Nathan Etengu
15 May 2003
Kampala — A US company is in Karamoja district to collect samples of the gum arabic, a tree sap used in the manufacture of soft drinks.
President Yoweri Museveni's wants to have the region listed among the top foreign suppliers to the American market.
Jimmy Lomakol, the coordinator Moroto private sector promotion, said the Atlantic Gum Corporation has taken samples from the acacia trees in different parts of Karamoja for analysis.
He said that the firm, which is funded by the American Soft Drinks Association, had identified 20 sites from where the samples had been collected. He said the process of sampling could take about two years before Uganda was allowed to export the much cherished tree sap to the American and European markets.
"They (Atlantic Gum Corporation) are very particular in that each and every tree from where the samples have been taken is marked and their circumference and height also measured," Lomakol said.
He said penetrating the American market required that any raw material used in the manufacture of any product should be traced to its origin.
"They are also particular about the output and behavior of the trees from where the samples are picked," Lomakol said.
He said that the exercise of analyzing the trees and their output was being hampered by the community who felled some of the identified trees for construction of huts.
He said that in some instances, the herdsmen also picked and ate the sap before it was gathered for analysis.
"We have therefore embarked on the sensitisation of the community and using some of the local leaders in the identification and preservation of the trees sampled for analysis," Lomakol said.
Museveni introduced the idea of gathering gum Arabic sap for the US market during the launching of the disarmament exercise in December 2001.
Museveni informed the community in Karamoja that the region could become one of the largest exporters of the sap in the world.
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