Milling Equipment

MILLING EQUIPMENT

NAADS distributes milling equipment to farmers as one of the initiatives to reduce post-harvest losses as well bring value addition facilities closer to the farming households for improvement of livelihoods and rural incomes.

The milling equipment is provided to farmers organized in farmer groups/organizations or associations/ cooperative societies.

Rationale for NAADS Support

• To bring value addition services closer to the people
• To provide an easy market for agricultural produce
• Create employment especially for the youth who work in these facilities as operators and administrators
• To improve group cohesion for the beneficiary organizations

Maize Mills

Production of maize has increased over the years with an increasing trend towards commercial production attributed partially to increased adoption of improved maize varieties by farmers provided by NAADS and other partners. Whereas maize is predominantly a staple food crop, it’s also an important cash crop contributing to household incomes & national export earnings.

Maize production statistics based on district returns to UBOS show a steady increase overtime from 1.17 million MT in 2001 to about 2.55 million MT in 2011 and above 4 million MT in 2018.

Following the significant increase in maize production, there was an outcry of lack of market from the farmers which prompted government through NAADS to provide simple milling facilities at rural level.  NAADS has strategically considered supporting farmers with maize milling facilities to take care of the value addition needs at rural level.

Apart from offering a quick market to the farmers, the milling equipment provides value addition solutions to the farmers and ultimately increasing their incomes.

Rice Mills

A number of interventions by Government through its ministries and agencies, non-Government and Private Sector players have resulted into a significant increase in the production of rice in the different rice growing regions. Total production is currently estimated at over 165,000 metric tons per annum.

With the introduction of new varieties of rice including upland rice, rice growing has spread across different regions in the country. The demand for rice has also increased both locally and in the international market. Locally, rice has become a staple food for many Ugandans.

The increased production resulted into an increased demand for rice milling equipment. In response, Government through NAADS is providing mini rice mills to farmer groups. The mills are equipped with destoners that remove stones from the rice.

The intervention has improved the quality of the rice produced in Uganda and widened its marker.

Feed Mills

There has been a steady growth of the livestock sector in Uganda in the recent years. The sector constitutes 17 percent of the agricultural GDP and is a source of livelihood to more than 5 million people in the country. The sector is categorized into cattle, goats, pigs, sheep and poultry.

The growing local and regional demand for meat and milk products, and poultry products has escalated the number of livestock in the country over the years. As a result, there is an increased demand for animal and poultry feeds across the country.

Due to the increased demand for animal feeds coupled with the high cost of feeds, NAADS is supporting livestock farmers with modern feed mills to mitigate the ever increasing prices of feeds. The feed mills are given to organized farmer groups to assist them in milling their own animal feeds ultimately reducing on the cost of production.

The support is in line with the National Animal Feeds Policy which promoted the development of local capacity of stakeholders to optimally utilize the feed resources in order to increase the supply as well as improve the quality of animal products and by-products, and to maximize the economic and social benefits of the livestock sub sector.