President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni has expressed satisfaction with the progress of the Parish Development Model (PDM), noting that it has helped rural communities transition from subsistence-based living to more diversified, cash-based economic activities, integrating them into the money economy.
The President, who is currently on a nationwide PDM performance assessment tour in the Busoga Sub-Region, visited Mr. Mukasa Eliot, a PDM farmer from Buwanda village, Nawampiti Sub-county in Luuka District.
Mr. Mukasa, who received Shs. 1 million in the first phase of 2022/2023, ventured into commercial farming, focusing on passion fruits and vegetables. He later purchased goats and iron sheets for his house.
“I’m very happy to see that people are waking up. Now that I have come here to visit Mukasa, I would give him Shs. 10 million so that he can buy one acre of land for Shs. 5 million, and the remaining Shs. 5 million will go towards buying more goats. I will also add Shs. 6 million so he can buy a motorcycle to transport his goods,” H.E. Museveni said before handing over the cash to Mr. Mukasa.
Additionally, he gave Shs. 10 million to the other 10 farmers who gathered at Mukasa’s home to hear President Museveni’s message of transformation, which began in the 1960s, at a time when very few people were involved in the money economy.
“You would find children sleeping on the mat, fighting for one blanket, no electricity in the homes, and the children were not going to school,” the President recalled, adding that in the 1960s in Ntungamo, out of the 55 sub-counties, only a few families in about three sub-counties had an idea of commercial agriculture and had a few coffee trees.
“In 1986, when we came back after fighting Idi Amin, we saw some of the little work we had done. We started with the Balaalo (cattle keepers) who behaved like the Karamojong, shifting cows everywhere. They used to import milk from outside countries. In the shops, you would find condensed milk from New Zealand and India, yet they had cows. You can imagine! I told them that you can change and become modern farmers. You must be exemplary by producing milk for sale,” President Museveni emphasized. He noted that these farmers later made progress through various government programs, including Operation Wealth Creation, Bonna Bagaggawale, and now the Parish Development Model, which directly supports farmers at the parish level.
“I called the NRM caucus and the Cabinet, and I introduced the Parish Development Model where farmers would form SACCOs, and we would send them money directly while guiding them on the seven profitable activities to focus on,” H.E. Museveni added, commending Mr. Mukasa for choosing passion fruits and successfully harvesting a profit of Shs. 600,000, which he later used to expand his activities to include livestock.
“The plan is to give Shs. 100 million to 100 homesteads per year. In three years, we will have reached 300 homesteads, and in the third year, those who received Shs. 1 million will be returning Shs. 1.6 million. This means that in five years, each parish will have received Shs. 500 million,” H.E. Museveni explained.
For his part, Mr. Mukasa expressed his gratitude to President Museveni for the financial boost of Shs. 1 million through the PDM, which has significantly changed his life.
The Minister for the Presidency, Hon. Babirye Milly Babalanda, welcomed President Museveni to Luuka and praised the program as the most successful in transforming people’s lives.
According to Mr. Musongole Joseph, chairman of the Bugomba Nawampiti PDM SACCO in Luuka District, Mr. Mukasa is among the 217 members who have benefited from the government program out of the 1,066 registered members in Nawampiti Sub-county.
The Resident District Commissioner for Luuka, Mr. Katende Ronald Kinene, noted that their selection process is targeting the 36% of individuals still engaged in subsistence farming. To date, 64 SACCOs have benefited in the first phase of 2022/2023.
“We’re grateful that among the first beneficiaries, Mukasa Eliot was one whose dream has come true. He’s becoming an example to many youths, not only here in Buwanda but also throughout the entire parish,” RDC Katende said.
The Parish Development Model is an initiative introduced in Uganda in 2022 with the goal of reducing poverty at the grassroots level. It aims to shift people from subsistence farming and informal economy practices into more integrated and formalized participation in the monetary economy.
