Soroti farmers faulted for failure to utilise aflatoxin removal machine

What the report says

Ugandan officials are pressing farmers and local leaders in the Teso sub-region to make better use of an aflatoxin removal machine that the government says has been idle since 2018. The issue came up during a discussion involving Bukedea County MP David Okwere and ministers responsible for trade and industry.

According to Watchdog Uganda, Okwere raised alarm after a recent visit to Soroti Industrial Park, where PELA Commodities processes cereals such as millet and sorghum. He said the factory had found a high share of its grain purchases contaminated with aflatoxin, warning that this could pose serious health risks for people in the region. Aflatoxins are toxic compounds produced by certain molds and are widely known to be dangerous when they enter food supplies.

The minister responding to the concern said government had already invested in the equipment for removing aflatoxin in Teso, but that it had not been used as expected. She said the Uganda Development Corporation was now taking steps to privatise the machine and urged leaders to encourage farmers to use such facilities once they are available. Trade, Industry and Cooperative Minister David Bahati said he would work with the Agriculture Ministry and send a technical team to Soroti to verify the situation on the ground.

The matter matters because it touches both food safety and the marketability of cereals in a major producing area.