The Kenyan government has called for a framework under which Uganda can start producing food in a structured way for a guaranteed market in Kenya to address its food needs and enhance income for Ugandan farmers.
According to Maj Gen George Owinow, the Kenyan High Commissioner to Uganda, one of the major challenges that his country faces is food insecurity, which he said can be addressed if both governments create a structured way of producing food with a guaranteed market.
He added that Uganda is blessed with a diversity of food that should be marketed in Kenya too.
Last week, Maj Gen Owinow led a delegation comprising of Kenyan insurance companies, banks, investment advisors, among others, to the districts of Kiryandongo, Lira, Dokolo, Amuru and Lamwo, on a fact-finding mission to understand the conditions under which local companies and those owned by Kenyans in northern Uganda, are producing food that is exported to Kenya.
He told local leaders about the business opportunities available for both countries, especially to the farmers.
He noted that Kenya is in dire need of beans, coffee, soya, sorghum, maize, millet, rice and cassava, which are produced in Uganda but it can only access 40 percent of it.
In Amuru District, where Kenyan farmers have established mechanised farms, Micheal Lagony, the district chairman, urged Kenyan farmers to coordinate with their counterparts in Uganda for better trade.
