KAMPALA, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has flagged off its inaugural shipment of canned pineapples to China, with officials hailing the move as a step forward in the country's agro-industrialization drive.
The shipment, totaling 104 metric tonnes, was processed and packaged by Chinese company Deshiburg Fruits International at its factory in the Uganda-China Agriculture Cooperation Industrial Park in Luwero District, central Uganda, an area renowned for pineapple production.
Speaking on Thursday at the flag-off ceremony for the four containers bound for China in Luwero, Ugandan Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries Frank Tumwebaze said the factory is capable of processing up to 500 metric tonnes of locally sourced pineapples per day at full capacity.
"This increases the demand for pineapples as a raw material and ends the perennial challenge of a lack of markets for our perishable agricultural produce," Tumwebaze said.
He said that as agro-industrialization expands, political leaders and agricultural extension workers must encourage farmers to adopt more market-oriented and sustainable production practices tailored to existing industrial demand.
Officials said the establishment of the Chinese agro-processing factory signifies more than just infrastructure investment, serving also as a source of stability, opportunity, and dignity for local communities.
According to the Ugandan government, the pineapple export marks the success of the South-South cooperation framework, under which China has dispatched agricultural experts to Uganda with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations.
Ezana Kassa, FAO representative in Uganda, said the next challenge is to sustain and expand such achievements in value addition across different agricultural commodities and regions of the country.
"With the right investments and partnerships, Uganda can position itself not only as a producer but also as a competitive exporter of high-quality, value-added agrifood products," he added. ■