Raising standards to compete effectively

TO SUCCEED in its drive to capture a market for its exports in the U.S., Uganda needs to provide goods of quality as well as quantity to satisfy American requirements.
Dr. Kisamba Mugerwa, Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, says, “We are seeking to shift from subsistence to commercial, low yield to high yield, low productivity to high productivity, low value to high
value. This is our guiding principal. Without quality, you can’t compete. We need to increase the volumes but also improve standards.”

Partnerships with companies from outside Uganda will be essential to provide the funds, the equipment and the know-how that Ugandan firms need if their products are to reach an internationally competitive level.
“The quickest way to do this is to attract investors here, so that we can use our raw materials to catch up quickly,” says Dr. Mugerwa. “Otherwise, if we are slow, by the time we have the product the opportunity may
have gone because it may not be permanent. What the Americans have done is to give us the market. Now the ball is in our court.”

EDWARD RUGUMAYO Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry

As the Minister of Tourism, Trade and Industry, Professor Edward Rugumayo, puts it, Uganda’s business community faces “a big learning experience” over a fairly short time.
“We have to improve the quality of our products so that they coincide with U.S. standards. What we need are joint venture investments with the U.S. and other countries that will help us to reach these standards by bringing in better quality machinery that will enable us to cope with increasing demand."

Efforts to ensure that quality is maintained are already underway The National Bureau of Standards assesses products destined for export. “They go to the factories and sample all the products to ensure that standards are met,” says Prof. Rugumayo. “We currently have over 50 companies that have acquired ISO certification, which makes them internationally competitive.”
To take full advantage of AGOA, Uganda needs to give added value to its natural resource products. “We can benefit mainly from textiles,” says Dr. Mugerwa.
“Hitherto, we have been exporting raw cotton, but if we can produce yarn and clothes of good quality we will do better.”

Susan Muhwezi, one of the special advisors on AGOA appointed by the President, quotes coffee, Uganda’s biggest export, as another example. “Right now, we are exporting it as a green crop. But if we can roast it, brand it and sell it as Ugandan Coffee, we would certainly have added value. We are trying to see if we can export it to America.”
An experiment is already underway to establish Ugandan-brand coffee in another major market. In April, the Sino-Uganda Beijing Chenao Company (BCC), a joint venture between Uganda Coffee development Authority (UCDA) and the Beijing North Star Industrial Group, opened a chain of coffee shops in China to promote Uganda’s ‘Crane Coffee.’

Uganda has successfully diversified its agricultural sector in recent years. Vanilla, sugar, flowers, hides and skins and fish already contribute significantly to the country’s GDP and offer scope for further development.
Fish factories have been built alongside Lake Victoria. Previously, there were none, while on the Kenyan side of the lake there were 30. “Until the present government came to power, we didn’t have a single fish factory,” says Dr. Mugerwa. “Now we have about 17 and we have been getting about $80 million a month from fish exports, which is a big improvement from hardly $3 million.
“We have to ensure the quality of our fish. We are putting in place a very good quality control system at all the gazetted landing sites and processing centers. The processing factories are monitored to ensure that the fish is handled hygienically.”