Joseph Muvawala, the Prime Minister of Busoga Kingdom and Executive Director of the National Planning Authority-NPA, has called upon President Yoweri Museveni to play a personal role in ensuring the stability of sugarcane prices, with the aim of enabling farmers to achieve meaningful profits.
Speaking at the first Busoga Lukiiko meeting of 2024 held at the Kingdom’s headquarters in Bugembe, Muvawala emphasized the importance of direct engagement between the President, millers, and farmers to establish a fair pricing formula, especially during periods of bumper harvests.
He highlighted sugarcane’s critical role as a raw material for various products, including sugar and ethanol, underscoring the necessity of an equitable pricing framework to ensure that farmers benefit adequately from their contributions as key suppliers to millers.
Muvawala criticized the prevailing situation where millers hold unilateral power over pricing decisions, particularly in Busoga, the largest sugarcane-growing region in the country. He stressed the importance of market competitiveness and fair pricing ratios to safeguard farmers’ interests.
The discussion on sugarcane pricing comes in the wake of revelations by Trade Affairs State Minister David Bahati regarding provisions in the new Sugar Amendment Bill aimed at developing a sugarcane pricing formula. The bill, currently under parliamentary review, seeks to guarantee decent incomes for farmers in line with their investments.
Bahati highlighted the significance of the proposed formula in shielding farmers from the price collapse experienced during the 2018-2021 period, which led to drastically low sugarcane prices and subsequent challenges for farmers.
Issa Budhugo, Chairperson of the Busoga Sugarcane Growers Cooperative Union, echoed the concerns raised by Muvawala, emphasizing the substantial impact of sugarcane on the sub-region’s economic, social, and political landscape. Budhugo urged expedited action from Parliament to address the issue, given the adverse effects of ongoing price drops on farmers’ returns.
In a related context, HRH Gabula Nadiope, the Kyabazinga of Busoga, urged subjects to prioritize commercial agriculture as a means of securing both food and income for their households.
