Farmers in Rubanda District have received a major boost ahead of the second planting season after the Councillor for Habuhutu Town Council, Hon. Brighton Arineitwe, launched a community village seed bank initiative and donated 1.1 tonnes of quality bean seed to vulnerable households.
The initiative was unveiled on Friday at Kashambya Trading Centre in Kashambya Village, with each of the 11 villages in Habuhutu Town Council allocated 100 kilograms of certified dry bean seed to support local farmers.
The seed distribution will primarily target vulnerable farming households identified by village selection committees to ensure fairness and transparency. The distribution exercise began in Kashambya Village and will continue across the remaining villages in Habuhutu Town Council.
Arineitwe said the programme was introduced in response to concerns from farmers who often sell their entire bean harvest to meet pressing household expenses such as school fees, leaving them without seed for the next planting season.
To ensure the programme remains sustainable, Arineitwe introduced a revolving seed bank model under which beneficiaries will return a slightly larger quantity of seed after harvest. For instance, a farmer who receives seven kilograms of bean seed will return eight kilograms at the end of the season.
He explained that the additional seed will gradually expand the village seed stores, enabling more households to benefit in subsequent planting seasons without having to buy seed.
Beyond distributing seed, Arineitwe encouraged farmers to adopt modern farming practices such as fertiliser application, mulching and terracing to improve yields and maximise returns from their land.
He also urged beneficiaries to uphold honesty and accountability by returning the agreed quantities of seed, saying community ownership would be key to the long-term success of the initiative.
CUE IN ARINEITWE….ON THE INITIATIVE…..RR//
Residents described the initiative as a timely intervention that will ease the financial burden on farming families. Shallon Tusiime, Josephine Asiimwe, Ronald Mugisha and Jackson Manige said the programme would reduce the cost of purchasing bean seed while improving household food security.
They pledged to support the revolving seed bank and encouraged residents to embrace community-driven development initiatives. The intervention comes just weeks before the start of Season B, the August-September planting season in the Kigezi sub-region, giving farmers an opportunity to prepare their gardens with quality seed in time for planting
