By Sadique Bamwita
KAMPALA
The Minister for Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) has ordered all Chief Administrative Officers, Resident District Commissioners and LC5 chairpersons to impound all the neglected government tractors at sub-counties across the country.
Frank Tumwebaze ordered district leaders on November 19, 2024, during the National stakeholders’ engagement meeting held in Kampala with the aim of giving updates about Uganda Smart Climate Agricultural Transformation project.
The Minister expressed concern that some donor funded projects collapse at the sub county level because of recruitment of incompetent personnel who end up neglecting agricultural equipment and tractors. He however noted that with the Uganda Smart Climate Agricultural transformation project in place, his ministry won’t entertain whoever neglects agricultural machines which are meant to scale up agricultural production at the grass root level.
“I have got reports that some government tractors are used for personal work. Following this report, I have penned a circular to district leaders and chief administrative officers ordering them to impound all neglected tractors and hand them over to a nearby police station. We intend to relocate these tractors to other groups that demand them, ‘Minister Tumwebaze disclosed.
He added that he is hopeful that if the Uganda Climate smart agricultural transformation project is well implemented, it will greatly boost crop, livestock and fisheries production in the sixty nine (69) selected districts across the country.
“The government of Uganda through the ministry of finance got funding worth 354 million USD from the World Bank to implement the Uganda Climate smart agricultural transformation project. We shall use this money to establish regional mechanization centers across the country. These centers will be for big machines and for their maintenance.
‘The project will also help to finance the construction of five zonal centers in the districts of Kiruhura, Soroti and Nabilatuk among others. This is aimed at increasing the use of mechanized agriculture and the equipment would be accessed by farmers at a subsidized price.
“We are going to strengthen the sub-county as the nearest center and extension services and licensing of coffee farmers must be effective at the sub county level. The project furthermore will support the acquisition and distribution of post-harvest handling equipment and milk coolers, ‘Minister Tumwebaze noted.
He further challenged the procurement team to expedite the procurement process saying delays make people lose interest in the project and tasked all LC5 chairpersons to recruit competent groups that are honest, and disband all incompetent groups stalling donor projects.
The Undersecretary Ministry of Agriculture Animal industry and fisheries, Mr. Ronald Jagenda Segawa, who represented the permanent secretary Maj .Gen. David Kashura, said the project is handy as it aligns with the ministry’s objectives of increasing productivity, market access, resilience of selected value chains and responding to emergencies. .
He added that the major challenges affecting the implementation of smart agricultural transformation project include delays in land acquisition, underutilization of investments like Karamoja livestock project, lack of community ownership, and lack of accountability as in most cases financial resources don’t reach the intended beneficiaries. He however argues that in order to address these challenges there is need for community involvement in the planning process, training farmers in modern technology, strengthening accountability to ensure funds reach the targeted farmers and availability of land among others.
The ministry of Finance representative challenged the project implementers to deliver the project and that they should get out of the kitchen because many Ugandans are waiting for it.
“It is our project and we must deliver it and don’t shy away from your responsibilities because we are all accountable. We agreed implementation to be done within 6 years, it is now 2years down the road and don’t expect an extension. The finance ministry will give you the necessary support and it’s high time you got out of your comfort zones or seats to deliver the project, ‘Finance Ministry official appealed to the project implementers.
The representative from the World Bank –the project funders, believes that the project will help to address challenges related to low agricultural productivity and that as the World Bank they look forward for continued collaboration towards changing the agriculture sector in Uganda.
Some of the district leaders are optimistic that the smart climate agricultural project is a game changer to Uganda’s agricultural sector and pledged to play their role for the success of the project.
The project National Coordinator, Eng. Boniface Okanya said for the successful implementation of the project , all project implementers in their respective districts will be given motorbikes to enable them reach farmers at the grass root level. He also challenged district leaders to be ambassadors of the project.
NB: It should be remembered that on December 22, 2022, the World Bank approved the Uganda Climate smart agricultural transformation project. The project object is to increase agricultural production, increased market access, resilience value chains and response to emergencies.
