Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) was launched by H.E the President in July 2013 as an intervention to efficiently facilitate national socio-economic transformation, with a focus on raising household incomes and wealth creation by transforming subsistence farmers into commercial farmers to end poverty.
This was after successful implementation with tangle outcomes of the pilot program launched to support Civilian-Veterans in the “Luwero-Rwenzori Triangle”
Mission
Improvement of Household Incomes for Poverty, Eradication, Wealth Creation and Overall Prosperity of Ugandans Through Facility of Sustainability
Specific Objectives:
1. To mobilize the masses to engage in commercial agricultural activities to boost household incomes.
2. To distribute production inputs equitably and timely to boost production and productivity at household level.
3. To facilitate rural technological upgrading to allow smallholder farmers to transform themselves into small-scale industrialists.
4. To stimulate local and community enterprise development across the country.
5. To facilitate infrastructure development particularly in rural areas.
6. To empower the 68% of the population outside the money economy.
Operation Wealth Creation Agenda
1. Input distribution
Food security
The food security intervention, NAADS procures and OWC distributes improved planting materials to farmers in the District Local Governments for the major food staple crops for the respective regions of the country, particularly those of quick maturing nature, notably maize and beans.
These interventions are aimed at increasing the production and productivity of the various priority crop commodities for improved household food s OWC was launched by H.E YK Museveni as an Intervention to Efficiently Facilitate National Socio-Economic Transformation, with a Focus on raising Household Incomes and Wealth Creation by Transforming Subsistence Farmers into Commercial Farmers to End Poverty security.
To improve household food security, NAADS and OWC supports the production of maize, beans, cassava, banana and Irish potato as well as cowpeas, sorghum and groundnuts through the distribution of seeds and seedlings to farmers.
Challenges and opportunities
The bean sector experiences a number of problems at different nodes of the value chain namely; input, production, trading, processing and consumption levels.
Major challenges include poor agronomic practices, declining soil infertility, lack of seed from improved cultivars, poor selection of bean seeds (seed mixtures), moisture stress, weed competition, pests and diseases, high post-harvest losses; unstable prices; limited post-harvest handling technologies, and lack of storage capacity.
The rains are still here. It is time to invest in the soil. As the rains intensify, thousands of people are sinking millions of shillings into farming.
Fish Farming
Uganda produces up to 15 000 tons of fish from aquaculture, including production from small-scale fish farmers, emerging commercial fish farmers and stocked community water reservoirs and minor lakes. There are an estimated 20,000 ponds throughout the country with an average surface area of 500 m² per fish pond.
In Uganda, the aquaculture enterprise is still in it take off stages despite it being practiced even in pre-colonial times. This has been mainly due to the fish from natural water bodies like lakes, streams and rivers being sufficient for the fish-eating populations.
However, due to the recent increase in population and high upshot of fish processing plants for export, the natural stocks have dwindled to alarming levels in that, meeting the domestic demand alone is going to be a problem without providing alternative sources of fish.
Aquaculture therefore presents the major alternative to natural water bodies in as far as fish production is concerned. Uganda is widely covered by free-flowing water that can be utilized for aquaculture production and even the large water bodies like lakes and rivers can be utilized for fish cage establishments.
Fish technologies provided by NAADS
Under NAADS, a number of districts have come up with requests to be supported in terms of provision of inputs for support under the aquaculture enterprise. The support is in form of fish fingerings and start-up fish feeds.
However, being at take-off and since a living organism is to be reared in a controlled environment, a number of factors have to be fulfilled by an intending fish farmer. These factors can be categorized as those needed for the successful growth of a fish and institutional requirements for the success of the program.
The Future of OWC
We have identified the major challenges that Uganda faces as:
a. How to convert agriculture into a high value sector, raise productivity, increase number of Ugandans engaged in commercialized agriculture, and increase house hold incomes.
b. How to expedite conversion of people from basic agriculture to industry and service sectors.
c. How to facilitate structural transformation of the economy to create more jobs for the thousands of young people that graduate from education institutions every year .
d. How to improve export performance to boost the value of the shilling to international currencies. To address these challenges, we need to promote market demand-driven agricultural production. “Demand Creates Supply”.
This calls for stabilization of farm-gate prices, reduction of post-harvest losses, and value addition. These interventions will provide the incentive to peasants to raise productivity. Well-structured agro-processing will help achieve these goals.
On a broader scale, we need to squarely face the effects of Structural Adjustment Programmes (SAPs) on the command, control, coordination and communication (the 4Cs) of the development process in Uganda.
Effective coordination of all government agencies involved in the agricultural value chain and the development process at large is crucial to the pursuit of socio-economic transformation hence the Uganda Development Forum (UDF).
Operations Strategy
Phase 1: Mobilization and deployment to ensure our farmers and the masses at large are sensitized to adapt to new farming methods with total mindset change to enable them earn to achieve economic social transformation of the vision 2020. This is now ongoing. This phase will end in July 2017
Actions
Since 2015, officers have been deployed in all the 112 districts, constituencies, including KCCA and municipalities.
Several inputs (seeds, seedlings, livestock, poultry etc), Value addition and mechanization equipment and technologies have been distributed and embraced overwhelmingly.
Phase 2: Stabilization of phase 1 efforts and to ensure policy change, make possible measures to acquire all identified gaps which could corrupt the system or allow saboteurs to reverse our achievements in phase 1 as discussed above.
Phase 3: Consolidation. Will now ensure that the masses embrace the most economic gains and guard it jealously to avoid possible negative influence that could derail these great achievements. Operations would also widen and deepen it to create popularity from within and beyond our borders to attract direct investors to increase opportunities to our new graduates. Establish skilling institutions to warrant sustainability for assured bright future of wealth beyond vision 2020.
Phase 4. Exit Strategy. Is to create a conducive environment to allow smooth hand over to the patriots.
Achievements
- We have created debate on service delivery approaches including use of the private sector in the agricultural sector development. The arguments are constructive and better results are expected in the near future.
- We have identified the existing gaps for instance inadequate policy framework and regulation in the sector which will help to provide targeted interventions in agriculture.
- We have increased interaction between government and the people; 6.2 million Ugandans have responded to OWC and are eager to participate. Many make requests for inputs and value addition equipment which are inadequate in quantities.
- Together with NAADS, OWC has embarked on mobilizing stakeholders in the sector to build value chain platforms e.g. The fruit sector platform, the coffee sector platform and organic farmer’s platform etc.
- OWC has facilitated and participated in progressive debates in the agriculture sector towards increased productivity and growth.