JINJA – Banana farmers in Uganda will soon be able to significantly increase their farm gate price of matooke if they align their farming to the commercialization model being pursued by the Banana Industrial Research and Development Center (BIRDC) which is aimed at adding value to the crop at every stage of the production process.
The Minister for Science, Technology, and Innovation Hon. Monica Musonero made these remarks during the official unveiling of the Tooke Comercialisation blueprint at the Jinja Agricultural showground on Friday where she was the Chief Guest. She said that farmers now have the opportunity to add value to their crops at the collection hubs where they can not only deliver their fresh produce but can also process other related products.
During the event, the Director General of BIRDC Rev. Prof. Florence Isabiriye Muranga said that the organization intends to invest over Ugx214 Billion in the next five years to empower farmers to take full advantage of the commercialization of the Banana Value Addition process.
She added that it is projected that Ugx196 Billion will be used for Agro-inputs, Ugx16 Billion for capacity building and Ugx1.6 Billion for ICT systems.
The commercialization process hopes to scale up production at the pilot plant from 1.5 MT per day to 15 MT per day, expand the portfolio of banana growing area by 25% in the targeted growing districts, invest in 172 community driers within collection hubs which will give farmers the opportunity to earn more from value addition, and also install 8 mega drying plants by the end of the fifth year. “We also intend to have achieved about 90% adoption rate of new technologies across 10 districts by end of the fifth year”
The commercialization phase is intended to take advantage of Government investment in research and development including capacity building along the banana farming value chain whose main purpose is to promote value addition, reduce post-harvest losses, and increase household income from banana farming as a business.
BIRDC, a successor to the Presidential Initiative on Banana Industrial Development (PIBID), is mandated to ensure the sustainability and commercialization of the pilot banana value addition project.
Following research that was launched at Makerere University targeting diversification of the post-harvest and banana marketing chains as a safety net for the underutilized surplus, It was discovered that there was a need for a pilot banana processing project that would act as the missing link between production and value addition.
PIBID, established in 2005 by the government has been able to transform the green banana crop from a low-value commodity to an industrial commodity through its pilot project. However, there is a need for the project to become self-sustaining beyond its project life in order to consolidate the gains it has achieved in the sector.
Rev. Prof. Muranga, said that the Commercialization Process will comprise various steps including
Automation and scaling at four levels including optimization of drying capacity and efficiency, optimization of storage capacity, energy efficiency, and building dynamic supply chain models.
Technology transfer to viable communities for primary processing and bakery projects through business incubation.
Building a global marketing and distribution network.
Scaling up operations through the Industrial Technology Park at Sanga to deliver the wider banana industrial sub-sector to the nation.
“The commercialization phase of the pilot plant is key in ensuring that the company meets its target of breaking even within three years and becoming self-sustainable in four years,” said Muranga.
According to Andrew Matovu, the Marketing Manager, These steps will enable BIRDC to become a 100 billion sales revenue entity within five years,” said Muranga.
“The process is also aimed at positioning BIRDC to target new markets emerging in Europe, North America, the Middle East &Asia,” said Matovu.
