The high prevalence of food poverty, also known as household food insecurity, has been identified as one of the obstacles to growth and development in Busoga, whose population has remained impoverished despite the abundance of rich land.
Florence Mutyabule Tibafana, Senior Presidential Advisor on Busoga Affairs, is now urging for a mindset shift among the inhabitants, who have rented out the majority of their land to sugar cane producers.
Mutyabule encourages people to diversify and leave sugar cane production to those with enormous acreages of land who can handle it on a large scale.
She mentions the government-sponsored Parish Development Model (PDM) worth billions of shillings as the ideal vehicle for delivering the people of Busoga to the promised land of wealth and prosperity.
This (PDM) is one of the best anti-poverty programs that the NRM government has initiated and implemented as a tool that should be able to liberate us from poverty…” Mutyabule filed an appeal.
Mutyabule is particularly concerned about the paradoxical scenario in which, despite rising sugar cane production, poverty persists.
There have also been charges that most sugar corporations have long abused sugar cane farmers by offering low prices, something corporate executives have categorically denied.
“…food is national security, food is the economy, food is family stability and health, food is our strength and energy, it’s everything,” she laments.
This is not the first time politicians have raised worry about the practice of farmers renting out land to sugar cane growers, leaving them with nowhere to cultivate food crops.
At one point, President Museveni vowed to pitch up in Busoga and consult with local officials on how to best ‘liberate’ locals who had signed legally bound memorandums of understanding with big commercial growers.
It’s worth noting that the Busoga subregion alone has nearly ten sugar plants, making it the country’s largest sugar cane growing region.
Foreign investors own Kakira Sugar Ltd, Mayuge Sugar, Allied Sugar (Kaliro Sugar) Ltd, Luzinga Sugar Factory, Kamuli Sugar Factory, Bugiri Sugar, and several minor factories.
According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), Busoga has approximately 1.2 million impoverished people, 400 of them are living in food poverty, also known as household food insecurity, which means they only eat one meal a day.
UBOS is a semi-autonomous government organization in charge of the National Statistical Systems’ upkeep, coordination, supervision, and monitoring in order to assure the collection, analysis, and dissemination of standardized statistical data.
Mutyabule also took the opportunity to praise God for curing President Yoweri Museveni of the COVID-19 pandemic, which had him quarantined for more than a week.
“…we give glory to God for stretching His healing hand to our father, the chairman of the NRM, and the president of this beautiful country to continue guiding us to prosperity…” Mutyabule stated.
