HOIMA, September 23, 2026 — Older persons in Hoima district who received government funds under the Special Enterprise Grant for Older Persons [ SEGOP ] to improve their household incomes and welfare are counting losses after crops they had planted using the funds continue to wither in gardens due to a dry spell.
SEGOP is a Government of Uganda initiative aimed at improving older persons’ access to sustainable livelihoods. The programme is designed to address existing gaps in other interventions to manage shocks among older persons aged 60–79 years. It seeks to reduce dependency while increasing older persons’ participation in the money economy.
Hoima district has 11 groups, each comprising five older persons and are being supported under SEGOP to improve their household incomes. Each group was given Shs 5 million to engage in income-generating activities, particularly in the agricultural sector.
However, beneficiaries under the Kusukuma Older Persons Bean Growers Group and Tugonzagane Older Persons Rice Growers Group said they planted crops this season but do not expect to harvest anything because of the current dry spell.
The beneficiaries expressed their concerns during an interface with the State Minister for the Elderly, Jaqueline Mbabazi, who was in the district on Tuesday to assess the progress of SEGOP and the Social Assistance Grant for Empowerment [SAGE], which supports Ugandans aged 80 and above.
Peragiya Natabi, Chairperson of the Kusukuma Older Persons Bean Growers Group, said she received Shs 1 million to cultivate two acres of beans, but the crop dried up at the flowering stage because of the prolonged dry spell.
Wilberforce Byaruhanga, Chairman of the Tugonzagane Older Persons Rice Growers Group, also said the group was counting losses after the seeds they planted failed to germinate due to lack of rainfall.
He said several farmers, including members of his group, depend on rain-fed agriculture, but the rains this season have been inadequate. He added that the money given to the group had already been invested in the gardens, leaving them with no funds to buy seeds for replanting if the rains return.
“We have a fear that we are going to face food insecurity these years because whatever we put in the soil has been destroyed by sunshine,” he said.
Minister Mbabazi commended the older persons for utilising the money given to them and challenged them to invest in enterprises that are more resilient to climate-related effects, such as coffee, poultry, piggery and goat rearing.
She said the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, through SEGOP, wants older persons to improve their household incomes and wellbeing.
She urged extension workers to guide beneficiaries on the selection of enterprises in which to invest the funds.
Mbabazi added that government is also holding discussions with different stakeholders on the possibility of introducing health insurance for older people.
She said Cabinet had approved an increase in the monthly SAGE allowance from the current Shs 25,000 to Shs 35,000, adding that Shs 5,000 would be allocated from each beneficiary’s monthly allowance to cater for insurance packages.
https://thecooperator.news/new-breed-of-sorghum-developed-to-withstand-drought-in-karamoja/
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