KIKUUBE, May 2, 2024 – Women leaders in Kikuube district have appealed to President Yoweri Museveni to give them tractors and irrigation equipment to engage in commercial agriculture.
Sarah Kayonza, Chairperson Kikuube District Women Council noted that women in the district need government support to engage in modern farming and value addition.
She noted that there are several women’s farming associations in the district engaged in maize, beans, coffee, and fruit production but they are doing all these on a small scale, and earning less from the agricultural enterprises.
She noted that most women in the district use hoes to cultivate, leading to low output, something she said hinders them from joining the money economy since they don’t produce for sale.
She said they requested the Minister for Agriculture, Animals, Industry and Fisheries [MAAIF] for the tractors but have received no response from the ministry.
The politician said hiring private tractors is expensive for most women in the district, a reason she said the women have resorted to using result they use hand hoes to catch up with the planting seasons.
Kayonza also urged government to support the women groups in her district with irrigation equipment to enable them irrigate their farms during the dry season, saying this will help the women farmers to earn more money.
She also said Kikuube district needs a fruit factory to process the mangoes, passion fruits and oranges grown by the women and other farmers, even though she added government needs to secure market for the agricultural produce, especially dry maize now being bought from the farmers at Shs 600 per kilogramme.
“The maize farmers were being paid Shs 1,000 per kilo but now this had come down to Shs 600. This means that our farmers are making losses given that the production costs are high. We appeal to government to get us market outside of the country,” she said.
Meanwhile, Florence Natumanya, the Kikuube district Woman Members of Parliament said agricultural mechanisation in the district would get women out of poverty as opposed to the current situation where the use hand hoes to cultivate small piece of land, especially to grow food for home consumption.
However she said there is need to sensitise women in the district on post-harvest handling to ensure the quality of their produce. She said this helps the produce such as maize to reach the international market.
The issues biting women were raised recently during the celebration of the belated International Women’s Day for Kikuube district organised by MP Natumanya at Rwemisanga Primary School in Kyangwali Sub-county.
Reacting to the challenges of the women, Prime Minister Robinah Nabbanja promised she would ask MAAIF to secure a tractor for women in Kikuube district.
She noted that mechanisation is the way to go in promoting commercial production, adding that the Agriculture ministry has many tractors to offer to organised farmer’s groups.
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