Page 171 - AFAP Success Stories 2020

in Masindi, attested to the prices of his maize
product decreasing ever since the lockdown
to 1,000 shillings (approximately 0.27 dollars) a
kilogram from 1,150 shillings (0.3 dollars)

Importing fertilizers from neighboring countries
like Kenya has equally become a challenge. Kato
Hassan, an AFAP-supported hub agrodealer at
Kham Farmers’ Services Ltd in Masaka used to
access his imports in a period of three to four days
but now it takes him one-and-a-half weeks to get
his products. This is mainly due to the increase in
turnaround time at the border brought about by
the increased random testing done to avoid the
spread of corona. This has, equally, also caused
Akorion supplying agricultural inputs ordered online amidst the crisis.
traffic and long queues as people are forced
to wait at the border. The curfew instituted on
motorcycles for 2 p.m. and cars for 7 p.m. has also
not made things any easier for them.

Despite these challenges and restrictions,
the hub agrodealers are not just sitting back,
lamenting and praying for everything to go back
to normal. They are taking the fight head on,
coming up with creative ways to distribute their
products. Kato Hassan, for example, used to store
140 metric tons of fertilizers before COVID-19 but
now he stores 420 metric tons of fertilizer to keep
to be able to supply his customers.

Since cargo trucks are allowed to move on the
road, hub agrodealers have used this to their
advantage. Musinguzi James has distributed
large amounts of fertilizer; to be specific he has
distributed over 30MT of fertilizer using his truck
amidst the crisis.

Akorion supplying input products
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