Kamuli, Uganda: Farmers have been urged to embrace and respect cassava growing as their business, job for food security, medicinal, and income, thus making a shift from sugarcane, which is a selfish cash crop.
The call was made by Kamuli District LCV Vice Chairperson, Ms Sarah Sambya, while addressing Busoga farmers on a site field visit to the ongoing Dei Bio Pharma factory at Busambu, Namasagali sub-county in Kamuli District yesterday.
Dei Bio Pharma Ltd, which will officially open in October this year, will require 500 tons of cassava daily as raw material for its pharmaceutical drugs and vaccines to produce essential medicines industry, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Greater Busoga Sugarcane Growers Union to supply the factory with cassava.
“We need to embrace cassava growing as not only a viable commercial venture with a ready market but also a sustainable and promotes food security because sugarcane is a selfish crop that has led to food insecurity and cutting off other trees,” Sambya rallied.
The LCV congratulated Dr Matthias Magoola, who secured a United States Patent for Cancer and life-saving drugs and vaccines for giving value addition to cassava and being an inspirational local investor, a visionary entrepreneur, revolutionizing health care.
“Dei has brought development, market, and health home. This is an industry, not a project, to boost the local farmers who are going to sell directly,” she pointed
Godfrey Biriwali, the Greater Busoga Sugarcane Growers’ Union Chairperson, said the cassava project has come to change the game of the sugarcane craze, and redeem Busoga from exploitation and food insecurity.
Giving comparable economic advantages of cassava over sugarcane, Birwali said an acre of sugarcane gives 3 million after an 18-month wait, but an acre of cassava will give 2.5 million in just 8 months, translating to 5 million for the sugarcane period, yet cassava will also provide food for the family.
“If we can patiently grow 10 acres of sugarcane moreover,r with no memorandum of understanding, ready world market prices,” Biriwali encouraged
Biriwali assured that once the Dei Bio Pharma project hits the road, farmers will get ready market and value for their sweat at the best world rates because the USA Food Department has already certified it for use in any part of the world.
Dr Michael Mugabira, the site manager at Busambu, rallied local farmers to do things consistently with a lot of care, grow with the factory, support it with the raw material, but urged them to use good agronomic practices and get only certified seeds to match the international market.
He revealed that the factory will not only use the cassava starch for drugs and ethanol but also refine it to fine sugar used in beverage industries. He added that cassava bio-medical starch controls prostate cancer, and from the fresh cassava, it is going to have Power, pharmaceutical, and spirit Ethanol integrated and blended to produce bio-fuels.
“The issue now is productivity, not market, and with connectivity by ferry across Lake Kyoga to Teso and Lango regions, massive employment, name it, we are going to replace firewood, charcoal, and adopt green energy cooking,” Mugabira stated.
The partnership between Busoga sugarcane farmers and Dei BioPharma marks a transformative step towards sustainable agriculture and economic diversification in the region.
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