Key Issues
- Farmers will network with potential buyers in produce business
- The farmers will obtain new ideas and solutions to production, marketing and sustainable land utilization challenges
- The farmers will come from Ajia, Logiri, Erussi, Wadelai, Purongo and Got Apwoyo
By Felix
Arua-Rural Initiative for Community Empowerment (RICE-WN) is holding a farmer innovation fair in Vurra on Saturday.
The fair offers opportunity for farmers from Arua, Nebbi, Pakwach and Nwoya districts to share best practices in agriculture, marketing of their products and obtaining researched information on various agricultural inputs.
According to the Executive Director for RICE West Nile in a statement, Pax Sakari, said: “The farmer innovations fair is a general exhibition day where all the project beneficiary farmer groups will showcase their products and technologies.”
The farmers have been supported by Horizont 3000 and Austrian Development Agency under the project of Sustainable Rural Agro-Enterprise Development Project (SURAD). This was mean to improve on livelihoods of farming communities in West Nile and Nwoya district.
Top: A farmer group in Vurra Sub-county. While Pax Sakari, the Executive Director of RICE -WN. Photos by Felix
He said farmer awards will also be organised to recognize outstanding innovations and achievements of the best performing farmer groups and individual farmers. This, he said would encourage competitiveness among farmers. National Agricultural Research Organization and other NGOS have been uplifting the capacity of various farmer groups across the region to improve on their agricultural products that is marketable outside the region.
Some farmers have however remained stuck to use of rudimentary tools that limits them to carry out commercial farming. Most commercial farming is mainly done by farmers in Nwoya district where hiring of land and tractors is not expensive.
During the fair, ten farmer groups will exhibit their products. Already 625 farmers and their families have started engaging in market-oriented farming. This also safeguards food security and managing their resources for sustainability.
