UGANDA: Cassava Commercialization Puts Christian Farmers On the Way to Self-Reliant Development
Lead Farmers and Officials from Centenary bank in a group photo shortly after opening Banking Agency at Acholibur town council in Pader district recently.
Fr Isaac Ojok
Cassava Commercialization and Industrialization Project is creating real and tangible impacts in the lives of Christian farmers in Acholi and Lango sub regions of Uganda respectively.
The project was initiated in 2018 by Most Rev John Baptist Odama of Gulu Archdiocese with the vision to empower his flock economically and to fight household poverty after the insurgency of the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels (LRA) in the region that lasted for almost two decades.
From its inception in Gulu Archdiocese, the project has spread to other dioceses within the Ecclesiastical Province owing to the fact that it is a reliable means the local residents are taking to generate funds for their livelihoods.
Although the project is Church initiative, the Archdiocese is working in partnership with government agencies like the National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), Operation Wealth Creation-(OWC) under the Ministry of Agriculture Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF), Local government leaders at various levels, including Non-Governmental Organization (NGOs), the financial institutions like Centenary Bank in terms of access to markets, giving technical guidance, banking services to farmers with focus on capacity building among others.
By the involvement of partners, farmers are being empowered to the extent that they are now ably supplying cassava materials to markets such as cassava starch to manufacturing factories like the Bukona Agro processing industry in Nwoya district and other factories.
When the supply of materials is made, all payments are made through the bank to ensure trust, confidence that farmers are not exploited, and safety of their funds the reason why Centenary bank is at the service of the farmers.
This is the reason why Centenary Bank recently opened Banking Agent at Acholibur town council near Acholibur Catholic Mission in Pader district Gulu Archdiocese to help farmers under their umbrella body of Acholibur Parish Project (APP) have access to money transaction.
Through this system at work, farmers are being empowered to diversify their vision to focus not only on Cassava production, but also on other food crops in a move to strengthen their capacity in terms of food security, income generation through lucrative activities.
With the vision of poverty eradication in mind, the farmers have further started local savings in their groups so as to remain resilient and productive in that they can meet other routine demands in their families like School fees payment, basic needs in life and others.
Additionally, they are also able to start assorted business enterprises in their vicinities, as well as better and decent housing facilities in addition to affordable and reliable means of transport to ease movements to markets, hospitals and urban centers.
In an interview with AMECEA correspondent, Rev Fr Matthew Okun Lagoro the Coordinator for Cassava Commercialization and Industrialization project disclosed that with the involvement of partners, they are in dialogue with Centenary Bank to allow farmers access Soft-Loan through Micro-savings Scheme to enable farmers acquire other items necessary like the Cook stoves that has less environmental impact.
He further informed AMECEA Online correspondent that, as spiritual leaders of the people, they are using the project as the opportunity to build social rapport among the communities that was earlier disrupted by the Lord’s Resistance Army rebels’ insurgency in Northern Uganda.
At the peak of the insurgency, many people in Northern Uganda were driven out of their homes in to Internally Displaced Persons Camps-(IDPs) between years 2000 -2005 leaving many traumatized following the loss of their loved ones. With the coming of the Cassava production, it is also creating platform where trauma healing and peace building can be conducted among the communities in postwar zone according to Rev Fr Okun Lagoro.
Apart from economic empowerment, trauma healing, peace building among the people, the watchful care for environment is one area the project is focusing on which is in line with Laudato Si, the encyclical letter of his holiness Pope Francis. Relatedly, the government of Uganda through the Ministry of Waters and Environment has warned public to stop all human activities on the wetlands with the view to combat global warming and its adverse effects. And if such initiative is to continue, can help to address the challenges arising like floods, droughts as a result of climate change and ecological crisis.
President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni of the Republic of Uganda and other leaders in the country are urging citizens to embrace to fight household poverty out of their home steads, and become self-reliant.
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