BY EDITOR
Vendors in Mawa Market, Nyamwamba Division of Kasese Municipality have appealed to government to allocate for them some piece of land in Mubuku Settlement Irrigation Scheme where they can be able to plant some horticultural goods following a rise in the prices of onions across the district.
Mr. Richard Kimezi, the Chairperson for the Traders in Mawa Market says currently the supply of vegetables has become low compared to their demand because of lack of enough piece of land for the farmers to use to grow crops like onions, cabbages, tomatoes, egg plants and dodo among others, a reason why they are appealing to government to allocate some piece of land to them.
A bunch of onions now goes for shillings 18,000 in Mawa market, making it hard for the traders to receive customers to buy at such a hiked price.
Some of the traders who spoke to our reporter blamed the rise in the prices of onions on the district leaders, whom they accused of allegedly not looking for a specific area for growing vegetable crops, arguing that Mubuku Irrigation Scheme has been used for tree planting instead of enhancing horticulture.
But the District Chairperson, Mr. Eliphaz Muhindi Bukombi says Mubuku Irrigation Scheme has been operating in phases since its existence. According to him, the first phase has been emphasizing the growth of horticultural products. He notes that the second phase which has been facilitated by government for use by the nearby communities has been affected by insufficient water to the altitude of the land from where the water channels are located. He, however, attributed the rise in the prices of onions to the increased demand by the people not only from Kasese district but also from the neighboring local governments, calling upon the farmers to cultivate the crop on a large scale in a bid to overcome the challenge.