The Ministry of Local Government has tasked district production officers with evaluating the impact of government interventions in agricultural extension services, aligning efforts with national socio-economic transformation goals.
Addressing district, city, and municipal production officers at Hotel Africana in Kampala on Thursday, Ben Kumumanya, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, emphasized that production officers play a central role in transforming communities through guidance on viable commercial agriculture practices and proper enterprise selection as outlined in the Parish Development Model.
Kumumanya urged officers to actively lead public discourse on their role as government focal points in guiding agricultural interventions at the community level.
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Meanwhile, Maj. Gen. (Rtd) David Kasura Kyomukama, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), called for a shift from subsistence to commercial farming as a strategy to boost productivity and household incomes.
“About 70 percent of households in Uganda engage in subsistence farming, yet they contribute only 25 percent to the country’s GDP,” he said, highlighting the gap caused by low productivity and limited commercialization.
Maj. Gen. Kasura urged production and veterinary officers to intensify farmer sensitization and promote high-value, quick-return enterprises such as poultry, piggery, horticulture, and other income-generating agricultural activities.
He also stressed the importance of livestock vaccination in controlling Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD), noting that adequate vaccines are available. Officers were tasked with mobilizing and supporting farmers to adopt vaccination as a key disease control measure.
