KAMPALA — Hon. Wilson Kajwengye, Member of Parliament for Nyabushozi County, has urged Government to invest in cottage-industry technologies tailored to the needs of smallholder farmers to support inclusive agricultural transformation.
On the floor of Parliament, Kajwengye seconded a motion calling for Government intervention to support smallholder farmers through appropriate technologies and financing. He said agriculture contributes the biggest share to Uganda’s GDP, with the majority of those contributing to the sector being smallholder farmers rather than large-scale farmers.
Kajwengye acknowledged that Government’s intention is to transform agriculture into large-scale and commercial agriculture. However, he noted that many of the interventions currently available, particularly financing, favour large-scale farmers rather than smallholder farmers, who constitute the majority of actors in the sector.
He pointed to existing financing arrangements, saying that while financing of one million is welcome, packages of Shs100 million or Shs30 million are not adequately tailored towards smallholder farmers. He argued that agricultural financing should be designed with the circumstances and capacity of small-scale farmers in mind.
“Financing is not tailored towards small-scale agriculture,” Kajwengye said, stressing the need for interventions that can directly benefit the majority of farmers.
The Nyabushozi County MP also raised concerns about irrigation, saying changing weather patterns mean farmers can no longer depend heavily on rainfall. He called for increased capacity to irrigate crops, noting that the irrigation technologies currently available are largely designed for large-scale farmers.
Kajwengye said this leaves smallholder farmers inadequately catered for, particularly in efforts to promote value addition. He called for the development of small-scale cottage-industry technologies that can be accessed and used by smallholder farmers.
He urged Government to deliberately intervene in developing and promoting such technologies to support smallholder farmers. According to Kajwengye, appropriate cottage technologies would help bridge the gap between small-scale production and Uganda’s broader ambition of commercialising agriculture.
Kajwengye further noted that despite the national goal of transforming agriculture into commercial agriculture, Uganda’s land tenure system means the country still has many small landholders. He therefore called for Government interventions in financing, technology and policy to be deliberately designed around the needs of these farmers.
He concluded by reiterating his support for the motion, saying the continued presence of smallholder farmers in Uganda’s agricultural sector makes it necessary for Government interventions to be tailored towards them.
