Better price for the rice

The case of a farmers group in Uganda, member of Uganda Co-operative Alliance (UCA), demonstrates the benefits for farmers from adapted and professional training on the warehouse receipt concept. The warehouse receipt scheme was complemented by a credit and loan association leading to decreased vulnerability. More sustainable links with more important markets were established thanks to the sale of larger quantities.

“In Mukono district, a group of farmers joined forces to store and sell rice in a warehouse receipt scheme. They received training and advice from the Uganda Cooperative Alliance (UCA), a partner of SCC. The farmers can store their rice in a common warehouse and decide themselves when they want to sell their harvest. They can take out loans against their warehouse receipts from a UCA supported savings and credit association whenever they need to. The chair of the cooperative witnesses: ‘the loans mean that we don’t have to sell when the prices are low. Working together also means that we can get better prices. We are now also supplying rice to Makerere University, which is something that we never believed possible’.”