By Brian Atuhura
The Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries has cited electricity as the major hinderance to operation of the equipments under the Agriculture Cluster Development Project (ACDP)in Masindi district.
Led by the Chairperson of the Committee,Hon.Janet Grace Akech Okori,the Woman Member of Parliament for Abim district, members observed that apart from lack of power to run the machines, there were other challenges affecting these projects including lack of fencing off the the ACDP structures, limited space for drying coffee and maize seeds among others.
The Committee was yesterday,on an oversight visit to assess the status of mplementation of the ACDP projects in cluster 10 which Masindi belongs to.
The Committee was accompanied by the district leadership and they visited two projects which included the Coffee Huller Shelter for Bwijanga Coffee Farmers Cooperative Society and the Maize Mill Shelter for Pakanyi Maize Cooperative Society.
Addressing the committee,the District Chairperson Cosmas Byaruhanga, appreciated government for supporting unionized farmers with value addition equipments.
He however,asked the committee to fast track the installation of power to the facilities to enable farmers process thier maize and coffee and also provide tractors to support cooperative farmers especially those engaged in maize production.
In his closing remarks,the Deputy Resident District Commissioner (D/RDC),Dara Sanony encouraged cooperative farmers to embrace the Parish Development Model (PDM)since it's a mechanism that is directly promoting value addition and increased market accessibility.