In his article entitled “Why farmers need to produce for the market” (New Vision, 12 March 2009), Mr. Ambrose Bugaari argues passionately about the need for market orientation in the agricultural sector. He underscores the establishment of producer organisations; creation of certified rural agricultural commodity bulking centres; and scaling-up of warehouse receipt systems – as some of the measures to improve agricultural marketing.
His views indeed resonate some of the latest policy directions that many poor countries around the world, Uganda inclusive, consider as eminent pathways for rural transformation. Consider the warehouse receipt system for example. They have potential for improving overall efficiency of markets, particularly in the agribusiness sector, because producers and commercial entities can convert inventories of agricultural raw materials or intermediary or finished products into a readily tradable device.
Since warehouse receipts are negotiable instruments, they can be traded, sold, swapped, and used as collateral to support borrowing. They also provide farmers with an instrument that will allow them to extend the sales period of modestly perishable products well beyond the harvesting season.
However, In order for a warehouse-receipt system to be viable, the economy within which it operates must meet certain conditions. For instance the prospective recipient of a warehouse receipt should be able to determine, before acceptance, if there is a competing claim on the collateral underlying the receipt.
Secondly, the warehouse system requires sound operational architecture – such as reliable warehouse certification, guaranteeing basic physical and financial standards; the existence of independent determination and verification of the quantity and the quality of stored commodities, based on a national grading system; and the availability of property and casualty insurance extending to agricultural commodities.
Thirdly, a key prerequisite for the acceptability of warehouse receipts by the trade and by banks is the existence of a performance guarantee for warehouses, assuring that the quantities of goods stored match those specified by the warehouse receipt and that their quality is the same as, or better than, that stated on the receipt. Without this guarantee, farmers and traders will be reluctant to store their crops, and banks will be hesitant to accept warehouse receipts as secure collateral for financing agricultural inventories.
While I don’t want to sound a pessimist, I can’t realistically see these pre-conditions being met in the foreseeable future in Uganda. There is simply too much corruption in the system; regulatory institutions are riddled with incompetence at national level; while being non-existent at district and lower governance levels. In any case, there is considerable loss of public trust in collective marketing owing to the past fiascos, and I can guarantee that most commercial banks will remain sceptical about dealing with anybody who comes with a promissory note based on agricultural inventory.
Moreover, looking at the quality of government investments (in roads which don’t last a year; schools which crumble before they are commissioned; hospitals whose supplies are never delivered; etc), I doubt that there will be sufficient government commitment and investment of the required calibre to guarantee safe storage of agricultural products in rural warehouses. Letting the private sector to run rural warehouses will obviously make the service too costly for the impoverished farmers.
What I don’t doubt is that the government of Uganda will force through some legal framework on the warehouse receipt system. In fact, that is inevitable given the hysteria that has enshrouded the concept of agricultural warehousing in the recent past. However, government ought to know that passing frameworks is the easiest part; the devil will be in the details of operationalising such frameworks and ensuring they deliver benefits to farmers.
In any case, one needs to ask whether farmers have enough produce to warehouse when nearly one third of the country’s population is reportedly facing starvation! Therefore where as Mr. Ambrose Bugaari contended that the supply-driven, government interventionist approach is doomed, I strongly differ! Such an approach is what exactly we need at the moment to enable the starving farmers escape hunger. Talk of the warehouse receipt system, while undoubtedly good, is far-fetched for the impoverished rural farmers.
15 March 2009
10 March 2009
How safe is Uganda's airspace?
With nine plane accidents occurring in Uganda in nine years, our airspace might be one of the most unsafe in the world! Just consider the following statistics:
1) March 8, 2009 – A Somalia-bound Illyushin 76 plane operated by Aerolift crashes and sinks into Lake Victoria soon after taking-off at Entebbe International Airport, killing all 11 people on board;
2) February 20, 2009 – An Antonov 12 cargo aircraft also operated by Aerolift from Entebbe International Airport to Ukraine crashes at Luxor while attempting to take off after a refuelling stopover. All the aircraft’s five-member crew are killed upon impact;
3) April 21, 2008 – A Kenya Airways plane overshoots the runway at Entebbe airport but the aircraft and passengers are all safe;
4) September 25, 2007 – A twin-engine, eight-seater French-made aircraft belonging to Furgo Airborne Surveys crashes soon after take-off at Entebbe International Airport, killing two people;
5) June 16, 2006 – A Uganda People's Defence Forces aircraft crashes and sinks into Lake Victoria during a military exercise;
6) April 30, 2006 – A South African chartered plane goes missing in the DR Congo and is found crashed on the mountains bordering Uganda;
7) March 19, 2005 – A Boeing 707 cargo plane headed for Togo from Ethiopia with 3.2 tonnes of cargo plunges into Lake Victoria as it lands to refuel at Entebbe International Airport;
8) January 8, 2005 – A DR Congo-registered cargo plane belonging to Service Air Company crashes near Entebbe International Airport, killing its six-member Russian crew;
9) April 30, 2000 – A DAS Air Cargo DC-10 aircraft from London with over 50 tonnes of cargo crashes into Lake Victoria as it lands at Entebbe International Airport. All crew members miraculously survive;
Entebbe International Airport has been reported as having some of the best air space management radar systems (further revamped ahead of CHOGM). This not withstanding, more plane crashes and accidents have occurred in Uganda compared with other international airports anywhere else in the Africa.
It seems Uganda Civil Aviation Authority CAA takes the blame for most of the mishaps given that it has glaringly failed to exercise its air control functions. At the moment, CAA is one of the airport regulatory authorities in the world which still allow obsolete, poorly serviced, soviet-era planes not only to use our air space, but also land and take off at our International Airport. While you will not hear of an Illyushin or Antonov, or any carrier without a sound service record landing or taking off any where else where a reputable airports regulatory body is in charge, Uganda remains the safe haven for aircrafts which will soon have no where else to land.
True, Uganda CAA has for some time now enforced ICAO rules on registration of old planes and continues to refuse to register any of them in Uganda. However, it has utterly failed to ban such aircraft from actually flying in and out of Uganda as long those ramshackled planes are on the registry of other countries. Powerful businessmen such as Sam Engola (the owner of Aerolift) whose planes have been involved in the most recent air accidents) take advantage of CAA impotence to get their obsolete planes registered in countries such as the DR Congo, and then freely maraud in our airspaces.
To the shrewd businessmen, Antonovs, Iljushins and other out-dated, poorly serviced planes provide a silver-lining because of their cheapness. However, their accident record across the African continent makes a horrific reading. It is therefore high time Uganda CAA enforced a complete ban on such aircraft operating in Uganda’s airspace to save not only the lives of innocent passengers and but also restore the its own credibility, and that of the Government of Uganda.
I hate to see the Hon. Minister of Transport and Communications wanting to be seen doing his job by appointing meaningless committees to “investigate the cause of crash” instead of ensuring CAA does what it’s supposed to do!
Uganda already has too much carnage on the road, air carnage would be a sour icing on an already sour cake!
Published on: http://newvision.co.ug/D/8/21/674236
1) March 8, 2009 – A Somalia-bound Illyushin 76 plane operated by Aerolift crashes and sinks into Lake Victoria soon after taking-off at Entebbe International Airport, killing all 11 people on board;
2) February 20, 2009 – An Antonov 12 cargo aircraft also operated by Aerolift from Entebbe International Airport to Ukraine crashes at Luxor while attempting to take off after a refuelling stopover. All the aircraft’s five-member crew are killed upon impact;
3) April 21, 2008 – A Kenya Airways plane overshoots the runway at Entebbe airport but the aircraft and passengers are all safe;
4) September 25, 2007 – A twin-engine, eight-seater French-made aircraft belonging to Furgo Airborne Surveys crashes soon after take-off at Entebbe International Airport, killing two people;
5) June 16, 2006 – A Uganda People's Defence Forces aircraft crashes and sinks into Lake Victoria during a military exercise;
6) April 30, 2006 – A South African chartered plane goes missing in the DR Congo and is found crashed on the mountains bordering Uganda;
7) March 19, 2005 – A Boeing 707 cargo plane headed for Togo from Ethiopia with 3.2 tonnes of cargo plunges into Lake Victoria as it lands to refuel at Entebbe International Airport;
8) January 8, 2005 – A DR Congo-registered cargo plane belonging to Service Air Company crashes near Entebbe International Airport, killing its six-member Russian crew;
9) April 30, 2000 – A DAS Air Cargo DC-10 aircraft from London with over 50 tonnes of cargo crashes into Lake Victoria as it lands at Entebbe International Airport. All crew members miraculously survive;
Entebbe International Airport has been reported as having some of the best air space management radar systems (further revamped ahead of CHOGM). This not withstanding, more plane crashes and accidents have occurred in Uganda compared with other international airports anywhere else in the Africa.
It seems Uganda Civil Aviation Authority CAA takes the blame for most of the mishaps given that it has glaringly failed to exercise its air control functions. At the moment, CAA is one of the airport regulatory authorities in the world which still allow obsolete, poorly serviced, soviet-era planes not only to use our air space, but also land and take off at our International Airport. While you will not hear of an Illyushin or Antonov, or any carrier without a sound service record landing or taking off any where else where a reputable airports regulatory body is in charge, Uganda remains the safe haven for aircrafts which will soon have no where else to land.
True, Uganda CAA has for some time now enforced ICAO rules on registration of old planes and continues to refuse to register any of them in Uganda. However, it has utterly failed to ban such aircraft from actually flying in and out of Uganda as long those ramshackled planes are on the registry of other countries. Powerful businessmen such as Sam Engola (the owner of Aerolift) whose planes have been involved in the most recent air accidents) take advantage of CAA impotence to get their obsolete planes registered in countries such as the DR Congo, and then freely maraud in our airspaces.
To the shrewd businessmen, Antonovs, Iljushins and other out-dated, poorly serviced planes provide a silver-lining because of their cheapness. However, their accident record across the African continent makes a horrific reading. It is therefore high time Uganda CAA enforced a complete ban on such aircraft operating in Uganda’s airspace to save not only the lives of innocent passengers and but also restore the its own credibility, and that of the Government of Uganda.
I hate to see the Hon. Minister of Transport and Communications wanting to be seen doing his job by appointing meaningless committees to “investigate the cause of crash” instead of ensuring CAA does what it’s supposed to do!
Uganda already has too much carnage on the road, air carnage would be a sour icing on an already sour cake!
Published on: http://newvision.co.ug/D/8/21/674236
3 March 2009
Who will gun Wenger out of the gunners?
One day, a Ugandan woman who was cleaning her house poured hot water on a family of bed-bugs. While the baby bugs writhed in pain, the mother bug assured them not to worry because “whatever is hot gets cold in the end.” Indeed it did get cold but by that time, the entire family of bed-bugs had perished.
For three years, Arsenal has been under fire, conceding silly goals and finding difficulty to score. It has lost its place in the “big four” and continues its melodramatic slide from grace with its last league game win as far away as January 17. And where as it still remains undefeated in its last 15 games in all competitions, nine of those have been draws! Arsenal’s attack which used to disorganise defences with hurricane force has been rendered harmless by a confidence crisis which rather than ease out, seems to be deepening week in, week out. To delight of MAN-U’s noisy, spiteful fans, and indeed those of Liverpool and Chelsea, the Emirates guns have been silent for far too long; the gunners have been mercilessly out-gunned for far too much!!!
Arsene Wenger’s assurance of an eventual return to form will be synonymous with those of the mother bed-bug which gave false hopes to the baby bugs. It would do the fans and the club good if Wenger divorced the club right away on his own accord. That would be a more honourable exit befitting his contribution to the club. While no arsenal fan will dispute the fact that his contribution to the club has been immense, we don’t have to wait for what is hot to get cold because by that time, Arsenal will be in the Championship outfit.
At the moment, Wenger is untouchable, having won the unshakable trust of the Arsenal Board over the last decade or so. The fans can only heckle and boo him. As for the players, well – except if they would do it the Togo way: recall that Togolese players went on strike during their last international competition by hanging their boots unless their demands (allowances) were met. Perhaps Adebayor could help lead such a strike given his Togolese experience?
People will argue that Arsenal woes emanate from the ever growing injury list – which in truth is a key factor, but who in hell stopped Wenger from deepening his squad, to provide the necessary depth with experienced players that would cushion against injuries? If there is no other reason for Wenger to go, this certainly would be sufficient! As the Ugandan saying goes, ohingire ahorobi nawe nahinguuka (even the one digging on a soft ground rests!)
I have been, and I will remain a staunch, eternal arsenal fan but quite frankly, I need to be a happier fan than I have been over the last three years or so. Arsene Wenger’s youth policy – which he is keen to die defending, has painfully made Arsenal an ordinary club. At the moment, Arsene Wenger’s departure from the emirates stadium is the only option to turn-over a new chapter, and perhaps re-load those silent guns with lethal ammunition capable of terrorising league defences once again. The question is: who will gun Arsene Wenger out of the gunners?
For three years, Arsenal has been under fire, conceding silly goals and finding difficulty to score. It has lost its place in the “big four” and continues its melodramatic slide from grace with its last league game win as far away as January 17. And where as it still remains undefeated in its last 15 games in all competitions, nine of those have been draws! Arsenal’s attack which used to disorganise defences with hurricane force has been rendered harmless by a confidence crisis which rather than ease out, seems to be deepening week in, week out. To delight of MAN-U’s noisy, spiteful fans, and indeed those of Liverpool and Chelsea, the Emirates guns have been silent for far too long; the gunners have been mercilessly out-gunned for far too much!!!
Arsene Wenger’s assurance of an eventual return to form will be synonymous with those of the mother bed-bug which gave false hopes to the baby bugs. It would do the fans and the club good if Wenger divorced the club right away on his own accord. That would be a more honourable exit befitting his contribution to the club. While no arsenal fan will dispute the fact that his contribution to the club has been immense, we don’t have to wait for what is hot to get cold because by that time, Arsenal will be in the Championship outfit.
At the moment, Wenger is untouchable, having won the unshakable trust of the Arsenal Board over the last decade or so. The fans can only heckle and boo him. As for the players, well – except if they would do it the Togo way: recall that Togolese players went on strike during their last international competition by hanging their boots unless their demands (allowances) were met. Perhaps Adebayor could help lead such a strike given his Togolese experience?
People will argue that Arsenal woes emanate from the ever growing injury list – which in truth is a key factor, but who in hell stopped Wenger from deepening his squad, to provide the necessary depth with experienced players that would cushion against injuries? If there is no other reason for Wenger to go, this certainly would be sufficient! As the Ugandan saying goes, ohingire ahorobi nawe nahinguuka (even the one digging on a soft ground rests!)
I have been, and I will remain a staunch, eternal arsenal fan but quite frankly, I need to be a happier fan than I have been over the last three years or so. Arsene Wenger’s youth policy – which he is keen to die defending, has painfully made Arsenal an ordinary club. At the moment, Arsene Wenger’s departure from the emirates stadium is the only option to turn-over a new chapter, and perhaps re-load those silent guns with lethal ammunition capable of terrorising league defences once again. The question is: who will gun Arsene Wenger out of the gunners?