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Indian Farmers Want Uganda Land

The Monitor (Kampala)
NEWS
November 10, 2004
Posted to the web November 9, 2004

By Frank Nyakairu & Grace Matsiko
Kampala
Hundreds of debt-ridden Indian commercial farmers are lobbying Uganda to allow
them relocate here to start a new life. This comes after over 500 of their
colleagues committed suicide in distress since May this year.
The farmers from the southern Indian state of Andhra Pradesh want Uganda to
allocate them 100,000 hectares of farmland, according to a Uganda Investment
Authority (UIA) official, Mr John Musajja-akaawa.
"A delegation from the State government of Andhra Pradesh has been here and
they have indicated to us that they want 100,000 hectares of land for
commercial farming," Musaja-akaawa said last week.
He said the team led by Mr CC Reddy, an advisor to the Andhra Pradesh
government is still negotiating with the government over the matter.
"We are still considering their request and as soon as we agree we shall sign a
memorandum of understanding," Musajja-akaawa said.
The Minister for Information, Dr James Nsaba Buturo, said the government has
sufficient land for investors. "The issue of land is not a problem and the
state of our infrastructure is not prohibitive," Buturo said.
The Andrah Pradesh state plans to send hundreds of farmers to East Africa to
cultivate land mainly in Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. The state has already been
in talks with the Kenyan government to lease 20,000 hectares and send about 1
000 farmers there to work, according to media reports.
At least 502 farmers have committed suicide since May when Reddy's Congress
Party took powerin the state.

   

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