Choose 4-acre model over sugarcane, Kikuube farmers told

KUKUUBE - Kikuube district-based farmers have been urged to stop depending on the growing of sugarcane. Instead, they should heed President Yoweri Museveni's call to embrace the four-acre model farming.

Kikuube Resident District Commissioner (RDC) Arnest Kaliisa says if farmers take advantage of government programmes such as the Parish Development Model and Emyooga, they will be able to invest in the four-acre model, which President Museveni has been promoting. According to Kaliisa, this model is more beneficial than sugarcane growing.

He made the call on Friday, June 13, 2025, while officiating the handover of five dairy heifers to farmers. The cows were donated by the Office of the Prime Minister (OPM), through the Bunyoro affairs ministry.

The cows were delivered to the district headquarters located at Kisambo village in Kiziranfumbi town council by a team of OPM officials and those from Bunyoro Affairs state minister Jennifer Namuyangu's office.

The 4-Acre Model Campaign, a major project spearheaded by President Museveni, aims to improve Uganda’s agricultural environment and help pull communities out of poverty.

The goal of the campaign is to incentivise farmers to intensify and diversify their farming methods in order to increase production and support Uganda’s overall economic expansion.

This model encourages diversification, with one acre dedicated to coffee cultivation, another to fruit trees, the third to staple crops for household consumption, and the fourth to pasture for livestock.

Kaliisa said as leaders, they are worried over the increasing growing of sugarcane by farmers, noting that most of the farmers think that sugarcane is making them money and as a result they are abandoning food production.

He added that this challenge is likely to cause food insecurity and that the district is experiencing increasing theft of food such as cassava, banana and potato in gardens, and this is attributed to abandonment of food production by farmers.

Farmers with small land (from one to five acres) were urged to desist from growing sugarcane but advised them to practice the four-acre model, which enables them to make money and have food for their families.

The farmers with ropes ready to receive the cows. (Credit: Peter Abaanabasazi)

He noted that the donation is one of the Government's commitments to help people to uplift their household income and challenged the beneficiaries to take good care of the cattle to serve their intended purpose.

Faridah Ndagano, the Kikuube district communication officer, said the beneficiary farmers were selected from a large number of farmers who applied for the cows.

She said beneficiaries were selected based on the land a farmer owns, adding that the donation is aimed at promoting and demonstrating the four-acre model. 

The beneficiaries expressed excitement about the donation, saying that such heifers are expensive and they could not manage to have them despite their desire to have such cows.

They said that animals will help them to double their incomes through milk production and commended the NRM government for the initiative, and promised to take good care of the Cattle.

Kikuube district chairperson Peter Banura commended the Government for the donation, saying the cows among the farmers will increase the production of milk in the district.

However, he challenged the extension worker to play their role and always visit the beneficiaries and advise them on how to manage the animals.

He noted that sometimes when the government offers such animals to farmers, because of lack of knowledge and skills on how to treat and manage the animals, they end up dying.

"The farmers were trained before receiving the animals, but we need to continue training and empowering them to ensure that these cows survive and produce to serve their intended purpose of fighting poverty," he said.

The first calf of each heifer is expected to be handed to another farmer.