KIKUUBE– Kikuube district local government in partnership with Action Against Hunger and UN World Food Program has awarded the best cooperatives and farmers in the district in a bid to boost commercial agriculture.
The 25 farmers from different sub-counties and five cooperative societies were rewarded with different farm items.
The eight best farmers were given 2000 litre water tanks for each while others were given spray pumps with protective gears and wheelbarrows worth millions of money.
The awards were initiated following an assessment ranking conducted by the National Agricultural Research organisation (NARO) at the request of the district production department.
The cooperative societies that were examined and ranked include Nyangwali Dairy Farmers cooperative society, Wambabya community development association LTD, Kyangwali farmer’s organization, Kakooge Bhimba livestock investors group and Banyankole Tweyambe Association.
Kyangwali Dairy Farmers Cooperative Society was ranked the best with 92 percent scores while Banyankole Tweyambe association was ranked as the worst performer with 38 percent scores.
The cooperative societies were ranked on aspects of leadership and management, operation, financial management, administration, production management and marketing among others.
While the individual farmers were ranked on aspects of environmental conservation, food and feed safety, food and feed security, networking and linkages, home cares and hygiene, crop husbandry, productivity, animal husbandry, and enterprise mix among others.
Barnabus Ntume, the Kikuube district production officer said that the assessment was aimed at motivating farmers and identifying farmers’ performance.
He added that the assessment was also aimed at exposing farmers who are doing well in the farming business, identifying farmers who can be model farmers, and also identifying challenges affecting the sector, and promoting farming in the district.
He noted that as the district they are determined to help farmers to embrace modern farming but the production department was facing a challenge of understaffing.
He explained that the department which is supposed to have 46 workers only has 10 staff and this affects the provision of extension services. He called on the government to increase their wage so that they can be able to recruit to 10 percent.
The commissioner for agricultural extension management at the Ministry of Agriculture, Steven Magume commended the district for the initiative adding that this will help to promote farming and help the people to move out of poverty.
However, he expressed concern over the youth’s failure to engage in agriculture adding that the farming has been left to the elderly.
He called on the district leaders to double effort in mobilizing the youth to embrace farming since they are still energetic.
Am not happy that because most of the farmers that you are awarding are only elderly, the seeds that will salvage the future of every country must be sawn in the garden of the young, therefore the production officer and entire district leadership should start a serious campaign of mobilising the youth to love and embrace farming.
He also challenged extension workers to always move on the ground and advised farmers with the best farming skills. He admitted that the country is facing a challenge of inadequate extension workers adding one extension worker is supposed to work on 500 farmers but currently, one extension worker services 1800 farmers in addition to other challenges they face such as lack of transport and fuel.
He advised that though they have several challenges, the few extension workers should endeavor to reach the farmers instead of keeping in their offices.
Peter Bandura, the Kikuube district Chairman commended the initiative adding that there is a need to mobilize the people in the area to engage in agriculture instead of putting their focus only on the oil industry.
He expressed concern that the population in the region has put focus on the oil and gas industry thus neglecting other sectors such as agriculture and this may result in Dutch Disease which has been faced by most oil-producing countries.
Steven Kabagambe who was ranked as the best farmer commended the district for awarding them but challenged the government to intervene and address the increasing fake agricultural and farming products on the market.
Kabagambe who is practicing livestock farming and crop husbandry on over 60 acres of land from Kyarushesha in Kyangwali sub-county said that there are many fake fertilizers, seeds, pesticides and herbicides.
He noted the challenge of the increasing fake Agricultural and farming products on the market is costing many farmers and failing them to achieve their dream as they engage in agriculture as a business.
Stella Birungi, a banana farmer from Kiziranfumbi said that Banana wilt is one of the challenges affecting the Banana farmers in the district and they have no remedy to challenge.
Birungi who also keeps livestock expressed concern over the increasing number of fake animal drugs as well as the high price of the drugs. He urged the government to help farmers, saying such challenges make them incur losses.
She noted that many farmers are moving out of the agricultural business because of the losses they suffer due to lack of control of fake Agricultural and farming products on the market.
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