The President of Uganda, His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, has called upon Ugandans to embrace fruit farming, stating that the country has a ready market through the established processing industries in Uganda.
The President made these remarks while presiding over the official opening of Haris International Limited’s (Riham) new home and processing plant in Tula, Kawempe division, Kampala, on Thursday evening.
After a tour of the processing plant, in his speech, the President thanked the owners of the factory and told Ugandans to start fruit farming because, with such processing plants, there is already a local market for their produce.
“When people like Yasser came, they were complaining of lack of fruits for their factories, but we had to wake up Ugandans, and now we have Ugandans growing fruits in Soroti, Luwero, Masaka, Kayunga, and other parts of the country,” Museveni said.
“I urge Ugandans to invest in the fruit business, and while in the field today, I learned that one can get as much as UGX160 million just from one acre of land in a year,” Museveni noted.
“Therefore, I congratulate you, and please go and tell the Lebanese to come here and do business,” Museveni added.
Haris International Limited, owned by Yasser Ahmed Kassem of Lebanese origin, is a manufacturer of beverages such as Oner, Rockboom, Skyview, and many other related beverages. They also manufacture biscuits, cakes, sweets, and crunchy cookies.
Haris International Limited has over 2000 direct employees and more than 5000 indirect employees.
The President was in the company of cabinet ministers, state ministers, heads of agencies, and other key government officials.