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Kwania, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | Kwania district council has approved a supplementary budget of 192 million Shillings for the Agricultural Cluster Development Project- ACDP.
The five-year project was initiated in 2018, to improve on-farm productivity, production and volumes of selected agricultural commodities in specific geographical clusters of the country. The government obtained a loan of USD 249-million from the World Bank to support the farmers through the provision of agricultural inputs, fertilizers and pesticides under a cost-sharing arrangement.
Kwania district vice chairperson Geoffrey Eling Owera says that 33 million out of the 192 million Shillings will be used for sensitization of the selected 2,750 beneficiaries on good agronomic practices and post-harvest handling. Another 62 million Shillings will be used for the opening of community access roads, 81 million Shillings will cater for cassava processing machines and establishment of warehousing while 16 million Shillings will go for operational costs and other activities.
Owera says the funding came at the right time when the district is struggling to offer services to its members. He adds that some of the money will be spent on repairing boreholes and purchase of foodstuffs for the vulnerable people.
Some of the beneficiaries include Teopok cassava factory, Abapiri cooperative, Atule, Agwiciri and Alyera in Inomo are to receive a warehouse accommodating up to 200 metric tons of products among others.
Kwania district agricultural officer Sam Opule, also the ACDP focal point person says that the project is targeting at enrolling 5,500 beneficiaries including farmer groups that will receive agronomy and PHH technologies. He believes that the project will greatly improve household income since farmers will be able to produce enough food for family consumption and also get an affordable market for local produce.
Under the scheme, a first-time farmer is supposed to pay 33 percent of 450,000 and the government tops up the remaining balance. In the second season, both government and farmers pay 50 percent of the money and at the third season, governments pay 33 percent while the farmer takes the bigger share; 67 percent of the payment.
In some parts of the country, the implementation process of the Agricultural Cluster Development Project has been bogged down by unscrupulous speculators fleecing farmers who intend to benefit from the project. Farmers complain of being conned of their hard-earned cash by fraudsters posing as project coordinators in the area.
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