"Hope fades as Soroti Fruit Factory fails to meet farmer expectations", 29 January 2020

[The] now controversial Soroti Fruit Factory...was launched in April 2019 to tap into the abundant citrus fruits for commercial production of oranges and mangoes. The joy of farmers, who had anticipated to reap from the sale of their produce, has since died out due to lack of market for the fruits. Mr Okello, a farmer based in...Soroti District with 900 trees of oranges, says he sold off his fruits at Shs20,000 per bag, which he says is too little. “I expected to earn more...I almost settled for nothing...”. He had anticipated to sell a bag at Shs75,000. Leaders had projected that the development would improve farmers’ livelihoods and also create jobs for locals. However, between November 2019 and January 2020, more farmers across Teso watched in disbelief [as] their fruits [rotted]. Out of desperation, some farmers allegedly ferried trucks of fruits to Busia border in a hunt for market[s]. 

...Chief Executive Officer of Soroti Fruits Limited, Mr Douglas Kakyukyu Ndawula, says the fruit factory is functional and the orange line is fully operational. “The only line that is defective is the mango line, and I can tell you that we are procuring a new mango line which will increase capacity from two metric tonnes to 48 metric tonnes per day...[t]he project objective is to enhance household income, buy volumes, create demand and earn more"...