Museveni proposes village boreholes to address water challenges for farmers

MUKONO, June 25, 2025 –– President Yoweri Museveni has said government is to establish boreholes per village to address the farmers’ widespread concerns about inadequate water for poultry and livestock as well as other needs of the Parish Development Model [PDM] beneficiaries.

According to Museveni, water scarcity has been among the challenges raised by most PDM beneficiaries during his nationwide wealth creation tours.

“This will ensure the people have water for their PDM enterprises, such as poultry, livestock, and the rest,” Museveni emphasised.

The President made the remarks while speaking to journalists from Greater Mukono at State Lodge, Nakasero on Sunday, where he laid out decisive government actions to strengthen the PDM initiative.

He reiterated that PDM is tailored for small-scale farmers [those owning fewer than four acres] to engage in the government-recommended seven high-yielding activities under intensive agriculture, which give quick returns on a small scale.

Under the four-acre model, the recommended activities include coffee, fruits, pasture for zero-grazing animals, and food crops for household consumption.

Additionally, the President encouraged the PDM beneficiaries to adopt backyard poultry, piggery [for non-Muslims], and fish farming on the edges of wetlands.

“We have now added palm oil trees, cocoa, and avocado, but we are continuing to assess them,” the Museveni said.

Addressing the rise in cattle and poultry theft, Museveni warned that perpetrators will be arrested using security surveillance cameras and digital number plates which will be used to track vehicles and motorcycles.

He urged communities to preserve crime scenes and also form voluntary village security teams for night patrols, aimed at reducing both theft and mob justice incidents.

Confronting reports of beneficiaries receiving less than the stipulated Shs1 million, Museveni assured that top-up payments would be made.

“If it’s found out as an act of theft by PDM officials and commercial officers, then they will be arrested,” he cautioned, reiterating a strict stance on misappropriation of PDM funds.

The PDM, launched in February 2022, is the government’s flagship poverty-alleviation strategy aimed at transforming subsistence households into the money economy.

Responding to the issue of publicising the PDM programme by the government in the media, the Minister of ICT and National Guidance, Dr. Chris Baryomunsi, informed Museveni that it is part of the licensing requirements from the Uganda Communications Commission [UCC] that every media house allocate free airtime every week to talk about government programmes, especially concerning wealth creation.

Museveni warned that media houses that do not implement this will not be allowed to operate.

Launched in February 2022, the PDM is a government initiative aimed at coordinating public and private sector interventions to promote wealth creation and employment at the parish level – the lowest administrative unit for economic planning.

The PDM is built around seven core pillars: production, processing and marketing [value chain development]; infrastructure and economic services; financial inclusion; social services; community data [Community Information System]; governance and administration; and mindset change.

Under the scheme, the government has prioritised several commodities, including coffee, cotton, cocoa, cassava, tea, vegetables, palm oil, maize, rice, sugarcane, fish, piggery, dairy, beef, poultry, bananas, beans, avocado, shea nut, cashew nuts, and macadamia nuts.

Each PDM beneficiary is entitled to a soft loan of Shs 1 million to invest in these enterprises, as part of the government’s broader goal to transition 3.5 million households from subsistence farming to the cash economy.

https://thecooperator.news/pdm-sacco-chairperson-jailed-for-corruption/

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