In recent news, the Ugandan government is carefully examining the profitability and global market conditions for Hass avocados, cashew nuts, and macadamia nuts before encouraging large-scale production.
Fred Bwino Kyakulaga, the Minister of State for Agriculture, shared insights on the ministry’s efforts to support the agriculture sector. He stated, “As a government, we are conducting a profitability analysis before recommending extensive cultivation. This analysis involves assessing the global market for these products, market stability, production costs, and potential profits to provide the public with informed guidance.”
Bwino highlighted the success of similar market analysis for crops like coffee and oil from Oil Palms in Kalangala, emphasizing their market sizes of approximately $46 billion and $77 billion, respectively. The stability of these markets has led to recommendations for mass production.
Hass avocados, cashew nuts, and macadamia nuts were introduced as new commercial agriculture ventures by the National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS) last year. The profitability of these crops depends on factors such as the number of trees grown, seedling quality, and proper tree management.
For instance, the cost of establishing and managing one acre of Hass avocados is approximately sh3,740,000. During the initial 1 to 3 years, a farmer can harvest fruits worth sh8,300,000, resulting in a profit of sh4,560,000. Promising markets for these products include Asia, the UAE, Qatar, China, Italy, Dubai ($3.5 per kg), China ($8 per kg), Europe, and the USA ($6 per kg). At the time of the survey, global demand for Hass avocados was 27 MT, while only 11 MT were supplied to the market.
The market for processed crude oil from macadamia nuts can be found in Italy, Spain, France, Portugal, and the Netherlands, with prices ranging from USD 4.8 to 6.5 per kg. In the first 12 years of macadamia nut farming, farmers can potentially earn sh24,862,000 to shs82,500,000, resulting in a profit of 57 million shillings per acre, given a price of UGX 4000 per kg of nuts in the shell, according to the baseline survey report.
