Ahead of traceability project, Uganda destroys fake agro goods

Uganda's Ministry of Agriculture Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (MAAIF) is to destroy 90 tonnes of substandard and counterfeit assorted agricultural products – including seeds, fertilisers and herbicides – that have been seized in enforcement operations.

The illicit items, estimated to be worth 2bn shillings (around $540,000), posed a threat to health as well as the livelihoods of farmers, according to a report in local newspaper The Monitor.

MAAIIF is working with National Information Technology Uganda (NITA-U) on a digital agrochemical traceability system that is expected to track goods from points of entry into Uganda to end users, making it harder for bad actors to infiltrate the supply chain.

The efforts of the national Agro Chemicals Board (ACB) have already reduced the level of substandard agrochemicals seized from 30 tons in 2018 to just five tons in 2020, but the intention is to drive illicit products out of the market altogether.