Teso region calls for irrigation schemes
Jul 13, 2009
FAMINE in the Teso region dominated the 2009 World Population Day celebrations, with leaders urging the Government to invest in irrigation and machinery as long term solutions to the problem.
By Anthony Bugembe
FAMINE in the Teso region dominated the 2009 World Population Day celebrations, with leaders urging the Government to invest in irrigation and machinery as long term solutions to the problem.
Addressing thousands of people who braved the scorching sun at Katakwi High School grounds on Saturday, local leaders said the Iteso were hard working, but the climate had not favoured them.
There has been no rainfall for the last six months and the soils are dry, said Robert Ekongot, the district chairman
“We do not have food not because we are lazy, but because the rains have not come. It is high time mechanisation is put into practice to make use of the little rains when they come,†he said.
Ekongot said the region had lakes like Kyoga, Bisina and Opeta, which could be used for irrigation.
The practice, according to Ekongot, would sustain the crops during dry spells.
Katakwi district Woman MP Jessica Alupo said the President directed the agriculture ministry to provide tractors to districts in the Teso region in 2008, but that only Bukedea, Soroti and Kumi districts had received them.
“I am in regular contact with Hope Mwesigye (agriculture minister) to ensure that the remaining districts (Amuria, Kaberamaido and Sereere) get tractors,†said Alupo, who is also the youth and children affairs state minister.
Usuk MP Charles Oleny urged the Government to take more food relief to the region.
“Food insecurity has also affected the retention of children in school,†Oleny said.
The Population Secretariat used the occasion to plant 1,100 trees and donate two tonnes of maize flour.
Karamoja affairs state minister and First Lady Janet Museveni, in a speech read by presidency minister Beatrice Wabudeya, said communities had to be empowered to sustain themselves using the available resources.
“Although poverty is widespread, it is more concentrated in rural areas where the majority of the people depend on agriculture for their livelihood,†Mrs. Museveni said.
She added that many farmers operated on a small scale. About 68% of households derive livelihood from subsistence farming.
She advised farmers to make use of the National Agricultural Advisory Services programme of having six households per parish serving as demonstration farms.
Ephraim Kamuntu, the planning state minister, said despite the current global economic crisis, Uganda’s economy was doing well.
The 7% economic growth, he said, was higher than the sub-Saharan 2.4%.
Poverty levels have also declined from 56% in 1992 to 31%, he added.
FAMINE in the Teso region dominated the 2009 World Population Day celebrations, with leaders urging the Government to invest in irrigation and machinery as long term solutions to the problem.
Addressing thousands of people who braved the scorching sun at Katakwi High School grounds on Saturday, local leaders said the Iteso were hard working, but the climate had not favoured them.
There has been no rainfall for the last six months and the soils are dry, said Robert Ekongot, the district chairman
“We do not have food not because we are lazy, but because the rains have not come. It is high time mechanisation is put into practice to make use of the little rains when they come,†he said.
Ekongot said the region had lakes like Kyoga, Bisina and Opeta, which could be used for irrigation.
The practice, according to Ekongot, would sustain the crops during dry spells.
Katakwi district Woman MP Jessica Alupo said the President directed the agriculture ministry to provide tractors to districts in the Teso region in 2008, but that only Bukedea, Soroti and Kumi districts had received them.
“I am in regular contact with Hope Mwesigye (agriculture minister) to ensure that the remaining districts (Amuria, Kaberamaido and Sereere) get tractors,†said Alupo, who is also the youth and children affairs state minister.
Usuk MP Charles Oleny urged the Government to take more food relief to the region.
“Food insecurity has also affected the retention of children in school,†Oleny said.
The Population Secretariat used the occasion to plant 1,100 trees and donate two tonnes of maize flour.
Karamoja affairs state minister and First Lady Janet Museveni, in a speech read by presidency minister Beatrice Wabudeya, said communities had to be empowered to sustain themselves using the available resources.
“Although poverty is widespread, it is more concentrated in rural areas where the majority of the people depend on agriculture for their livelihood,†Mrs. Museveni said.
She added that many farmers operated on a small scale. About 68% of households derive livelihood from subsistence farming.
She advised farmers to make use of the National Agricultural Advisory Services programme of having six households per parish serving as demonstration farms.
Ephraim Kamuntu, the planning state minister, said despite the current global economic crisis, Uganda’s economy was doing well.
The 7% economic growth, he said, was higher than the sub-Saharan 2.4%.
Poverty levels have also declined from 56% in 1992 to 31%, he added.