Lango Agro Dealers Launch Major Crackdown on Fake Farm Inputs, Team Up with Police

What the report says

Dokolo Post reports that agro-input dealers in Uganda’s Lango Sub-region have agreed to work more closely with the Uganda Police Force in a campaign against counterfeit and unlicensed farm products. The decision was made at a dealers’ meeting in Lira City on Friday, July 24, 2026, with members saying the effort will focus on fake seeds, fertilisers, pesticides and related agricultural supplies being sold in local markets.

According to the report, Susan Acen, chairperson of the Lango Sub-region agro-input dealers and director of Jalson Farmers Uganda Limited, said licensed dealers plan to conduct joint market inspections with police to identify and arrest suspected illegal traders. She also said Richard Odongo had been named to coordinate inspections across the districts in the sub-region. Acen urged District Agricultural Officers to work more closely with registered dealers and raised concern that some suspects previously arrested over counterfeit products had allegedly been released without prosecution.

Other dealers cited by Dokolo Post said the sale of low-priced counterfeit inputs is hurting legitimate businesses and leaving farmers vulnerable to losses when products fail to support expected crop yields. Easy Bash Machar, the association’s vice chairperson and director of Shalak Agro Input, called for stronger government action, while Tinoq of Tinoq and Family Agro Input in Lira City urged firmer enforcement of existing laws.

Lira City Agricultural Officer Denis Ocaya said his office would support the crackdown and warned that people selling agricultural inputs without authorisation, or dealing in counterfeit products, could face prosecution. The issue matters in a farming-dependent region because poor-quality inputs can reduce production, weaken farmer confidence and distort competition for licensed suppliers.