Speaker of Parliament Anita Among has said local leaders must work towards transforming communities that they lead.
In her message read at the handover of farm equipment in Bukedea District, Ms Among said leaders must support their communities to transform from subsistence to commercial farming. This, she said, will improve household incomes, given that that agriculture remains an integral sector of Uganda’s economy, whose contribution in terms of exports cannot be downplayed.
“Uganda is blessed with conducive weather that supports farming throughout the year. Let’s use this as a resource and transform from farming for food only to commercial agriculture through which we can earn some money,” she said.
About 60 percent of Uganda's population is engaged in agriculture, with related exports from the sector standing at 48.5 percent while contribution to gross domestic product stands at 23 percent.
During the handover of tractors and other farm equipment worth Shs300m in Kidongole Sub-county in Bukedea District on Saturday,, Ms Among noted that commercial agriculture is a key ingredient in government’s larger plan to reduce poverty.
Her call for commercial agriculture resonates with President Museveni’s appeal for Ugandans to scale up from producing only for the stomachs to commercial agriculture as one of the means to boost food security and uplifting livelihoods.
Ms among also called upon Ugandans to embrace government development programmes such as the Parish Development model (PDM) that seeks to lift Ugandans out of poverty by directly placing resources nearer to the people.