Middlemen still take a lion's share.

Though farmers have maximized the use of the mobile phone’s to access market information from any part of the country, via sms on market prices, the middleman still stand’s out and take a lion’s share.

This was revealed at a recently concluded CELAC knowledge fair, which took place in luweero, an event that brought together a number of farmers from various districts who apart from participating in various activities ,managed to express their views about issues that affected them.

The middlemen are still regarded as exploiters who buy their produce at a lower price and sell at a higher price.
Although they appreciate the use of the mobile phone as the gadget which helps them know in seconds the current price of any crop at any market throughout the country, which could eliminate middlemen as price determinants, farmers still complain that the middlemen take advantage of their urgent need for money and cheat them by offering a small fraction of the market price for their produce.

‘When faced with fees to pay for children returning to school and the ever increasing medical and tax bills, I would rather sell at a lower price than not at all. say's farmer Ngati.

Much as they have all this market information, they also lack transport to ferry crops from the villages to urban areas where the prices are higher or to any other part of the country where they could fetch a higher price.
Some villages are unreachable, so visiting the area involves a tough hassle given the terrible neglected road systems.

‘ Having access to a roadside in the village where the transporters collect the produce is another hassle , so how do I take advantage of the good price in a Kampala market, when my tomatoes are busy rotting in my garden? I would rather give them to the middleman who will give me the money instead of losing out completely’ says a farmer from Sironko district.

It is expected that with the use of mobile phones, farmers would be better placed to negotiate but such circumstances make them succumb to middlemen who take advantage and buy at very low prices only to sell later or even sometimes instantly at very high prices.

The ever increasing fuel costs also make them more vulnerable to the middlemen who take advantage of the situation and justify the need to offer them very low prices for their produce.

They suggested the formation of more stronger farmer associations that would eliminate middlemen and make them fetch higher incomes from their produce.