LoP tells govt to allocate more funds for agricultural roads

The Leader of Opposition in Parliament (LoP), Mr Mathias Mpuuga, has asked the government to prioritise the construction of agricultural roads across the country to enable farmers transport their produce to the market.

Mr Mpuuga, who was on a working visit in Buhweju District last Saturday, said agriculture remains the country’s biggest sector that feeds the economy, but the government has given it little attention in terms of infrastructure development such as roads.

“Roads are key in improving productivity and profitability. Majority of our population derive their livelihood through agriculture, but the sector is becoming unreliable because farmers cannot access markets and farm inputs because of the poor road network,” Mr Mpuuga said.

He said a special budget should be created for agriculture roads.
“You have heard governments coming up with budgets for oil roads, tourism roads, why not agricultural roads. Look at Buhweju, the district is agriculturally rich in tea but you drive two hours in a distance of less than just 50 kilometres,” the LoP added.

Mr Mpuuga said he was traversing the country so that he would ably advise the government on the needs of people during the budgeting processes.

During his visit, residents asked him to petition Parliament for establishment of a tea factory in  the  district.

“We collect more than 150,000 kilogrammes of tea per day, but the only factory we have here consumes 65,000 kilogrammes, the rest is put to waste. Most of the roads are so impassable that even accessing markets for our tea and other agricultural produce elsewhere is impossible,” Mr Deo Atuhaire, the chairperson of Buhweju, said.

Mr Atuhaire said because of the above challenges, tea which could fetch them a lot of money for sustainable livelihood, is now being used for mulching other plantations.

Mr Mpuuga, who was in company of Buhweju MP Francis Mwijukye, Mityana Woman MP Joyce Bagala, Ndorwa East MP Wilfred Nuwagaba, and MP of Kimanya-Kabonera Division MP in Masaka City Abed Bwanika, promised the people of Buhweju that he would work with the area MPs to see that their concerns are addressed.

“What has brought us here is to look at the challenges people face. We need funds for development to trickle to the ground in relation to people’s needs and challenges. For example, you (Buhweju people) need factories and better roads. I promise you we will fight for this on the floor of Parliament,” Mr Mpuuga said.  

Mr Mwijukye said the challenge of poor road network is an outstanding issue that has not been addressed by government.

“The visit by the Leader of Opposition and his ministers here gives us hope that the challenges that hindered our development for a long time such as the poor road network, lack of factories will be addressed,” Mr Mwijukye said.

GDP Potential 

Eighty percent of Uganda’s land is arable but only 35 percent is being cultivated. In fiscal year 2020/2021, agriculture accounted for about 23.7 percent of GDP, and 31 percent of export earnings.

Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) estimates that about 70 percent of Uganda’s population is employed in the agriculture sector.   Agriculture contributes 25 percent to Growth Domestic Product (GDP).