The introduction of coffee growing, which seems to be getting the attention of the Iteso and the Karimojong, is good because its market is available, but I would like the Iteso and the Karimojong not to rush into it, given the fact that this is a crop which is just being introduced in Teso and Karamoja land.
There is a need for the Ateker people to concentrate on their traditional crops that will help in fighting hunger and poverty.
Yes, coffee is also a good crop, but we must be mindful that our soil texture and climate are totally different from those in Central and Western Uganda where this cash crop has been grown.
Besides that, the Iteso can’t do without cassava, likewise the Karimojong can’t do without sorghum and other crops, so by rushing so quickly to grow coffee and forgetting to grow their traditional staple foods, it will open up serious famine in the two regions.
I remember when Soroti Fruits Factory was established, hundreds of people in Teso abandoned growing their staple crops such as cassava, millet, green gram, soya, etc., and rushed to plant oranges. But as we speak right now, the Iteso are facing serious hunger because the oranges have lacked a market and are rotting in their gardens, yet if they had planted their traditional crops, there would be no crying.
Honestly, cassava in Teso has never been shs 2,000 a kilogram, but it is now happening simply because people became reluctant in growing cassava and shifted their minds to growing oranges with too much excitement that the market was readily available. Later on, the Iteso were told that the variety of oranges they planted was not good, yet thousands of farmers had planted the same variety.
For the last one month, I have again seen the Iteso people running away from growing cassava, millet, sorghum, maize, and now they are rushing into coffee plantation, something I am worried will again be like the rotting oranges in the gardens without markets.
A market is always readily available for a certain crop if few farmers are growing it, but the moment that crop becomes too common among farmers, the market disappears.
I am afraid that the current variety of coffee that people have rushed to plant might also turn out to be disappointing, like what happened to mangoes and oranges.
So my people from Teso and Karamoja, let us be very careful. Our traditional crops are our identity; we should not abandon them.
The writer is a senior veteran journalist.
