ACHOLI – The Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries is in the process of supplying 10 tractors for the Acholi sub-region this year.
This follows an agreement reached between Frank Tumwebaze, the Minister of Agriculture and the Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG) in a meeting held early February this year in Kampala to discuss challenges affecting the mechanization of agriculture in the region.
The tractors are expected to be delivered by April this year and will be distributed to each district in Acholi sub-region.
Anthony Akol, the Chairperson of the Acholi Parliamentary Group says, several local farmers have shown interest in upgrading to large scale commercial farming but lack the financial capacity.
He further said, the tractors would go a long way in supporting farmers especially those who can’t afford either the 95,000 or 100,000 per acre tilting price which is being charged by private owners.
“Our people have heeded to the call by the government to go large scale, and since they lack resources, these tractors, if given in time will support their dreams. Currently our farmers are already being overcharged by tractor owners. We pray the tractors are delivered in time as they have promised,” Akol stated.
In recent years, the government through its different agencies and programs distributed tractors to all the districts in the country, but for cases of Acholi sub-region, the tractors are grounded due to various mechanical challenges.
Akol, also Kilak North Member of Parliament now wants the government to provide finances to repair the new and the old grounded tractors so that major objectives of giving them out to farmers are achieved.
“In recent years, the government through NAADs, Operation Wealth Creation( OWC) among others gave tractors to farmer groups and districts to actualize the mechanization of the agriculture dream, but these tractors have since been grounded due to lack of funds to repair them. When we see government giving us tractors like this, we appreciate, However, I wish they could allocate for us some small money and task the beneficiaries to raise some funds to manage the tractorst,” Says Akol.
According to Akol, the 10 tractors are not part of the 700 tractors to be given under the Parish Development Model (PDM).
Gilbert Olanya, the Kilak South Member of Parliament, who recently donated a tractor to farmers in his constituency says, the government needs to start seriously supporting farmers especially in Acholi sub-region given the fertile vast land but limited financial resources to tilt them.
Olanya says the government has in the past made promises and never fulfilled them.
“I hope this time, they fulfil this promise of giving tractors to our farmers in time not like the previous times when seedlings were given off season. If truly they want to support our farmers, they should give the tractors as early as yesterday since people are already in the period of clearing their gardens,” Olanya notes.
Michael Lakony, the LCV Chairperson Amuru District says, besides giving the tractors to the districts, there’s need for more technical and technological approaches and directions especially to the farmers in the rural areas as they venture into yet another planting season.
Lakony says normally, farmers in the rural areas plant traditional crops regardless of availability of market and climate study.
According to Lakony, the government extension workers deployed in all the sub-counties in the district should do an extra job by being proactive and not reactive.
“Many times, our extension workers tend to reach out to farmers when there are challenges but don’t go to them to advise and guide them on which crops to grow and the available market. We need our extension workers to go beyond the box to give technical advice to our farmers for better harvest which are market informed,” Lakony says.
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