By Chris Mugasha
As tea farmers continue to feel the pinch over a ‘collapsed’ tea industry, President Yoweri Museveni has been petitioned not to abandon tea farmers at such a critical time.
Lay. Canon Yorokamu Batuna one of prominent farmers in Bushenyi district who is also among the pioneers of tea growing in the area said during the former President late Idi Amin government, a similar situation happened and farmers had to abandon tea plantations to overgrow to bushes. In 1960s, Batuna an agriculturalist was deployed in Kyamuhunga to promote tea growing and since then he has always been a tea growing advocate.
Speaking to Western Focus Magazine at his home on Monday in Kyamuhunga Sub County in Bushenyi district, Batuna recalled that, at that time the tea industry left many farmers disappointed and were compelled to uproot the tea plantations because Amin’s government failed to intervene and bail them out.
He said they later came to revive tea growing and rehabilitate the plantations which had been abandoned when president Museveni took over power. Batuna said the NRM government has since been supporting the tea sector including supplying tea seedlings to farmers to increase on their acreage/plantations plus providing the extension services to farmers.
“It is very unfortunate that the disappointed and disgruntled tea farmers are uprooting tea plantations again while others have chose to abandon the plantations,” Batuna said. A kilo of green tea has reached at as low as Shs220=. A tea plucker takes shs120-Sh150= per kilogram plucked. Some farmers have decided to surrender the gardens to pluckers just to mantain them until the situation is restored.
Batuna who is Museveni’s OB at Mbarara High school appealed to Museveni to reconsider his stand/position concerning the tea sector and intervene before the plantations turn into bushes.
Recently, President Museveni said among his 4acre model message, he did not mention tea growing as among the enterprises. Museveni lists coffee, zero grazing, orchard/fruit growing, and poultry as enterprises that households/families should venture into if poverty is to be eradicated.
Batuna observed that tea farmers need to be given hope and re-assurance and support.
Like many have indicated, Batuna proposed that tea farmers can be supported with access to credit, fertilizers and other agri-inputs.
Batuna however also blamed the situation in the tea industry to a leadership gap in the sector (tea industry.) “There are few voices advancing issues of tea,” he noted. End.
