The Independent Uganda: You get the Truth we Pay the Price
State Minister for Investments Evelyn Anite, thanked President Museveni and the NRM Government, for ensuring security in the country. She observed that peace and stability has encouraged investors to the area resulting in the creation of employment opportunities for the youth and contributing to the expansion of the revenue base of the country.
Nwoya district LC5 Chairperson Okello Oryem, said that the district is committed to ensuring development and employment opportunities for its people. He said that Nwoya district has established an investment plan to guide it on development adding that the district has so far identified two pieces of land for construction of Industrial Parks and called on the President to find investors.
Dr. Hassan Sobhi and Akos Zolo, who spoke on behalf of FOL Logistics Uganda Limited, and the Chief Executive Officer, Mohammod Ahmed Bawizir, said that their company was not only committed to investing in full rice farming production but also improving the welfare of the people in the area.
Anaka Sub-County LC3 Chairperson, Geoffrey Opobo, appealed to President Museveni to direct the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) to gazette the National Parks so that wild animals do not destroy people’s crops.
“There are so many people who are doing large scale farming of water melons but the elephants from the Park destroyed all their fruits,” he reported.
Who are FOL Logistics?
FOL Logistics Uganda Limited, is a leading Ugandan business involved in the rice value chain from procurement, processing of rice paddy, warehousing, distribution and marketing of rice in Uganda as well as in the East African community. The company produces the Kingdom Rice brand and is headquarter at Namanve Industrial Park in Mukono district.
The company employs about 600 people with 200 on the farm in Nwoya and 6000 at Namanve. It is also changing the value chain of rice through development of commercial farming in Uganda, adopting sustainable and high productivity farming methods to support the rise of affordable consumption. FOL begun its operations of importing finished processed rice and later went on to import semi and unprocessed feedstock which processes and sells through distribution chain.
The company had been buying rice from Pakistan but found out that farmers in the Acholi Sub-Region grew quality rice; the reason why the company has reached out to farmers, created business friendship and started buying rice from them on market price.
The company hopes to have farms in all regions of the country with a program that supports their out-growers with inputs like pesticides, seeds, tractor and technical practices such as modern farming methods.
According to Steven Byandala, the FOL Farm Manager, the company is currently experimenting growing rice that matures within 70 days. Nwoya farm produces 500 metric tones of rice daily and is hopeful hit an output of 450,000 tones of rice per year, enough to eliminate rice imports into the country.
SOURCE: PPU
