World Food Programme Fighting Hunger Worldwide

Inside Agroways warehouse in Jinja, eastern Uganda. This was the first facility licensed in Uganda to operate the warehouse receipt system. It has a 5,500 metric-ton capacity and receives an estimated 600 tons of maize per month.

The warehouse receipt system allows private companies licensed by the Uganda Commodity Exchange (UCE) to clean, dry, grade, bag and store agricultural produce for mostly small-holder farmer groups at a fee in public warehouses.

A quality controller samples maize outside the warehouse. For maize to be entered, it must be gradable against the East African Standard. Its moisture content, for instance, should not exceed 18 percent.

An off-loader enters maize into the warehouse. WFP is the largest buyer of graded commodities in Uganda. It buys more than US$50 million worth of mostly maize and beans annually currently.

Maize gets weighed on entering the warehouse. Small-holder farmers are encouraged to watch as their maize gets processed and graded. Later on, they get a receipt verifying the grade and final tonnage of their maize.

Maize gets sorted to remove stones and organic matter. WFP would like to double the amount of Ugandan quality grain that is buying currently, to supply its operations in Uganda and the region.

The quality controller checks moisture content of dried maize. In order to be stored, dried maize should not exceed 13.5 percent in moisture content.

The moisture content gets recorded. WFP purchases are part of a broader goal – under the Purchase for Progress initiative – of linking small-holder farmer groups to quality grain markets including, but not limited to, WFP.

Hebert Kyeyamwa (centre) takes guests around the warehouse. Kyeyamwa is a director at Agroways. On issuing the warehouse receipt, Agroways commits to hand the stored grain to whoever buys the receipt.

Stored. WFP supports the warehouse receipt system with funding and technical assistance from USAID. The support is part of WFP’s goal of helping the Government of Uganda find lasting solutions to hunger.