HOIMA, March 17, 2025 – Implementers of the Parish Development Model [PDM] in Hoima district have launched a training campaign for beneficiaries of the programme, in preparation for the disbursement of Shs 5.5 billion recently allocated to the district.
The training campaign was inaugurated at the farm of Isaac Kaitwebya, a resident of Bwizibwera Village in Kibugubya Parish, Kyabigambire Subcounty, Hoima district. The training will target farmers who have been selected to benefit from the received funds and will be conducted over a six-month period.
Dr Charles Kajura, Hoima District Senior Production Officer who doubles as the district’s PDM Focal Person, explained that the training initiative was prompted by the realisation that beneficiaries who received funds during the first phase of the programme implementation lacked adequate financial management knowledge and skills. This deficiency, he said, resulted in the misuse of funds provided by the government as soft loans.
According to Dr Kajura, the training will equip farmers with essential management skills for the effective utilisation of the funds for selected enterprises such as pig farming, poultry keeping, dairy farming, coffee production, and fish farming, among others.
On his part, the Hoima District Resident Commissioner, Rodger Mbabazi, stated that the training is timely, as the district is preparing for the disbursement of funds to beneficiaries next month. He confirmed that the Shs 5.5 billion received last month would be allocated across 55 parishes in the district. Additionally, the district expects to receive another tranche of Shs 5.5 billion in June, which marks the end of the current financial year.
“All this funding is being released to help our people engage in production and transition to the money economy. It is crucial to train the beneficiaries to ensure they can utilise the funds effectively, as they invest in profitable ventures as outlined in the PDM manuals,” he said.
Mbabazi further noted that in the future, each parish in Uganda could receive Shs 200 million, an increase from the current Shs 100 million, depending on how effectively the beneficiaries use the funds.
Mbabazi urged government to provide transport means, such as bicycles, to parish chiefs to ease their movement and enable them to implement the programme, which was launched in February 2022 to combat poverty among the active poor in the country where most of the citizens earn their living from agriculture .
On his part, Alex Mwesigwa, the LC3 Chairperson of Kyabigambire Subcounty, praised the Hoima District Production Department for its decision to provide financial management training to the programme’s beneficiaries, stating that it would enhance the programme’s effectiveness.
The PDM is a government-led initiative aimed at moving the subsistence households into the money economy through the allocation of over Shs 1 trillion to the programme each financial year.
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