Naads at a Glance in Kasese

As a result of the 30/08/2012 Naads sectoral meeting organized by Good Hope Foundation for rural Development at Rukoki District Head quarters, the Naads Department at the district organized a follow up meeting on Sept 11, 2012 to present to the stakeholders the Naads Budget and the released funds from the Central Government. The District Naads Coordinator revealed to the meeting that Ugx 2.6bn had been released to Kasese district and thus called on the district Naads team to ensure value for money. In his remarks the district chairperson Lt.Col. Dula Mawa Muhindo, assured that stakeholders of the districts commitment  to deliver services to the people, he said that the major aim was to ensure food security if Kasese must be a poverty free society .

Kasese District NAADs stakeholders

 The District Naads Office promised with immediate effect to begin exploiting the opportunity of civil society organizations in the District, Good Hope foundation in Particular and RWECO at large. This was after a convincing report presented by the project Focal person, Mr. Sinamakosa Isaac to the Naads  stakeholders including; The DNC, District farmers forum chair person, The DCDO/CBS, The secretary social services,8 CPFs from Busongora North constituency, Media , Two Rweco-Cu staff.

At the end of this meeting, the action plan below was developed that will bring results during and after its implementation:-

Issue	Action	Person Responsible	Support	Priority	Timeline/date
NAADs coordinator shows that Naads items are procured by the community yet the beneficiaries say are procured centrally.	NAADS coordinator to follow up the procurement processes at village level.	District NAADS Coordinator	Transport	Medium	30/09/2012
community members are not able to interpret information on NAADS	strengthen systems of strengthening information flow and translate the information	Sub county naads coordinator, sub county farmers forum.	Stationery	Medium	30/09/2012
Different prices for the same quality and quantity of items to farmers.	Get value for money with reviewed standard prices every year, disseminate the standard prices to the beneficiaries	District NAADS Coordinator	transport to sample market	High	30/09/2012
Taxes charged on Naads products affect the cost prices	RWECO to advocate for tax waiving on naads products	Good  Hope	Facilitation	Medium	30/12/2013
Quantity provided vs prosperity for all ( How do you give 5 goats to a group of 30 members ad think can contribute to prosperity.20 million per year for items purchase)	strengthen the strategy of enterprise combination by the district	Naads coordinator	information dissemination by all stakeholders, Radio program	Very  High	6th/12/2013
There is information Gap on  the pricing and taxes levied on NAADS products of the beneficiaries	resolved above
Supply of Naads items to farmers not done timely (need to consider season).	Farmers to demand for  products on time,	CPF	Information on funds	High	30/09/2012
why the parallel structure  of agricultural extension staff Vs Naads coordinators at SC	Need to advocate for merging  the two offices (target legislature and min. of Agric	Good  Hope	Facilitation	Medium	6th /12/2013
Administrative costs vs supply of items to the beneficiaries (Admin more than supplies).	advocacy	Good  Hope	Facilitation	High	6th/12/2013
In some sub counties some of the beneficiaries do not pay back to naads members (From 70% to 100%)	Strengthen the capacity of the sub county council and the farmers forum	Sub county naads coordinator, sub county farmers forum	Facilitation	High	30/01/2013
No or limited information on releases of naads funds and accountabilities	Use community platforms to disseminate information like churches and community gatherings. CPF Can disseminate the information as well	Sub county Naads Coordinators, CPF	Stationery	High	30/09/2012
Community members are not able to interpret information on NAADS	Strengthen the village level, parish level and sub county level sensitization, translate the information	SNC, Good Hope	Facilitation	Medium	30/12/2012
Formation of high level farmer organization not known to the community/ Minimal	Strengthen information sharing	District Naads Coordinator	Radio talk show	Medium	13/09/2012
Need to strengthen the good practice of adoptive research and multi stakeholder innovation platform in naads program	roll out and replicate the  good practices to other sub counties	District Naads Coordinator	Stationery,  strengthen the budget line	High	01/9/2013
Limited funding for irrigation technology	Take the issue in the council for lobbying,  strengthen the system of small scale irrigation and survey at the district	Secretary for production, District Production Officer	Technical support fro CSO"s	High	01/9/2013
Naads an advisory centre but not an input centre as perceived by politicians and has over taken other arms of PMA	High level advocacy for other arms of PMA to play their roles	RWECO	Facilitation	Medium	01/9/2013
limited funding for advisory services i.e. 70,000/= for advisory per sub county each month	High level advocacy to allocate more funds to Advisory services.	RWECO	Facilitation	Medium	01/9/2013
No  sustainability plan for animal drugs or pesticides in the Naads program	Sensitize farmers on sustainability and ownership	Sub county Naads Coordinator(SNC)	Transport	Very high	30/09/2012

The Kasese District Naads stakeholders meeting was attend by  The Kasese District RDC,C/P LCV, CAO, DISO,  DNC, the District internal auditor, District farmers forum chair person, 29 sub county chiefs, 29 sub county Naads coordinators, sub county farmers forum chair persons and media.

The new Naads guidelines were un packed to stakeholders, allocations to each sub county for the 2012/2013 Financial Year,  putting more emphasis on ”respect of budgets” by implementers. It was communicated that ugx 2.6billions were allocated to Kasese district Naads program for FY 2012/2013 covering 29 sub counties and 160 parishes, prioritizing ten commodities; Maize, Beans, Rice, Bananas, Dairy Cattle, Coffee, Fish, Ground Nuts, Mangos and Cassava.

Above all, the District chairperson, RDC and District Naads coordinator promised to strengthen the monitoring arm of the sector and strongly cooperate with CSOs like Good Hope Foundation to collect enough information about Naads implementation and take action where need be for improved service delivery in the Naads sector. The DNC also emphasized on implementing the above action plan with Good Hope Foundation and RWECO at large.

 Reported by

Isaac S

GHFRD