Anglican dioceses sign pact to transform their communities

Prosper Mama Africa (PMA), a Ugandan non-governmental organisation that supports farmers to mechanise and collectively grow market-demanded crops as a community, has partnered with three Anglican dioceses to scale their resilient village model program in western Uganda. 

The dioceses that will implement this program include North Ankole, Northwest Ankole, and Eastern Rwenzori diocese under the recently formed union short formed as ERUNANWA. The memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed on Friday at St Paul Cathedral in Ibanda Municipality. 

At the same function, the bishops of these three dioceses Rt Rev. George Turyasingura, the North Ankole's Rt Rev. Stephen Namanya, and Northwest Ankole's Rt Rev. Amos Magezi also signed an MoU of their own as a sign of commitment to work together in raising the standards of living of their communities.

The same event was attended by diocesan secretaries, heads of laity, and the head of planning units in all the three dioceses. 

Rt Rev, Amos Magezi of Northwest Ankole diocese who is also the current chairperson of ERUNANWA, told the media that the main goal of the MoU is to provide a framework for cooperation between PMA and the three dioceses aimed at a unified effort in equipping their communities with improved agricultural practices as a pathway to a sustainable and holistic social-transformation mission. 

"On top of preaching the word of God, we must also teach and facilitate the people on how to improve their livelihoods." Bishop Amos Magezi of Northwest Ankole said after the signing ceremony.

The main areas of collaboration in this MoU include, but not limited to the improvement of agricultural practices in the region, facilitating the production of market quality crops, and the improvement of the livestock industry.

It is also aimed at the provision of accurate Agro-business information services and credit schemes.