Serere farmers fail to use Shs400m for micro scale irrigation
Farmers in Kapelebyong, which is located in the northern part of Teso Sub-region, try out micro scale irrigation pumps. PHOTO/SIMON PETER EMWAMU
What you need to know:
- Some residents claimed they were not informed about government programs.
Farmers in Serere district have failed to utilize over Shs400million meant for micro scale irrigation.
Government through the World Bank has been supporting farmers across various districts in the country to help them upgrade from subsistence farming to commercial farming with modern irrigation systems.
Robert Ogarima, the assistant water engineer of Serere District said that the Shs400million was returned last week after farmers failed to absorb the money.
According to him, implementation guidelines are hard to meet for majority farmers in the district.
“For a farmer to be able to access this money, a farmer has to deposit Shs2.5million then he or she will qualify to have government support for small scale irrigation system in his or her farm,” Ogarima said during a community barraza organized by the state minister for fisheries Hellen Adoa on Saturday.
He said that several farmers deposited less than Shs200, 000 with hope of completing the other balances before the end of the financial year but most of them failed.
Last year, according to the auditor general’s report, farmers in over 37 districts failed to absorb Shs28billion that was allocated by government to support the farmers move from the crude subsistence farming to the profitable commercial farming.
Christine Adongo, a resident of Orupe Village in Ocaapa Sub-county said that most farmers don’t know much about such government initiatives.
“When the programs are introduced by government, the well placed officers and their relatives keep them to themselves. It is today that I have learnt about the micro –scale irrigation,” Adongo said.
Minister Adoa, who is also the woman MP of Serere District, blamed the district technical officers for not disseminating information to farmers.
“I know there is difficulty in reaching out to these farmers but you reach out to the farmers on Sundays in your respective churches that you pray in,” she advised.
Adoa added that it is shameful to have such money sent back to the treasury at the time when farmers are in need of new modern farming methods to cope with the climate change.
She also challenged the sub county LC3 chairpersons to encourage farmers to apply for these grants from the government to fight household poverty.
