Forum for Democratic Change (FDC) presidential candidate Nathan Nandala Mafabi has criticized the government for maintaining monopolistic tendencies in the palm oil value chain, which he says have continued to expose out-growers in Kalangala District to exploitation.
While canvassing for support in the Kalangala islands on Friday, Nandala expressed concern that despite heavy government investment in the growing and production of oil palm fruits, farmers remain unable to negotiate better prices due to limited market options.
In 2005, the government, with funding from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), rolled out the National Vegetable Oil Development Project as a strategic import-substitution initiative aimed at reducing the country’s vegetable oil and fats import bill.
The project, which forms part of the National Development Plan, was intended to develop a fully integrated domestic oil palm industry capable of serving both local and export markets.
However, Nandala noted that nearly two decades after the project’s launch, the government has failed to dismantle the monopoly that runs from the production and supply of seedlings to the processing of oil palm fruits into finished products, a situation he says has resulted in the continued exploitation of local farmers.
Under the project, the government entered into a public-private partnership with Oil Palm Uganda Limited, a subsidiary of BIDCO Uganda Limited, granting it exclusive rights as the supplier of oil palm seedlings and the sole processor of the farmers’ raw produce.
Nandala argues that the partnership agreement was poorly negotiated, giving the investor excessive leverage over oil palm out-growers, who he says are exploited through unstable and unfavourable pricing for both seedlings and raw produce.
He further claims that, beyond the skewed partnership agreement, the investor influenced the government to allocate large tracts of land for nucleus estates, yet some residents who surrendered their land for the project have never been fully compensated.
According to Nandala, the time has come for out-growers to challenge the unfair arrangements and demand a review of the partnership agreement to allow fair competition within the sector.
Turning to fisheries, Nandala appealed to the people of Kalangala to entrust him with state power, pledging reforms in the fisheries sub-sector, which he said has been mismanaged by the current regime.
He promised that instead of harassing fishing communities through illegal and militarised fishing operations, his government would support them with appropriate fishing gear and protect them from foreign attackers who often target fishermen on the lake.
Francis Kayemba, an oil palm out-grower from Mugoye Sub-county, welcomed Nandala’s proposals, saying they address the long-standing concerns of farmers who currently have little influence over price determination for their produce.
He noted that out-growers have repeatedly petitioned the government for a sustainable solution to the persistent price fluctuations, without success, adding that the matter will feature prominently in their campaign demands—especially as the project is being expanded to other parts of the country.
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