Minister in charge Northern Uganda tips Lango on cassava production

28 June 2023, 12:04 pm

By Mike Okwang Ogule

The state minister in charge northern Uganda Hon Grace Kwiyucwiny has implored Lango community not to dare abandon cassava growing since its not only their staple food but also a very huge source of income if grown in a large scale.

Speaking recently during the launch of the parish development model for Apac Municipality, minister Kwiyocwiny said she is shocked to learn that Lango has apparently abandoned cassava production which used to be their major food and cash crop despite Lango being among the tribes with the most fertile soils in the country.

She said when she just crossed masindi port ferry to come to Lango, it was very rare for her to see cassava plantations by the road side like in the past which to her was a very big indicator that Lango has so far left cassava growing.

She consequently implored Lango to get back to their traditional foods like Cassava and start producing it in a large scale for factory use for Lango to speedily get out of poverty.

On parish development model, the minister said technical officers should take keen interest in helping the locals to attain their anticipated goals for progress asking leaders to guide the beneficiaries of parish revolving fund and plan for the next steps to avoid unnecessary excuses.

Hon Kwiyucwiny consequently asked technocrats to have plans for storage, processing and marketing of the commodities produced under PDM so that beneficiaries can refund the money on time.

She however requests the line authority to give money to the beneficiaries hurriedly and on time so that they can catch up with the season observing that over two billion shillings will be dispersed within Apac municipality this current financial year.

According to the minister, farmers should be cautious in selecting enterprises noting that those engaged in food crops like beans, maize and sun flower need to be having large acreages of land in order to swiftly get out of poverty.

RDC Apac Mr. George Abudul promised to follow closely the operationalization of the PDM program in the district to avoid misuse of the given funds by those in authority and the beneficiaries.

He later asked the beneficiaries to commit to putting the funds to use in order to pay back on time since its revolving.

PDM is a new poverty alleviation programme rolled out in the last financial year by the government of Uganda with the aim of uplifting more than three million peasant households to money economy.