KABALA – Officials from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) have seized agricultural input products that were found being sold alongside food items in a shop in Kabale District.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!This followed an enforcement operation conducted by the officials together with the police after complaints from farmers about fake, expired, and poorly handled farm inputs in the country.
During an inspection at Nyakasharara Trading Centre, an agro-inputs shop in Kabale District, officials discovered hazardous chemicals stored alongside food items on shelves intended for public sale.
During the operation at a shop owned by Julius Mugambagye, the attendant, who had studied secretarial studies and tailoring, lacked the legally required certified training in the safe handling and sale of agricultural chemicals.
George Wandera, an Agricultural Inspector from MAAIF, said that they discovered the shop attendant did not have the required qualifications to handle farm chemicals.
Wandera said the confiscated products would only be given back after the shop owner found a separate premises that met the necessary standards for storing and selling agricultural inputs.
The MAAIF Agricultural Inspector further warned that selling fake or expired agricultural inputs violates Section 4 of the Agricultural Chemicals (Control) Act 2007, and offenders risk legal action.
He added that the ministry has set up zonal offices to track down operators who closed their shops after learning of the ongoing enforcement exercise and noted improved compliance among farm input dealers compared to previous years.
Cue in: Wandera on the operations. RR/ENG.
The operation covered about 20 farm input shops in Kabale Municipality and surrounding areas and uncovered several violations, including the sale of unregistered products and businesses operating without valid licenses.
Officials also discovered agricultural chemicals not registered in Uganda, which they suspect were smuggled into the country from neighboring Kenya and Rwanda.
They confirmed that the main goals of the exercise were to verify that farm input dealers possess safe-use and handling certificates, that shops operate from approved premises, and that shop attendants are properly trained and qualified.
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