TESO, UGANDA: Farmers in the Teso Sub-region have called for urgent government intervention following concerns raised in Parliament over high levels of aflatoxin contamination in cereals produced and consumed in the region.
The farmers say the reported contamination is not only threatening public health but is also causing them financial losses as their produce is rejected in some markets.
The concern was raised by Bukedea County Member of Parliament, Hon. David Beecham Okwere, who brought the matter to Parliament as a matter of national importance between August 28 and 29, 2026.
Okwere said the concerns emerged during an oversight visit by the Committee on National Economy to Soroti Industrial Park, where the team visited PELA Commodities Factory, a facility involved in adding value to cereals including millet, sorghum, maize and other grains.
According to Okwere, information obtained during the visit indicated that about 80 percent of cereals purchased from farmers contained aflatoxins.
He warned that the situation could expose people in Teso to serious health risks, including cancer and liver-related diseases, if urgent measures are not taken to control contamination.
Okwere also linked the concern to what he described as unexplained deaths in his constituency, saying several people are buried every day although the exact causes of some deaths have not been established.
He consequently called on the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) to urgently intervene and address the situation.
The concerns have been echoed by farmers in the region.
Charles Aege, a farmer from Kongunga Town Council, said the issues raised by Okwere reflect the challenges faced by communities at the grassroots.
Farmers also say aflatoxin contamination is affecting their incomes because contaminated produce is rejected in some markets.
Moses Tukei from Mukongoro Town Council in Kumi District said some farmers have suffered losses when their produce is taken to Kenya, where testing machines reportedly detect contamination and deem some of the grain unfit for human consumption.
Tukei attributed the problem partly to poor post-harvest handling and the use of chemicals in farming, calling for greater attention to food toxins because of their impact on people’s health and livelihoods.
Another farmer, John Julius Okaki from Akisim Sub County in Pallisa District, said farmers need access to safer agricultural technologies and improved seed varieties.
Okaki called on the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO) to develop and promote crop varieties that can reduce farmers’ dependence on chemical sprays.
He also expressed concern over food safety among poor households, saying poverty sometimes forces families to consume vegetables that may have been recently sprayed because they cannot afford safer alternatives.
Government Responds
Responding to Okwere’s concerns in Parliament, State Minister for Agriculture, Hon. Desire Muhoozi, said government had invested in an aflatoxin-removal machine for the Teso Sub-region.
However, Muhoozi said the equipment has remained idle since 2018 and that the Uganda Development Corporation has now taken responsibility for efforts to privatize it.
State Minister for Industry, Hon. David Bahati, said he would coordinate with MAAIF and dispatch a technical team to Soroti to establish the situation on the ground.
Meanwhile, NARO has said solutions to the aflatoxin challenge already exist and that the major challenge is getting the technologies to farmers and other players in the grain value chain.
In a message to Okwere following his parliamentary submission, NARO Senior Internal Auditor William Odeke said the concern over aflatoxin contamination in grain in Teso and across Uganda is important.
Odeke said NARO has already developed an aflatoxin testing kit for detecting contamination, as well as an aflatoxin control product currently being commercialized at the National Livestock Resources Research Institute (NaLIRRI) in Nakyesasa, Namulonge.
He identified limited dissemination and awareness as a major gap, saying many farmers, traders and other stakeholders may not yet be aware that the technologies are available.
Odeke urged Parliament, NARO and MAAIF to work together to take the existing solutions to affected communities, demonstrate how they work and support their wider adoption.
He emphasized that Uganda does not necessarily need to begin by searching for a new solution, arguing that the priority should be to move existing technologies from research institutions to farmers and other actors across the grain value chain.
The farmers are now calling for urgent action to ensure that contaminated grain is identified and controlled, farmers are trained on proper post-harvest handling, and existing technologies are made accessible to communities across Teso.
They say addressing the aflatoxin challenge would not only protect public health but also safeguard the livelihoods of thousands of farmers who depend on grain production.
