Govt to spend sh290b on PMA
Aug 29, 2003
THE Government is to spend about sh290b on the Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA) this financial year.
By Charles Ariko
THE Government is to spend about sh290b on the Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA) this financial year.
The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Kisamba Mugerwa, said PMA activities would soon be expanded to cover more districts in the country.
Mugerwa told members at a meeting to review the activities of PMA recently, that the project had attracted a lot of donor funding, which the government could not absorb at once under the Medium Term Expenditure Framework(MTEF).
“Many people out there are comparing PMA to the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme. They say UPE has delivered tangible results as opposed to PMA. What they should understand is that PMA is still in its infancy stages. At the moment, we have developed policies, regulations and strategies relevant to various components crucial for the implementation of PMA,†Mugerwa said.
He said PMA recently came under criticism from both the Parliament and the public who queried its activities and the money the government has injected into the project.
“PMA uses a multi-sectoral and dimensional approach aimed at assisting subsistence farmers move from rural to modern farming.
“The main objective is to eradicate poverty among rural farmers through development of infrastructure and other components involving different sectors. Many of the outputs of PMA so far are not tangible but we hope very soon, people will see the transformation,†Mugerwa said.
He said PMA will soon embark on a national campaign to sensitise and mobilise rural farmers.
Bank of Uganda Governor Tumusiime Mutebile told the participants that PMA was designed with medium to long term objectives and not short term ones.
THE Government is to spend about sh290b on the Plan for Modernisation of Agriculture (PMA) this financial year.
The Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Kisamba Mugerwa, said PMA activities would soon be expanded to cover more districts in the country.
Mugerwa told members at a meeting to review the activities of PMA recently, that the project had attracted a lot of donor funding, which the government could not absorb at once under the Medium Term Expenditure Framework(MTEF).
“Many people out there are comparing PMA to the Universal Primary Education (UPE) programme. They say UPE has delivered tangible results as opposed to PMA. What they should understand is that PMA is still in its infancy stages. At the moment, we have developed policies, regulations and strategies relevant to various components crucial for the implementation of PMA,†Mugerwa said.
He said PMA recently came under criticism from both the Parliament and the public who queried its activities and the money the government has injected into the project.
“PMA uses a multi-sectoral and dimensional approach aimed at assisting subsistence farmers move from rural to modern farming.
“The main objective is to eradicate poverty among rural farmers through development of infrastructure and other components involving different sectors. Many of the outputs of PMA so far are not tangible but we hope very soon, people will see the transformation,†Mugerwa said.
He said PMA will soon embark on a national campaign to sensitise and mobilise rural farmers.
Bank of Uganda Governor Tumusiime Mutebile told the participants that PMA was designed with medium to long term objectives and not short term ones.