Development Of Leather Industry In Uganda Is In A Bottleneck

The leather and associated industry association of Uganda recently investigated the development of leather industry in the country.

The results showed that the development of leather industry in Uganda was seriously hampered by the backward processing capacity and the lack of wastewater treatment plants.

Most of the raw skins must be exported in the form of raw materials or semi finished products.

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Uganda consumers buy 25 million pairs of shoes a year, of which only 1 million are made in China, and the rest come from imports.

Many consumers in Uganda think that the quality of domestic leather products is so poor that they prefer to import leather products or domestic ones.

The existing 7 medium-sized tanneries and some small leather factories, but these leather factories have no capacity to produce finished leather, but only processed the raw leather into wet blue, and then exported semi-finished products to other countries to get the finished leather. This lack of production capacity seriously restricted the development of leather industry in China.

According to statistics from the Uganda Bureau of statistics, Uganda produces 1 million 400 thousand cowhide, 3 million 100 thousand goat skin and 680 thousand sheepskin each year.

The actual utilization is 1 million 200 thousand cowhide, 2 million 400 thousand goat skin and 580 thousand sheepskin each year.

In addition to the constraints of backward processing capacity, environmental problems in some tanneries in Uganda also restrict the development of the industry.

Usually, the Tanner should deal with the waste water from animal skins and use it for the extraction of fertilizers.

At present, some tanneries are accused of environmental pollution caused by the waste generated during the production process, partly due to the lack of sewage treatment plants which are turning waste into treasure, and partly because most tanneries are located in the central area of the city.

The lack of power supply will also affect the production and trade income of leather products in Uganda.

The trade director of the Tsun Sheng bird tannery has appealed to Transmission Companies in Uganda to install direct lines to tanneries to reduce the energy consumption of current pportation.

People appeal that Uganda leather processing enterprises urgently need to increase their production capacity. Meanwhile, increasing the finished leather processing plants in Uganda will not only increase the output of leather products, but also provide employment opportunities for the younger generation.