Ugandan exporters are carrying out a trial shipment of bananas by land and sea via Mombasa to Felixtowe Port in the UK with the hope of opening up a new land/sea route.
The first container of bananas weighing 20 tonnes was loaded from Kyotera, Rakai, and was supposed to leave Kampala for Mombasa on Monday, said allafrica.com
The shipment follows a memorandum of understanding signed between the National Agricultural Research Organisation (NARO), Horticulture Exporters Association Uganda and Jimmy Pan Impex London, a UK-based firm, said the report.
Under the agreement, National Banana Research Programme (NBRP) in Kawanda agreed to use borrowed money to pre-finance the costs of procurement of bananas, fruits, packaging materials and loading.
NBRP also agreed to finance local transport and shipment costs from Uganda to UK and clearance charges at the port of destination, according to the report.
If the trial is successful, allafrica.com reports it will reduce shipment costs of fruits and vegetables to Europe from $1.85 to 50 cents a kilo.
Dr Dezi Ngambeki, a researcher with NARO, said the initiative would reduce delivery expenses and boost exporter's savings.
"There is going to be a reduction in the amount of money paid by exporters. They pay a lot in freight charges of close to $2 per kilo," he said.
Ngambeki said over 90 per cent of Uganda's banana (locally known as matooke) exports go to the UK.
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