Sugarcane farmers in the Busoga Sub-region have raised concerns over the accuracy and reliability of weighbridges used to measure their harvests, saying faulty and poorly calibrated machines are costing them millions of shillings in lost income.
Farmers allege that some weighbridges at sugar factories, along highways, and at certain collection points, are not properly calibrated, resulting in under-measurement and underpayment. They argue that reliance on uncertified weighbridges leaves them vulnerable, as millers base payments entirely on these readings.
‘The weighbridges are set differently to cheat us. Sometimes we notice wrong measurements, but there is nothing we can do,’ said Ms Asiina Nabirye, a sugarcane farmer in Luuka District. ‘What you expect is not what you get; sometimes they cheat us by almost two tonnes,’ she added, calling upon the Uganda National Bureau of Standards (UNBS) to increase monitoring.
Mr Mubaraka Ssembera, a sugarcane farmer from Jinja, said millers exploit farmers because sugarcane cannot be weighed individually before being transported to factories, unlike crops such as maize.
‘Sugarcane is not like maize where a farmer can weigh it personally. We need mobile weighbridges to know the exact weight before it leaves the garden. That way, it would be easier to detect manipulation,’ Mr Ssembera said.
Another farmer, Mr Musa Kabugo, said some millers attract farmers with high prices but later manipulate weights using faulty machines. ‘They promise good prices, but they recover their money at the weighbridge,’ he said. Mr George Pande, also a sugarcane farmer, said they are often forced to accept whatever figures are displayed, even when machines appear faulty. ‘When they measure your cane, you just accept the figures.
Even if the machine is not working well, the owners simply fix it and continue weighing,’ he said. He said the problem is particularly severe with field weighbridges installed along highways, which farmers do not trust. Mr Pande appealed to the government to allow farmers to use the government weighbridge at Musita-Magamaga on the Jinja-Iganga highway to verify measurements. ‘We want to compare the weights because we trust the government weighbridge,’ he said. He added that in the past, farmers harvested up to 50 tonnes per acre, but such yields have become rare, partly due to challenges related to weighing.
The former Spokesperson of the Busoga Sugarcane Growers Association, Mr Godfrey Naitema, said farmers want UNBS to inspect weighbridges at least once every month. ‘Most field weighbridges are not genuine. At some factories, owners operate two weighbridges with different measurements to deliberately cheat farmers. We need serious and consistent monitoring,’ Mr Naitema said.
He added that when farmers take produce to Uganda Revenue Authority weighbridges, they often obtain higher and more accurate readings.
‘We need transparency and fairness in this process. Manipulation at weighbridges causes huge losses, yet farmers invest heavily in production,’ he said.
Background
According to 2023 data from the Uganda Sugar Manufacturers Association (USMA), 19 weighbridges have been established across the Busoga Sub-region. Over the past two years, farmers’ yields have declined from 110 to 120 tonnes per hectare to 50 to 60 tonnes per hectare, a drop that farmers partly attribute to mismanagement and manipulation of weighbridges.
The Busoga Sub-region hosts several sugar factories. The proprietors of the sugar factories denied the allegations. Responding to the concerns, Ms Maximilia Nakitto, the senior certifications officer and head of food and agriculture certification at UNBS, explained that certified companies are required to regularly calibrate their weighbridges.
‘Calibration ensures that equipment maintains accuracy over time, because repeated use can cause deviations in weight measurements,’ she said. She added that verification and recalibration are typically conducted annually or upon request by companies.
‘If a weighbridge is not calibrated, it may overweight or underweight sugarcane, which directly affects farmers’ earnings,’ Ms Nakitto said. However, she acknowledged uncertainty regarding the calibration status of field weighbridges installed along public roads.
‘Those weighbridges are used by farmers when delivering cane to collection points. We would need to consult further to confirm their accuracy,’ she said.
Ms Nakitto emphasised that UNBS is committed to transparency in the weighing process and pledged further engagement to address farmers’ concerns.