Karamoja gets cassava stems
Aug 08, 2009
World Food Programme, a UN food agency, has launched a 400-acre cassava seed multiplication garden in Karamoja.
By Olandason Wanyama
World Food Programme, a UN food agency, has launched a 400-acre cassava seed multiplication garden in Karamoja.
The scheme, the first of its kind in the semi-arid region, aims at multiplying and delivering quality cassava stems of adapted varieties, to farmers in time.
WFP deputy executive director Sheila Sisulu, while inaugurating the project on Wednesday, said the initiative was a shift from food aid, to long-lasting solutions for hunger.
“I am looking forward to being part of this project today by planting some cassava stems,†she said amid ululation in Iriiri sub-county, Moroto district.
Sisulu said WFP was aiming at easing the food insecurity situation by improving agricultural production.
She noted that the demand for cassava products was rising with income growth in the country.
However, due to the low investment in cassava growing in the region, it was missing out on the domestic market supply, she said.
Moroto district chairman Peterken Lochap advised the residents to embrace agriculture in order to liberate themselves from food handouts.
He commended WFP for the services it had rendered to Karamoja in the past 30 years.
The function was attended by local and religious leaders and Moroto district officials.
World Food Programme, a UN food agency, has launched a 400-acre cassava seed multiplication garden in Karamoja.
The scheme, the first of its kind in the semi-arid region, aims at multiplying and delivering quality cassava stems of adapted varieties, to farmers in time.
WFP deputy executive director Sheila Sisulu, while inaugurating the project on Wednesday, said the initiative was a shift from food aid, to long-lasting solutions for hunger.
“I am looking forward to being part of this project today by planting some cassava stems,†she said amid ululation in Iriiri sub-county, Moroto district.
Sisulu said WFP was aiming at easing the food insecurity situation by improving agricultural production.
She noted that the demand for cassava products was rising with income growth in the country.
However, due to the low investment in cassava growing in the region, it was missing out on the domestic market supply, she said.
Moroto district chairman Peterken Lochap advised the residents to embrace agriculture in order to liberate themselves from food handouts.
He commended WFP for the services it had rendered to Karamoja in the past 30 years.
The function was attended by local and religious leaders and Moroto district officials.