By Abraham Ekwaru Soroti District Local government has procured cassava drying and processing machines to improve on value addition, quick processing of making cassava flour, and increase their incomes.

The three machines were procured at the cost of 186million shillings through the Matching Grant Facility under the Agriculture Cluster Development Project [ACDP].

ACDP is a five-year government project initiated in 2018 to improve on-farm productivity, production, and volumes of selected agricultural commodities in specific geographical clusters of the country. With support from the World Bank, government initiated the project to help farmers process their produce, especially maize, and improve the road infrastructure connecting farmers to the various markets.

The farmer associations benefiting from the machines includes, The Community Link for Development Organization in Arapai, Amoru- Amoroto Multipurpose Cooperation in Awaliwal sub county, and Awoja Rural Produce Cooperation in Aukot sub county.

Deputy RDC, DISO, Vice chairperson, Secretary Production, CAO, District Engineer and Internal Auditor inspected the machines at the district headquarters on Tuesday mid-morning and flagged to the respective benefiting farmers association.

Soroti is one of the districts in the Eastern region known for cassava growing.

The farmers have been relying on the open sun-drying system of several tons of cassava which would compromise the quality and required standards on the market.

With the acquisition of these machines the market price for dried cassava will significantly increase as the production of quality cassava flour will improve for the benefit of the farmers. John Olupot one of the farmers, says that the market price for dried cassava will significantly increase as the production of quality cassava flour will improve for the benefit of the farmers. He adds that open drying and poor handling usually affect the quality of cassava flour due to the toxic mould that grows on it as a result of poor storage.

He noted that they have been suffering due to unfavourable weather conditions that delay the drying process. He adds that they usually lose tons of cassava that go bad due to poor handling and lack of value addition machinery and modern technology to solve the problem.

Deputy RDC, DISO, Vice chairperson, Secretary Production, CAO, District Engineer and Internal Auditor inspected the machines at the district headquarters on Tuesday mid-morning and flagged to the respective benefiting farmers association