How we can empower subsistence farmers.

By Bonnie Kayondo  

During the State of the Nation address mid this year, the President stated that: “subsistence farmers, who, according to the 2002 census, occupied 68% of all households, still have much of their potential untapped because we have not yet mobilised them”.

Earlier this year, the President, in his speech to the East African Grain Council Summit held at Speke Resort Munyoyo, listed three ways of increasing grain production. These are improved seeds, post-harvest technologies and irrigation.

Under irrigation, the President said following the zoning system, different irrigation systems will be used in different regions. These include the gravity irrigation system around mountainous areas and using large water bodies like River Nile and lakes and micro-dams using motorised pumps.

Numerous articles have appeared in the press stressing the fact that water for agricultural production can no longer be ignored.

Peter Morgan in his book, Rural Water Supplies and Sanitation, states “almost all of the world’s stock of fresh water, that is, 8.2 million cubic kilometres or more than 97% of the total water available is inside the earth itself and exists as underground water.

The rest is in streams, lakes and rivers”. Water is in fact a factor of production, just like land, labour, capital, entrepreneurship and technology.

Therefore, if subsistence farmers get access to water for production and agricultural extension training, the 40 million acres of arable land in Uganda would be put to full use and this would indeed put in motion an agricultural revolution. Poverty would be eradicated.

Proposed strategy

Below are the strategies we could adopt to improve the productivity of subsistence farmers in Uganda.

• The state should set up an agriculturaldevelopment bank. As we expect oil revenues, these funds should be used to capitalise the bank.
   
• The state to set up a rural water supply agency just like the Rural Electrification Agency.
   
• The state to set up an agricultural extension services authority to replace the National Advisory Agricultral Services (NAADS).
   
• Each village to set up a co-operative society. In fact the co-operative department should be upgraded to ministerial level.

Reorganise public service

There is hardly an economy that has taken off without calculated state intervention. The Government has come out with pro-people programmes like universal primary and secondary education and NAADS, but the problem has been poor implementation.

The Government should take bold steps by overhauling the public service. The present system is outdated. Hence, it is no use increasing the budget allocation to the agriculture ministry without first reorganising the whole public service.

People want a government that is heavily involved in the management of finance, agriculture, water and natural resources, trade and industry.

The Government should, therefore, endeavour to deliver on the people’s expectations, not what Americans, Europeans or other countries want.

Agriculture training and village co-operatives

Village co-operative societies eliminate bureaucracy and they are an effective way of mobilising subsistence farmers. Through such co-operatives, farmers can access agricultural value addition training and other incentives available to farmers’ groups.

Mode of operation

1. The village co-operative applies to the Rural Water Supply Agency for water provision.
    
2. The Rural Water Supply Agency embarks on the study of the village to ascertain the source of water and determines the water supply cost to farmers in the village.
    
3. The village co-operative applies to the National Agricultural Development Bank for a loan to fund water provision to the village.
    
4. The village co-operative applies to the National Agricultural Extension Agency for agricultural training, seeds and animals for farmers in the village.
    
5. The village co-operative runs loan accounts for all funds extended to the farmers for water, seeds, animals and other agricultural inputs in conjunction with the Agriculture Development Bank.

Such a model would go a long way in uplifting our subsistence agricultural sector.

The writer is a farmer and resident of Kakunyu, Bukoto Central,Masaka district