Increase agriculture funding - CSOs

By -



In Summary

The activists say government has continuously suffocated the agriculture sector that employs 80 per cent of the country’s population.


Civil society organisations have resolved to seek audience with the minister of Finance and the President to discuss the limited funding to the critical agriculture sector.
Contributing to a paper launched by the Forum for Women in Democracy (FOWODE) on the gender analysis of the agriculture budget in Kampala on Thursday, the activists noted that government has continuously suffocated the agriculture sector that employs 80 per cent of the country’s population. 
“We shall continue with our advocacy and we shall lobby the Ministry of Finance and the President to increase funding to the agriculture sector,” said Ms Patricia Munabi, the Executive Director for FOWODE.
“We shall also demand answers from the Ministry of Agriculture to tell us how it spends the money allocated to it because much of it does not reach the intended beneficiaries, the farmers particularly the women,” said Munabi added.
She said the funds that are sent to districts to benefit the farmers are not properly monitored.
Ms Munabi added that farmers must be empowered with knowledge on how much money goes to the districts and how it can benefit them and how government can market their produce thereafter.

 Ms Sophie Kyagulanyi, the research and policy analyst, who presented the paper, noted that the biggest challenge facing the agricultural sector is very low use of better agricultural technology like improved seeds, fertilisers and mechanised methods of cultivation. She said government in this current financial year (2012/2013) allocated Shs379 billion to the agriculture sector in its 10 trillion overall budget which she said is too little for such a key sector.

 The Shs379 billion allocation represented 3.5 per cent of the national budget. The percentage allocation according to activists is below the national development plan target. Ms Kyagulanyi attributed the 2011 food inflation on the low agricultural productivity where the country failed to meet the increasing demand for agricultural products from a wider regional and international market.
Mr Aggrey Nshekanabo, the public relations officer for Send a Cow Uganda, said government should invest in agro-processing to add value to the farmers’ produce.

mnalugo@ug.nationmedia.com

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

TIMELY CALL TO CHAMPION SPACES, SOLIDARITY AND SOLUTIONS IN THE WOMEN DELIVER 2023 CONFERENCE

By -
Image
 As one of the largest multi-sectoral convening to advance gender equality, convening 6,000 advocates onsite, and over 200,000 advocates online from diverse fields, the Women Deliver 2023 Conference has been co-created by grassroots advocates, youth, civil society, governments, multilateral organizations, and the private sector, including from and representing communities facing systemic discrimination around the world.   Rwanda continues to make great effort in leading gender equality in the world. By 61.3%, it is the country in the world with first female majority in Parliament not forgetting that it has also promoted women’s health, made policies to advance equal pay and established laws criminalizing violence against women among others. This makes Kigali the perfect venue for Women Deliver 2023 because of its strong commitment to gender equality and girls and women’s health, according to Kathleen Sherwin, the outgoing CEO Women Deliver.   Women Deliver is a leading global advocate
Read more

Catalyzing modern technology to empower the Feminist Movement and advance Gender Equality

By -
Image
As we prepare to dissect intersection approaches to women’s rights at the Women Deliver 2023 conference in Rwanda, chasing the Wada Dream Documentary has been selected to film during the conference. Africa is always last in the queue for not only technological advancement but also development, investment and promotion of fundamental human rights, among others. A key priority for Women Deliver and partners is to ensure that WD2023 is symbiotic and beneficial to other key policy windows that advance Gender Equality, like technology advancement in the contemporary world.   In the Documentary film, Mercy , the coordination lead at Wada says they are going to give access to people on the continent and in the Diaspora to actively be part of this revolution. What is this revolution? Chasing the Wada Dream is the story of Mercy and Josh, Afia and Daniel and many other people bringing opportunity and education to Africa with the use of modern technology.   Africa is a beehive of underprivil
Read more