Sustainable Development Success Stories
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CSD-6: Sustainable Development Success Stories |
| Location | Soroti, Uganda. |
| Responsible Organisations | United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO). |
| Description | Farmers from the agricultural region of Soroti had to import even the simplest agricultural machinery and tools for their daily work. UNIDO’s project in Soroti, financed by the UNDP and UNCDF, created local capacity to design and manufacture basic farm implements and agricultural machinery, as part of a larger project of rehabilitation of Uganda’s farming and food producing sector. The rehabilitation of the farm implements and agricultural machinery producer, SAIMMCO, began in 1993 and is expected to be completed by the end of 1998, when the manufacturer is scheduled for privatisation. In Soroti, UNIDO established one of the few indigenous producers of farm implements in Uganda, specialised in meeting the needs of local farmers and manufacturers. SAIMMCO products include ox ploughs and carts, hammer mills, oil presses, rice hullers and nut shellers. |
| Issues Addressed | Industry and Capacity Building. |
| Results Achieved | SAIMMCO is the only workshop within a radius of 200 miles (320 km) that can provide serious engineering and manufacturing services including spare parts production. Fifty people were hired and trained as machinists, welders, fabricators and smiths. The workshop provides critical spare parts and engineering services to the nearby recently privatised cotton ginneries which do not have to rely on imported spare parts and seek outside engineering services. SAIMMCO manufactures concrete moulds for a World Bank financed project for urban water management that would otherwise have to be imported. Many international NGOs operating in Uganda commission SAIMMCO to produce spare parts. Finally, it is the only provider of quality service work and spare parts of all basic mechanical products including spare parts for commercial vehicles. SAIMMCO generates $250,000 of annual gross revenue, the equivalent of Ush 260,000,000 (current gross approx. $120,000). |
| Lessons Learned | Successful completion of a project of this type depends on the local counterparts’ commitment. |
| Contact | Mr. Enver F. Khan, UNIDO Vienna International Centre, P.O. Box 300, A-1400 Vienna, Austria Tel: (43 1) 21131 6855 Fax (43 1) 21131 5119 E-mail: ekhan@unido.org Home page: http://www.unido.org |