URN.Dr. Henry Oplot Nakilet, the commissioner of Agriculture Extension, and Skills Management in the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries says that the project is being funded through a loan worth Shillings 32Billion.
The Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries has started rehabilitating four major farm roads in Kamwenge district to a tune of Shillings 2.3 billion. The Ministry has contracted TAMSAK development link Uganda limited including Kamwenge Kaitabasegu 17.6km, Bwizi/Biguli 10km, Bwizi/Nkoma (5km) and Bihanga (5km) sub-counties.
The work is expected to be complete within ten months. The roads are being rehabilitated under the World bank funded Agriculture cluster development project that will also see 29 roads Improved in 57 districts across the country with the aim of enabling the farmers to access both Agro inputs and markets with ease in line with the government’s mission of transforming agriculture from subsistence to commercial farming.
Dr. Henry Oplot Nakilet, the commissioner of Agriculture Extension, and Skills Management in the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries says that the project is being funded through a loan worth Shillings 32Billion.
The project started in 2017 to enable an increase in farm production but has been extended to September 2023 specifically catering to the community access roads. Oplot says the ministry is working on complicated spots alias road chocks, which have been unmotorable and were expensive to rehabilitate by both districts and sub-counties.
Alevious Ahebwa, a pineapple farmer and resident of Bwizi sub-county, says that the roads have been impassable making it difficult for farmers to transport their produce to the nearby markets in Rwamwanja sub-county.
Noman Friday, a Matoke vendor in Kabakuta village Bwizi sub-county, says that he has been prohibiting his two children from going for classes beyond 2 pm because they have to help him cross Kabakuta swamp, which connects to Rwemburara Nkoni and Mihani, the gateway to Rwamwanja market.
Friday says the alternative routes are far and expensive, which could render his efforts fruitless since he will be making losses regardless of the sales.
Speaking during the launch of the project at Bwizi sub county, the Minister for Agriculture animal Industry and Fisheries, Frank Tuwebaze, said that whereas it is not the mandate of his Ministry to work on the roads, the ministry has an obligation to ensure farmers access both markets and inputs through motorable roads.
Tumwebaze says that many farmers have been facing exploitation from middlemen due to poor access to and from the farms, which the government is moving to resolve.
Joseph Karungi, the Kamwenge District LC V Chairperson extended his gratitude to the Government of Uganda through the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries for the increased involvement of their stakeholders in the implementation of Government programs. The Agriculture Cluster Development Project (ACDP) is a 6-year project implemented by MAAIF with support from the World Bank.
The specific objectives are to: support intensification of on-farm production of five priorities these include improved marketing and post-harvest handling of farm produce, develop institutional frameworks to support key regulatory MAAIF functions and promote the use of disruptive digital technologies for the transfer and dissemination of agricultural information.
The project targets to support 450,000 farmers aggregated into 300 Area-based Commodity Cooperative Enterprises (ACCEs) comprising 3,000 Rural Producer Organizations (RPOs) constituted by 30,000 Farmer Groups.
