{UAH} DO WE REALLY UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF AGRICULTURE IN UGANDA
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DO WE REALLY UNDERSTAND THE VALUE OF AGRICULTURE IN UGANDA
Miiro Sulaiman.
A month ago, we went to visit a certain farm with a friend of mine in Kashongi in Ibanda - Western Uganda. On our way, we passed through farming areas/lands with well looked after #Banana_Plantations, #Livestock_farms, #Maize_Gardens, #Sweet/Irish_Potatoes among other Agricultural fields.
As we drove through these fields I kept sharing with my friend how Uganda is blessed with fertile soils that can support almost everything worth cultivating. We shared about the President's convictions and belief of not extending food relief to village folks in this #Covid19Lockdown simply because they have enough food. Finally we reached our destination, an Elderly man we found there at some moments he mentioned that "Almost everyone in that village has food in his home because they cultivate their food and therefore they may not need food reliefs, suggesting that that should be given to the Town/City Dwellers who have to buy everything they eat on a daily note.
We shared on a variety of things, my friend engaged him more because they knew each other and I did the listening on many occasions. As the Old man in his late 60s shared both his worries and prospects about #Sustainability_of_the_cultivating_fields when he is long gone and recounting on the significance Agriculture has added to his life and family, this kept me occupied with reflection points, asking myself whether as Ugandans both youth and Adults #Understand_the_Value_of_Agriculture? So, I have been asking myself so many questions because as an individual, I have approached Agriculture practices using fishing and therefore have been engaged in #Cage_Fish_farming as a means to create an alternative livelihood activity for the fisher folk communities.
Now here is the worry, during the #Covid19 period, I have seen how everyone has praised our good weather and how it has provided for our people, availing us with the food stuffs like #Posho(Maizeflour)_Beans_Bananas_G.Nuts_Cassava among others and boosting other Manufacturing and value addition chains from Agricultural produce. With the National Budget in the Corner, I thought perhaps we will now realise what our Agricultural Sector can do for our economy and create, build the much needed shock-absorbers for our Economy and it's people.
Why is Agricultural Sector important for this Country;
Agriculture as a sector alone employs 72% of Uganda's Population in both the rural and urban settings.
The sector as well contributes 54% of Uganda's export earning. Making it the biggest export earner with products like Coffee, Cotton, Sugar and others embracing the charts.
The sector adds a 25% contribution to Uganda's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Having known all this, it's surprising that Ugandans both in leadership and others still don't realise what we have and what it can help us achieve. It's surprising that #Budget_Allocations for the Agricultural Sector in 2019/2020 were only 1.053 billion Uganda shillings while in #2020/2021_the_Covid19_period, it's only and only 1.325 billion Uganda shillings.
With this kind of background, it's evident enough that we don't know what feeds and sustains this nation. Moreso, even our people don't know what they are playing with because irrespective of Government interventions, even our production levels at personal level have been minimal partly due to a biased perception on Agriculture as a field/sector.
Recounting on the Senior Citizen we met in Kashongi in Ibanda - Western Uganda, he said he has done his all to maintain the plantations and livestock farms in good shape but his children don't value them even when they are more educated and enlightened than him. He is a retired Primary School Head teacher and has dedicated most of time to look after these fields because they always provided and secured the financial and social security of the family.
All that we shared didn't worry me until he said I have done my part, provided a road map, if our children don't see or value the Significance of these farms and this sector as a highly productive field, that will be their own problem.
That as well has got me thinking, It's a blessing that we are located on this part of the world where we have fertile soils and favourable weather conditions to nourish our fields, if we don't do what is required of us, we will never hold anyone accountable for our failures and misery in life.
#Miiro_Sulaiman is a Project Management Consultant with #Svends_Project_Chains, a Project Management & Consulting Firm engaging Business/Project Formulation & Management with a Project – Oriented Approach.
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-- Miiro Sulaiman.
A month ago, we went to visit a certain farm with a friend of mine in Kashongi in Ibanda - Western Uganda. On our way, we passed through farming areas/lands with well looked after #Banana_Plantations, #Livestock_farms, #Maize_Gardens, #Sweet/Irish_Potatoes among other Agricultural fields.
As we drove through these fields I kept sharing with my friend how Uganda is blessed with fertile soils that can support almost everything worth cultivating. We shared about the President's convictions and belief of not extending food relief to village folks in this #Covid19Lockdown simply because they have enough food. Finally we reached our destination, an Elderly man we found there at some moments he mentioned that "Almost everyone in that village has food in his home because they cultivate their food and therefore they may not need food reliefs, suggesting that that should be given to the Town/City Dwellers who have to buy everything they eat on a daily note.
We shared on a variety of things, my friend engaged him more because they knew each other and I did the listening on many occasions. As the Old man in his late 60s shared both his worries and prospects about #Sustainability_of_the_cultivating_fields when he is long gone and recounting on the significance Agriculture has added to his life and family, this kept me occupied with reflection points, asking myself whether as Ugandans both youth and Adults #Understand_the_Value_of_Agriculture? So, I have been asking myself so many questions because as an individual, I have approached Agriculture practices using fishing and therefore have been engaged in #Cage_Fish_farming as a means to create an alternative livelihood activity for the fisher folk communities.
Now here is the worry, during the #Covid19 period, I have seen how everyone has praised our good weather and how it has provided for our people, availing us with the food stuffs like #Posho(Maizeflour)_Beans_Bananas_G.Nuts_Cassava among others and boosting other Manufacturing and value addition chains from Agricultural produce. With the National Budget in the Corner, I thought perhaps we will now realise what our Agricultural Sector can do for our economy and create, build the much needed shock-absorbers for our Economy and it's people.
Why is Agricultural Sector important for this Country;
Agriculture as a sector alone employs 72% of Uganda's Population in both the rural and urban settings.
The sector as well contributes 54% of Uganda's export earning. Making it the biggest export earner with products like Coffee, Cotton, Sugar and others embracing the charts.
The sector adds a 25% contribution to Uganda's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Having known all this, it's surprising that Ugandans both in leadership and others still don't realise what we have and what it can help us achieve. It's surprising that #Budget_Allocations for the Agricultural Sector in 2019/2020 were only 1.053 billion Uganda shillings while in #2020/2021_the_Covid19_period, it's only and only 1.325 billion Uganda shillings.
With this kind of background, it's evident enough that we don't know what feeds and sustains this nation. Moreso, even our people don't know what they are playing with because irrespective of Government interventions, even our production levels at personal level have been minimal partly due to a biased perception on Agriculture as a field/sector.
Recounting on the Senior Citizen we met in Kashongi in Ibanda - Western Uganda, he said he has done his all to maintain the plantations and livestock farms in good shape but his children don't value them even when they are more educated and enlightened than him. He is a retired Primary School Head teacher and has dedicated most of time to look after these fields because they always provided and secured the financial and social security of the family.
All that we shared didn't worry me until he said I have done my part, provided a road map, if our children don't see or value the Significance of these farms and this sector as a highly productive field, that will be their own problem.
That as well has got me thinking, It's a blessing that we are located on this part of the world where we have fertile soils and favourable weather conditions to nourish our fields, if we don't do what is required of us, we will never hold anyone accountable for our failures and misery in life.
#Miiro_Sulaiman is a Project Management Consultant with #Svends_Project_Chains, a Project Management & Consulting Firm engaging Business/Project Formulation & Management with a Project – Oriented Approach.
--
"When a man is stung by a bee, he doesn't set off to destroy all beehives"
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