President Yoweri Museveni has urged Ugandans to fully differentiate national development infrastructures and household income.
He reminded the people in the country that household income is more important than development infrastructures because a family, which derives an income from production undertakings, is able to provide for its needs with or without the presence of government development infrastructures.
President Museveni made the remarks yesterday at Ngoma Sub-County grounds in Nakaseke District at a public rally that on his on-going nationwide campaign to sensitize the population to eradicate household poverty and job creation through modern commercial agriculture as well as the danger posed by continued land fragmentation.
Mr. Museveni, who had just returned from Kenya from a COMESA Summit, said that although government is on the right track in the provision of development infrastructure such as roads, power, water, education and health facilities, among others, if the population fails to utilise them and work to raise income and banish household poverty, Uganda will not achieve its much-desired development and prosperity agenda.
“Development infrastructure is for all and benefit only those in production but household income is for individual households making it very important than infrastructures,” he said.
He, therefore, urged Ugandans to engage in modern profit-oriented agriculture with emphasis on high yielding produce especially the people who have small landholdings.
He used the occasion to commend the people of Ngoma Sub-County and the neighboring Sub-Counties in the Central Region’s Nakaseke District for adhering to the government call to adopt modern agricultural practices, especially dairy farming, that has seen them boost their earning capacity and made their living standard better.
He, however, appealed to them to adopt zero grazing in an attempt to optimally utilize their landholdings so as to derive more economic benefits from their efforts. He informed them that whereas one square mile of land only grazes 300 heads of cattle on free-range, the same acreage can graze over 5,000 heads of cattle if one takes up zero grazing.
He further advised them to diversify their means of production and add fruit, coffee, poultry and piggery farming to supplement dairy farming to realize better and higher earnings. He also asked the population to be mindful of their health and care about what they consume, check body weight and mind their hygiene practices to be able to keep away most diseases that are avoidable.
He equally used the occasion to thank the people of Ngoma Sub-County and Luweero Triangle in general for their support to the National Resistance Movement/Army during the protracted armed people’s struggle and later through the successive elections. He told them that their support was not in vain as the country has developed and that Uganda is on the right track of transformation and prosperity; from which Luweero Triangle has also benefited.