The National Social Security Fund (NSSF) is creating a national company to address the issue of farmers’ limited access to markets.
According to the Fund, the issue of access to markets is one of the fundamental issues afflicting Uganda’s agricultural sector.
While delivering a presentation on Structuring Social Security for Service Delivery at the 10th CPA Economic Forum, CPA Patrick Ayota, the Deputy Managing Director of NSSF noted that although the foreign markets complain of quality issues, farmers do not find it worth investing in quality because of limited markets.
“Farmers are so demotivated that they will not invest in additional quality and quantity because there is no way that they will sell that product,” said CPA Ayota.
“Until we can link that farmer to a market so that there is a discipline that forces him to know that there is a premium if you get the quality standards right, the Parish Development Model will go the way the rest have gone,” he added.
The Fund is confident that the solution to the agricultural market access challenges lies in the establishment of a national company whose main purpose will be to connect the Parish Development Model (PDM) farmers to the markets.
“Uganda needs a national company that will be the final leg that will connect the PDM farmers to the market, through identifying market for Uganda’s agricultural products,” CPA Ayota said.
Among other roles, the company will be tasked with identifying and accessing markets for agricultural products, becoming the intermediate market for farmers, job creation, connecting the ecosystem that supports agriculture i.e financing, research, building supportive infrastructure like warehouses, and enforcing standards and quality.
The Fund is in talks with the government over the establishment of the company, Thamani Ya Kilimo national company. Other stakeholders include the Federation of Uganda Farmers, the Uganda Grain Council, and the Cooperative Alliance of Uganda. The framework is undergoing an approval process and is scheduled for operationalisation in July 2023.
The CPA Economic Forum is organised by the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Uganda (ICPAU). The aim of the Forum is to develop policy recommendations which feed into the national planning process. The 10th CPA Economic Forum runs from 20 – 22 July 2022 at the Imperial Resort Beach Hotel, in Entebbe, and online, and is sponsored by the National Social Security Fund, Bank of Uganda, the Uganda National Oil Company, Uganda Wildlife Authority and Nexia HMS Associates.