In efforts to facilitate the effective implementation of the National Oilseeds Project (NOSP), the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF) has donated two motorcycles to the Jinja District local government.
The Jinja Resident District Commissioner (RDC), Mr. Richard Gulume Balyaino, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), and agricultural officer Mr. Musa Ibanda, along with other district technocrats, received the motorcycles on Friday, August 2, 2024. The transportation means were coupled with 270 kg of soybean seeds.
“We are here today to launch these motorcycles provided to us by the Ministry of Agriculture. They are going to be given to the extension workers to monitor the progress of the National Oilseeds Program,” Mr. Ibanda, Jinja’s agricultural officer, said while unveiling the motorcycles at the district headquarters (Busoga Square).
The government of Uganda, through MAAIF, launched the NOSP in 2023 to maximize the production of cooking oil in the country. This initiative involves growing oilseed crops, including groundnuts, sesame, soybeans, and sunflower, that produce edible oil. This program runs up to 2028.
Supported by the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), NOSP’s key target groups are subsistence smallholder farmers, comprising women (60%) and men and youth (40%).
“Jinja District is fortunate to be among the implementers of this project. As Jinja, we shall be growing soybean and groundnuts, and this season, we have received the seeds,” Mr. Ibanda highlighted.
He mentioned that the seeds received will be planted specifically to obtain more seeds for the selected farmers in Jinja. According to him, the oilseeds are rarely found in agro-shops, calling for professional utilization of the seeds yielded to supply to other farmers.
The provided soybean seeds are in two types, including Mark Soya 3A and Mar Soya 6A.
NOSP seeks to commercialize the oilseeds value chains through a private sector-led approach targeting partnerships with oilseeds processors, input suppliers, service providers, agents, traders, transporters, financiers, scientific research institutions, and nucleus farmers.
The NOSP Project Goal is “inclusive rural transformation through sustainable development of the oilseeds sector.” It aims “to accelerate commercialization in key oilseeds value chains and thereby improve the livelihoods and resilience of the smallholders engaged in oilseed production and marketing.”
The project targets working directly with 120,000 smallholder households. NOSP will also actively partner with processors, input suppliers, service providers, agents, traders, transporters, financiers, and scientific and academic research institutes.
“It is the local governments’ responsibility to monitor and ensure the progress of this project. Jinja District now has three motorcycles. One was procured by Jinja District through the production department, plus these two donated by the Ministry of Agriculture,” Mr. Ibanda highlighted.
Jinja RDC Gulume expressed his full support for the program and commended MAAIF for providing transport means to project focal persons in the district.
“Let us, field officers. Yes, there is work in offices, but the most important work is in the field to oversee the effectiveness of this project. Let us use these motorcycles to go to the field,” Gulume told extension workers.
He added, “We have largely been taken up by sugarcane growing in Busoga, but I appeal to those with limited pieces of land to opt for this program. Sugarcane needs a large piece of land, but oilseeds can be grown anywhere.”
The RDC called on leaders to mobilize locals to embrace the initiative for household incomes.
“Busoga had a number of minors in the previous UBOS enumeration. These young people need food, and we must return to the gardens. I believe when we grow these crops, we shall have people buying them, and we will earn money in our households for sustainability,” he noted.
According to MAAIF, NOSP scales up prior IFAD investments in the oilseeds sector through systematic and sustainable private sector-led approaches and investments.
“NOSP approaches and investments will commercialize the oilseeds sector by capacitating and empowering the smallholders to bring power parity to the sector. This will result in Uganda lowering the trade deficit through increased export of raw and processed oilseeds and by-products; improving foreign exchange and, most importantly, improving the wealth and welfare of smallholders in the northern regions of Uganda,” MAAIF states on its website.
In the Busoga subregion, districts including Namayingo, Bugiri, Tororo, Busia, Jinja, Iganga, Mayuge, Bugweri, Budaka, Buyende, Namutumba, Kaliro, and Kamuli were selected to implement the project. Meanwhile, Napak, Nakapiripirit, Nabilatuk, Abim, and Kaabong districts were selected in the Karamoja subregion.
Other regions include Northern (Gulu), West Nile (Arua), Mid-Northern (Lira), and Mid-Western (Hoima) Uganda.
