers in Lango sub-region under their cooperative society, but the only challenge is that the machine was installed where there is no electricity.
Ongar says due to lack of processing machine, they sell raw coffee cheaply ranging from sh4,000 to sh8,000 a kilo, yet processed coffee beans would fetch sh10,000-sh15,000 a kilo depending on the quality.
He says due to low prices in raw coffee, other farmers are taking their coffee to Luwero for processing as there are no coffee processing machines in the entire northern Uganda.
Ongar requested the government to supply them with electricity so that they process their coffee beans so that they realise good profit out of their farm.
Tony Ongar the chairman of Loro coffee growers’ co-operative society.
Farmers in Oyam grow coffee on 12,000 acres of land and produce 18,000 tons of coffee annually, according to Tony Opio, the district agricultural officer.
He said said it needs sh103m to buy electric poles and transformer to connect the power to the processing machine.
Cox Ogwal, the production officer Oyam district said under ACP, they targeted crops of coffee, beans, cassava and rice but the project ended in March 2024.
“The lack of power to run the processing machine will demoralize the farmers as they sell cheaply, but when their products are added value, it will attract more farmers as the price of processed coffee is high in the market,” he said.
Benson Walter Dilla, the chairman L.C 5 Oyam district says the the cooperative society lacked land and decided to buy land at the outskirts of the town council where the processing machine was installed.
Dilla says the setting up of machines far from urban areas will take development to areas which are less developed and requested the minister for agriculture and energy to supply power to the processing machine as soon as possible using the rural electrification funds.
“We have production of power here in Karuma which is part of Oyam district. We cannot say that there is lack of power when we are supplying other countries, we need power here so that we add value to our coffee,” Dilla remarked.
William Komakech, the Oyam district resident commissioner says he is disappointed with ministry of agriculture for allowing the machine to be put in area without electricity grid, yet the machine only uses electricity. He cited other agricultural cluster program in Oyam like milk cooling machine that was put in Iceme sub-county instead of Loro, yet there are few cattle there, rice processing machine in Aber county instead of Acaba where government injected sh40m for irrigation scheme, and maize processing machine in Myene among others.
William Komaketch, RDC Oyam district checking some parts of the processing machine during his Visit.
Moses Asiimwe, the Northern region manager Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) says at the moment, they have 82,173 households growing coffee in northern Uganda, producing over 24,000kgs of coffee beans which requires operational processing machines.
When contacted, Irene Birungi, chief executive officer Presidential CEO Forum said the electricity will be supplied before the end of this year.
She pledged to engage the president in July this year when he is expected to meet Northern Uganda farmers in Gulu city.
