Okwere Rallies Teso Farmers to Adopt Coffee as a Commercial Crop

By Skika Reporter.

Farmers across Teso subregion have been challenged to engage coffee  farming

The newly elected Member of Parliament David Beecham Okwere challenges farmers across Teso subregion to adopt coffee growing as a stable commercial crop to boost up agricultural standards in the region.

Okwere sounded this after his return from Kyakwanzi as one of the ideological projects that he tends to impose on the farmers with fact of backing them in agricultural support.

Having been  inspired by President Museveni’s wealth creation message and the memorable guided tour of the president’s expansive farm in Ngoma, Nakaseke district,  Okwere tends  to launch  Coffee Initiative Project in collaboration with The Farmers Guide Uganda Limited for poverty alleviation in the constituency after being sworn in.

Okwere noted that the project will organize farmers in coffee grower groups where they will be trained and supported with inputs to excellence by the agricultural experts.

” This will definitely create awareness amongst farmers on how to plant, grow and sustain coffee growing as prioritized financial crop in the region which will improve on the financial agricultural income thus evading poverty amongst households in the region”,says Okwere.

However,he cautions  youth to desist from unproductive activities and spare  their energetic efforts to engage in  agricultural projects.

“Majority of the youth spent much of their efforts and time at trading centre participating in non-productive activities living the agricultural work in attended too”,says Okwere.

Okwere noted that this has escalated food insecurity in most of the households the region because the consumption rate is higher than the production rate.

Something he says has  contributed higher levels of poverty amongst people in the communities resulting to poor standards of living.

Meanwhile,Stephen –  Ekoom the Chief Executive Officer at The Farmers Guide  Uganda cited that the Acquire Coffee Initiative project will be rolled out after swearing in David Beecham Okwere , where groups will  be identified,trainings will take place focusing on improving on the household incomes .

“In the past, we had cotton, which is getting lost, and of course, being affected by the low prices,and we have identified coffee can actually change the life of people in Teso region  especially in Bukedea district where we’re going to do this project”,says Ekoom.

Ekoom noted that  people doubt and  worry that coffee cannot grow in Teso and yet it actually  grows in  Teso ,we  have done the research, we have tested this, we have been piloting this for the last few years, and we have coffee in Bukedea which is  ready for harvest.
We have at least about 10 acres of coffee in Bukedea already to be harvested , we done research in the last three years  to see if this coffee grow actually and we have proven it as positive result”, says Ekoom.

According to Ekoom they have already done the soil sampling and the mapping in Bukedea District where coffee can be planted and it grows .