Lubega said that the current PDM layout requires beneficiaries to pay minimal interest on the credit facilities extended to them, contrary to the sharia laws on finance, which promote non-interest returns on loans acquired.
Susan Nabirye, one of the residents says that in 2018, district officials ordered to vacate the wetland and provide space for the surveyors to map out one of the government’s protected areas, which they adhered to.
The farmers note that, unlike the bureaucratic system of selling sugarcane, which involves powerful middlemen to procure sale permits at the expense of smallholder farmers, cocoa exporters directly purchase the fruits from the farmers, hence enabling them to individually negotiate for competitive prices.
In September, Finance Minister, Matia Kasaijja, alongside other leaders and sugarcane farmers within Busoga sub-region held a joint meeting where they revealed that the government was committed to constructing a Shillings 135 billion sugar plant in Luuka district to take up the surplus cane.
UMEME’s corporate affairs and regulatory director, Blessing Nshaho says that, much as they have partnered with agencies to ensure that, most of the trading centres have access to power, electric wires are being vandalized, which has since slowed down connections.
Dimintiriya Byobona, a resident of Bugomba village is one of the farmers who have abandoned sugar cane growing in favor of coffee. Byobona owns 31 acres of land, which has been using for sugar cane growing.
