During a consultative meeting KALI was
presenting findings from the community based monitors and other partners so as
to access the effectiveness of the NAADS program and assess the implementation of
and delivery mechanism of NAADS in the district. It is interesting to note that the NAADS
program had contributed to increased production, food security, access to
market and house hold incomes. The
numbers: NAADS in Kamwenge District is allocated 436,000,000 for technology and
the budget is divided as follows, maize 22.80%, banana 12.25%, Diary cattle
12.32%, coffee 12.08% and other 40.55% serving a population of about 324,400
people in the district. It is surprising
that after a small budget analysis NAADS targets to benefits 1344.02
Uganda shilling per person per year, 112.0 shillings per month and 3.6 shilling
per day. The question is whether this budget allocation will meet the social
Objective of “bona bagagawale”
literally meaning prosperity for all?
Are we going to be able to meet the MDG’s? My only consolation is that it’s one
of the pillars PMA. It was depressing to
note that every money sent for NAADS local government contributes 6% and the
farmer contributes 3% but Dr. Jotham Turiheihi, the Kamwenge District NAADS Coordinator lamented that
LG’s are limping due to lack of local revenue so much that they cannot afford the 6% percentage contribution.
 |
| Dr. Jotham Turiheihi ( front seat), the District NAADS Coordinator for Kamwenge giving facts and figures at the review meeting |
The role of NAADS is to give technical
guidance to the farmers on how to manage their agriculture enterprise and that would lead to improved productivity in terms of quality and quantity in the three
major enterprises selected by the district and these are coffee, banana and
cattle diary. Fruit pineapple, oranges mangoes, beans maize, ground nuts,
poultry and Goat are promoted for food security. Thanks to special blessings of
the two rainy seasons and sunny seasons in Kamwenge that has enabled theNAADs
to some achievements in Kamwenge district as
farmers have gone into extensive farming where they can now grow food
for home consumption and sell. Farmer
groups of 1340 farmer groups with a total number of 11,558 of beneficiaries can
be witnesses to the benefits of the NAADs program but my worry is that this is
just 3.56% of the total population of Kamwenge district but where is the
participation of 96.44% are they part of the mission
of NAADS? Can I make a projection that
by 2015 the number of beneficiaries would be increased to at least 40 %( Miracles
happen)
Though the NAADS program seems rosy way of
ending poverty for the people of Kamwenge district it still challenged by the
fact sometimes agricultural inputs are delivered late without considering the
planting season because of the delayed disbursement of funds to the district
and to the sub counties as well thus not meeting the intended objectives. The
issues of low or poor quality supply by the service providers was addressed the
emphasis of community procurement but it was sad to note that based on the
findings of the monitors this process has some limitations like manipulation
and influence peddling by some NAADS officials or even beneficiaries as well as
situations where the committees connive with beneficiaries to procure low
quantity or quality. This is explanation is justified in the monitoring
findings as most of the committee
members were not oriented in handling the
procurement process and the fact that the procurement committee is not
facilitated compromises their integrity. A conflict of interest is not
something that cannot go without mention as most beneficiaries are members of
the beneficiaries as a result it is not surprising that most of the NAADS
beneficiaries are well off people yet we say that NAADS is said to be a
pro-poor service. It not surprising that the recovery of the agricultural inputs which a meant to
be given on a loan basis has not been realized
as there are no laws and penalties that are enforced.
 |
| Facts and figures about the NAADs Sector in Kamwenge District, |
The consultative meeting with the NAADS
stakeholders at Kamwenge Guest home in Kamwenge district was attended around 3
participants who made action plans which will help improve service delivery in
the NAADS sector and the among others are advocacy for increased funding for
the agriculture sector, advocate for a bi-law on the recovery process, conduct
market research, increased civic competence by the farmers to improve service
delivery as well increasing oversight monitoring. The meeting was attended by
the District naads coordinators, agricultural Service providers, district
counselors, the speaker, the Deputy RDC Kamwenge and the LCV chairperson
Kamwenge district. Thanks for the
generous support from HIVOS that is supporting RWECO to ensure improved service
delivery to the citizens of Uganda.
By Sheila K
RWECO
No comments:
Post a Comment