President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has expressed contentment that the Parish Development Model (PDM) has helped rural communities shift away from subsistence-based living towards more diversified, cash-based economic activities, thereby joining the money economy.
The President, who is on a nationwide PDM performance assessment tour in Busoga Sub-Region, visited Mr. Mukasa Eliot, a PDM farmer located at Buwanda village, Nawampiti sub-county in Luuka district.
Mr. Mukasa, who received Shs. 1 million in the first phase of 2022/2023, ventured into commercial farming, focusing on passion fruits and vegetables, and later bought goats and some iron sheets for his house.
“I’m very happy to see that people are waking up. Now that I have come here to visit Mukasa, I would give him Shs.10 million so that he buys one acre of land at Shs. 5 million and the remaining Shs. 5 million to buy more goats. I will also add him Shs. 6 million so that he buys a motorcycle to transport his goods,” H.E. Museveni said before handing over cash to Mr. Mukasa.
He also gave Shs. 10 million to the other 10 farmers who converged at Mukasa’s home to receive and listen to President Museveni’s message of transformation that was started in the 1960s, at a time when very few people were involved in the money economy.
“You would find children sleeping on the mat, fighting for one blanket, no electricity in the homes and the children were not going to school,” the President stated, adding that in the 1960s in Ntungamo, out of the 55 sub counties, only a few families in like three sub counties had an idea about commercial agriculture and had a few trees of coffee.
“In 1986, when we came back after fighting Idi Amin, we saw some of the little work we had done. We started with those balaalo (cattle keepers) of yours who behaved like Karamajong, shifting cows everywhere. They used to import milk from outside countries. In the shops, you would find condensed milk from New Zealand and India, yet they had cows. You can imagine! I said that you people can change and become modern farmers. You must be exemplary by producing milk for selling,” President Museveni emphasized, noting that they later picked up through responding to various government programs such as Operation Wealth Creation, bonna bagaggawale, and now the Parish Development Model, which directly supports farmers at the parish level.
“I called the NRM caucus and the cabinet, and I introduced the Parish Development Model where farmers would create their SACCOs and we send them money directly as we guide them on the profitable seven activities to focus on,” H.E. Museveni added, while commending Mr. Mukasa, who chose passion fruits and was able to harvest profits of Shs. 600,000, which he later used to expand to also include livestock.
“The plan is to give Shs. 100 million to 100 homesteads per year. In three years. We will have covered 300 homesteads, and still in the third year, those who would have got Shs.1 million will be returning Shs. 1.6 million. That means in five years, it will be Shs. 500 million per parish,” H.E Museveni said.
On his part, Mr. Mukasa appreciated President Museveni for the financial boost of Shs. 1 million through the PDM that has changed his life.
The Minister for Presidency, Hon. Babirye Milly Babalanda, welcomed President Museveni to Luuka and hailed the program as the most successful in changing people’s lives.
According to Mr. Musongole Joseph, chairman of Bugomba Nawampiti PDM Sacco in Luuka district, Mr. Mukasa is among the 217 members that have benefited from the government program out of the 1,066 registered members in Nawampiti sub county.
The Resident District Commissioner for Luuka, Mr. Katende Ronald Kinene noted that their selection process is targeting the 36% of individuals who are still in subsistence farming, and to date, 64 SACCOs benefited in the first phase 2022/2023.
“We’re grateful that out of the first beneficiaries, Mukasa Eliot was among them whose dream has come true, and he’s becoming an example to many youths not only here at Buwanda but also in the whole parish,” RDC Katende said.
The Parish Development Model is an initiative introduced in Uganda in 2022 with the goal of reducing poverty at the grassroots. It seeks to shift people from subsistence farming and informal economy practices into a more integrated and formalized participation in the monetary economy.
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