Experts discuss Busoga strategic development plan to accelerate wealth creation

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A team of experts, including academia, cultural, agriculturalists, religious and political leaders, as well as business people, have started developing a strategic plan for the Busoga region.

Code-named the Busoga think tank, the group is currently holding a residential meeting at the Nile Village Hotel in Jinja city, running from December 14-21, 2025.

During this period, they are expected to brainstorm on the different sectors of the economy and identify the most suitable and profitable enterprises for the Busoga households.

Minister of Science, Technology and Innovations Dr Monica Musenero (second right) chats with some of the Busoga think tank members during their meeting at Nile Village Hotel in Jinja city on Wednesday, December 17, 2025. (Photos by Charles Kakamwa)

The think tank session is expected to come up with the first draft of the development plan.

Thereafter, Dr Joshua Isiko, head of the productivity acceleration bureau at the science, technology and innovation ministry, said experts will move around Busoga, holding sampled multi-level consultative meetings at parish, sub-county, district and sub-regional level.

‘‘A fair draft of the development plan integrating the inputs from the consultations will be made and presented to the President before launch of the sub-regional strategic plan for accelerated wealth creation by the president,’’ he said on Wednesday, December 17, 2025.

According to Isiko, this comes after a directive by President Yoweri Museveni to the Science, Technology and Innovation – Office of the President (STI-OP) to develop strategic programmes intended to accelerate productivity in the country.

In response to the directive, he said the productivity acceleration bureau innovated a tool that is intended to align sub-regions towards a few commodity value chains in which those particular sub-regional households engage to create wealth.

"This tool is called a strategic plan to accelerate wealth creation. After its development, STI-OP will work with the National Planning Authority (NPA) to integrate it in the sub-regional development plan as the wealth creation component," he said.

If successful, Busoga will be the second region to develop its strategic development plan after Bukedi, whose strategic plan for accelerated wealth creation was launched by President Yoweri Museveni on August 22, 2024.

‘‘Since the launch, a remarkable impact has been recorded with a shift from cassava farming for money to cocoa and coffee farming. Over 50% of the coffee/cocoa farms established after the launch," Isiko noted.

Science-based approach

Science, technology and innovations minister Dr Monica Musenero, while addressing members of the think tank on December 10, 2025, stressed that, like the case elsewhere, problems that hinder Busoga’s progress require a science-based approach as opposed to those left behind by colonialists.

She expressed optimism, noting that different groups in the region, such as the cultural institution, religious leaders, politicians and the ordinary people have shown willingness to embrace the approach.

Musenero added that President Museveni is particularly concerned that Busoga is ranked among the poorest and least developed regions, according to statistics from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), yet it was previously among the best.

Busoga kingdom gender minister Dr Joyce Abaliwano welcomed the initiative, noting that it will help educate people on how to maximally utilise the available resources, such as land, address the high school dropout rates, and also tackle mindset change as well as value addition to agricultural output.

‘‘It is good to learn that through the strategic plan, Busoga will be able to utilise its natural endowments such as minerals, water resources from the lakes and rivers surrounding the region, the good environment and strategic location to create wealth and accelerate development," Dr Hillary Emmanuel Musoke, a senior presidential advisor on agribusiness and value addition, said.