Korean village model to be rolled out countrywide

As part of the strategies to achieve the country's goal of the middle income status; government is set to adopt a new village development model to increase rural incomes and quality of living.

This follows a number of successes recorded from a pilot project for Establishment of Saemaul Model Villages (ESMV) in Mpigi districts.

The project worth $3m (about sh11bn) which has been running for four years ends in December.

It is funded by the Republic of Korean Government through the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA), United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) with support from the government of Uganda.

A total of 4,765 people from an estimated 1,078 households benefited from the project in seven villages from seven sub counties.

The villages include; Tiribo (Muduma sub country), Kololo (Kiringente), Nsamu (Mpigi Town Council), Kiwumu A (Kamengo), Kumbya (Buwama), Lwaweeba (Kituntu) and Lukonge in Nkozi.

According to the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Local Government, Benjamin Kumumanya, the model allows people in villages to take the lead in management and implementation of their own projects from onset with minimal supervision.

"We have witnessed the success stories from the pilot project where we have been part. We are certain that this is the only way to end poverty in the country. This model allows communities to set their priorities and take charge of their own projects," he noted.

Kumumanya was addressing a multi-stakeholder consultative workshop for the formulation of the national rural development strategy at Protea hotel in Kampala on Friday.

Under the model, villagers work together to come up with their action plans and are submitted to government for support.

The village leaders are also involved in all procurement processes for their inputs as indicated in their plans.

The Korean Ambassodor to Uganda, Kim You-Churl said basing on the outcomes of the model projects in Mpigi and other districts; Korea will continue to work towards expanding the model in other regions across the country.

However, he stressed that there is need to put into consideration new challenges and opportunities faced by rural regions in the  country that Korea did not face in the past.

"Challenges include a more demanding competitive international environment and less room for government intervention, rapidly growing rural populations, increased pressure on limited environmental sources and climate change," Kim noted.

He said the strategy needs to be multi-sectoral, focusing on agriculture as well as rural industry and services, and rural-urban linkages.

Lucy Frances Amulen, the chief administrative officer Mpigi said the model is for inclusive and sustainable community development.

"The village members in each of the model villages identify their needs, prioritise them and design costed possible intervention by the villages through community meetings. The villages always have their steering committee which also reports to parish steering committee up to sub county and the district. So this model involves everyone at various levels and that's why it has been successful ," she said.

She noted that through this model, top district , sub county technical and political officials are involved in routine support supervision and monitoring of the villages as they implement their planned activities.

Lawrence Adiga, the Maracha district boss said the communities have created transformational projects which have helped them to start agricultural value addition projects, mechanization of agriculture and small-scale irrigation.

The project which has also been introduced to Maracha, Luuka, Kabarole and Bunyangabo districts has enhanced the human capital skills of community members/ farmers to sustain the achievement especially in appropriate farming technologies, social capital development and governance.

Adiga, said village action plans have been prepared and are being implemented each year.

"The plans are integrated within the sub county plans and district plan," he added.

The South Korean government rolled out the Saemaul Undong (SMU) development strategy countrywide after successful trials in five districts.

The SMU concept, adopted in South Korea in 1970, is a community development approach that recognizes a village as a unit of development, which promotes self-help and collaboration.