Kikuube youth SACCO seeks gov’t support for farm mechanisation
KIKUUBE, October 21, 2026 — Leaders of the Kikuube District Youth Savings and Credit Cooperative Society Limited [SACCO] have appealed to the government to provide agricultural mechanisation equipment, including tractors, to enable members to engage in large-scale commercial farming.
Adam Shabe, the Kikuube District Youth Chairperson and SACCO Chairman, said the youth in the district formed the SACCO as a unifying and bargaining platform to improve their economic livelihoods.
He said the six-month-old SACCO is registered with the Registrar of Cooperatives and currently has 70 members, most of whom are engaged in farming enterprises including maize, beans, coffee, fruits, soybean and sugarcane.
However, Shabe said inadequate access to agricultural machinery remains one of the major challenges preventing members from expanding into commercial farming.
He appealed to the government to support the SACCO with tractors to increase agricultural production and enable young farmers to move from subsistence farming to commercial agriculture.
“As youth, we work hard to ensure that we move to the money economy, but we are currently using hand hoes and this challenge is affecting our production capacity,” Shabe said.
He said accessing tractors was difficult because privately owned machinery was expensive to hire, forcing many farmers to rely on hand hoes and making it difficult for them to prepare their gardens in time for the planting season.
Shabe said a tractor would enable members to cultivate larger areas and produce enough food for both household consumption and commercial purposes.
He also raised concerns about the continued sale of unprocessed agricultural produce, saying the SACCO lacks value-addition equipment that could enable members to earn more from their produce.
He called on the government to provide machinery such as maize milling equipment to help farmers process their produce and create additional income streams.
“Imagine if we had a maize milling machine, we would process our maize into maize flour and also produce maize bran, and this bran would help us to engage in poultry and piggery businesses. But because of the lack of a milling machine, we sell raw agricultural commodities and lose this by-product,” he said.
Shabe also appealed for fruit-processing equipment, particularly juice-making machines, saying many members grow mangoes, passion fruits and oranges but struggle to find profitable markets for their produce.
He made the appeal during celebrations to mark the belated International Youth Day at Sir Tito Winyi Primary School in Kikuube Town Council on Thursday. International Youth Day is observed annually on August 12 to recognise the contributions, voice, and potential of young people in global society.
The State Minister for Bunyoro Affairs, Grace Mary Mugasa, commended the youth for forming the SACCO, saying cooperatives are an important vehicle for driving development among their members.
In a message delivered by her personal assistant, Hellen Birungi, Mugasa urged members to prioritise saving and buying shares, noting that SACCOs are owned by their members and depend on their savings and share contributions for survival and growth.
Mugasa, who contributed Shs 5 million to support the SACCO, also urged its leaders and members to maintain transparency and accountability.
“When you borrow money from the SACCO, endeavour to pay back. Many SACCOs start but they collapse because members borrow and fail to pay back,” she said.
Kikuube District Chairman Paddy Kisembo urged young people to take advantage of government programmes, including the Parish Development Model [PDM], Emyooga, climate-smart agriculture and youth livelihood programmes, to establish income-generating activities.
“Embrace government programmes. For those in agriculture, we have climate-smart agriculture. Through this programme, the government is offering fertilisers, herbicides, pesticides and spray pumps. Embrace such programmes to facilitate you in your farming activities,” he advised.
Isha Nakamya, Deputy Mayor of Masindi Municipality and Secretary of the Bunyoro Youth Forum, called on young people in the region to embrace vocational skills development as a way of addressing unemployment.
Nakamya said vocational training could help young people acquire practical skills and create their own employment opportunities.
She urged both educated and uneducated youth to acquire skills such as welding, hairdressing, tailoring and catering to enhance self-reliance.
Nakamya also called on young people to improve their discipline and character, saying poor work ethics were contributing to unemployment.
“I always meet employers. They tell me that, ‘We have jobs but we do not have disciplined youth. We want quick money, we do not keep time, we abuse drugs, our parents gave us land but we sell land to buy motorcycles for boda boda, and we do not have respect for elders.’ So, we need to work on our character before we cry that we do not have jobs,” she said.
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