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Nwoya, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | President Yoweri Museveni has called upon Ugandans to adapt commercial agriculture. Speaking at the commissioning of the FOL Rice Farm in Lamoki village, Anaka Sub- County, Nwoya district in Acholi Sub-Region on Saturday, the President said that Ugandans needed to understand the difference between modern and local farming.
He observed that commercial agriculture is good because it uses modern farming methods, which create a number of employment opportunities for the local population.
“When you are involved in small scale farming, you do all the labour as a family but when you are involved in commercial agriculture you cannot do all the work yourself and, therefore, you must hire people,” he explained.
Museveni added that unlike traditional farming, commercial agriculture allows high volumes of produce. He said that the FOL Rice Farm would help to fill 200,000 tonnes deficit of rice grown in the country.
“With over 40 million acres of land for agriculture, Ugandans are not producing enough rice and but are instead importing rice,” he said.
He said that Ugandans should not only stop at importing rice for eating but also start growing and exporting it. “Rice is not only for eating. You can get animal feeds, rice oil and electricity from the husks,” he advised.
President Museveni criticized the Uganda Wildlife Authority (UWA) for not taking action to help farmers. He called upon UWA to put up control measures around the Murchison Falls National Park boundaries so that animals do not disturb the people and destroy their crops.
“In Kanungu, they grow tea on the boundary of the Park and farms so that elephants fear crossing into gardens. I do not know the explanation for how tea stops elephants but they cannot pass near it,” he explained.
The President also warned cattle farmers who do not fence their land and leave their animals to destroy other people’s crops. He, therefore, called upon the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries, to pass a law making it criminal for someone’s animals causing destruction to other people’s crops.
Museveni applauded Nwoya district administration for the initiative to identify land for investment.
“I am glad that Nwoya is becoming a center for commercial farming and that you are offering me land for Industrial Parks. We need to replace towns of shops with factories,” he said.
