Uganda has the capacity to produce barley but the farmers have been limited by capital to access to hi-tech machinery necessary for land preparation, planting and harvesting. The local demand for barley stands at about 100,000 metric tonnes of barley annually. The producers have now resorted to using alternative products like Epuripur sorghum.
Barley growing areas
The areas that grow barley include the following:
1. Kabale
2. Sebei
3. Mbale
4. Zombo
5. Mt Rwenzori areas
6. Kapchorwa
7. Bukwo
Currently an estimated 2,000 farmers in Kapchorwa district have taken up barley farming. The
Kapchorwa farmers produce over 5,000 metric tonnes of Barley annually and farmers in Kabarole and Kasese districts have also been encouraged to take advantage of the growing market for malt barley in Uganda.
Support to local farmers
The local growing of barley project was developed after the government in 2009 extended a lower rate of exercise duty of 40% for beer brewed using locally grown barley. The barley farming project is jointly supported by Nile Breweries, a subsidiary of SABMiller and East African Breweries, Uganda Poverty Eradication Action Plan and the USAID-funded Agricultural Productivity Enhancement Program