Kabarole kicks off the regional dissemination of the 2007 National Reports
Kabarole district kicks off the regional dissemination of the 2007 National Human Development Report and the Millennium Development Goals Report
Kabarole, June 24th 2008
For a country like Uganda where 80 per cent of the population is employed in or directly dependent on agriculture, one sure way to tackle poverty and improve human development is by improving agricultural productivity. There is therefore need, according to UNDP Resident Representative, Theophane Nikyema, for government and all development actors to focus on agricultural productivity in the country.
While officiating at a dissemination workshop in Fort Portal town, Kabarole district, Mr. Nikyema argued that, “Over 80% of Uganda’s population derives their livelihood from agriculture… if a majority of these poor people depend on agriculture, one sure way to improve their lot is to help them in creating wealth by improving their agricultural productivity. Once their output is increased then they are sure of food (food security), it also means they have some surplus to sell to earn money to afford other life necessities.”
From R-L: Kabarole LC5 Chairman Michael Mugisa; UNDP Resident Representative, Mr. Theophane Nikyema; Fort Portal Deputy Mayor, Kabarole CAO Mr. Solomon Musoke during the opening of the Fort Portal Workshop
The workshop was organized by the UNDP Strategy Policy Unit to disseminate the National Human Development Report 2007 and the Uganda MDG Country Progress Report brought nearly 200 local government officials from 20 districts in the country’s western region.
The National Development Report entitled, “Rediscovering Agriculture for Human Development” will be disseminated in all the four regions of Uganda; North, South, Central and East. Kabarole, which is in South Western Uganda, kicked off the dissemination series.
The dissemination exercise is intended to bring the findings of the report to the lower governance levels so that local governments can uptake its recommendations and use them for district planning.
The workshops bring together LC5 chairpersons, Chief Administrative Officers, District Planners, and Directors of Health Services, Directors of Production, Community Development Officers, and representatives from civil society.
The districts which attended the Fort Portal workshop included: Bundibugyo, Bushenyi, Bulisa, Hoima, Ibanda, Isingiro, Kabale, Kabarole, Kamwenge, Kanungu, Kasese, Kibaale, Kiruhura, Kisoro, Kyenjojo, Mbarara, Masindi, Ntungamo and Rukungriri.
Speaking at the opening of the workshop, LC5 Chairman, Mr. Michael Mugisa said that under the decentralization system that Uganda practices, local and central government share power that could be exploited for local level development. He called upon local governments to orient them not just to provide public goods but to create enabling environments where people can create wealth and therefore reduce poverty.
Mr. Mugisa called upon local governments to pick on the concept of the MDG targets so that in whatever they do, they are able to assess their own performance.
At the end of the meeting Mr. Alexander Aboagye announced that UNDP was planning to undertake district MDG assessments to produce district MDG reports in four other districts including Kabarole. He said that was conceived following a successful report production for two pilot districts in Soroti and Kasese.
While officiating at a dissemination workshop in Fort Portal town, Kabarole district, Mr. Nikyema argued that, “Over 80% of Uganda’s population derives their livelihood from agriculture… if a majority of these poor people depend on agriculture, one sure way to improve their lot is to help them in creating wealth by improving their agricultural productivity. Once their output is increased then they are sure of food (food security), it also means they have some surplus to sell to earn money to afford other life necessities.”
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