By George Bukenya
Kampala, Uganda —- Amidst the economic crisis, the delay of the rainy season has left dealers in farm products in Uganda grappling and stuck with their products as farmers’ skip purchasing inputs such as seeds and pesticides making the traders in the sub-sector feel the pinch more.
According to Mulangira Musanje of Balangira agro-chemicals, the prolonged dry spell has made not only farmers uncertain of what next will happen but also the dealers in farm inputs as they sit and dose in their shop without getting a single buyer yet the land lord demands rent at every end of the month.
“The delay in the coming of the rain has crippled our businesses because we can’t make for new order when the old stock is still existing in huge volumes because we lack money to pay our suppliers and land lords are yet even to evict us,’’ Musanje explained.
Anastasia Ntege of Safari Foods Uganda said that despite the lack of customers due to climate change, another challenge they face is the price instabilities of their products and she attributes this to the ever rising exchange rate caused by the persistent rise in the value of the dollar in relation to the shilling.
“ We have been hugely affected by the climate change, we are just looking at the stock with buyers yet we incur daily costs like transport from home to the work place and even feeding,’’ Ntege lamented.
She further said, “even when the rain has started, we have little hope of clearing our old stock because the season has been shorted.’’
Ntege also attributed their economic hardship to continuous shrinking value of the shilling against the dollar and the increased local taxes.