Social
Support Sector Programmes
Production
Support Sector Programmes
In response to the social and economic ills presented in Chapter One,
this chapter hereby presents the BKDS programmes in four sectoral components.
These components are proposed within the overall framework of the existing
government macro-economic policies and programmes. In other words, the BKDS is
envisaged to supplement the existing programmes on poverty eradication and
Modernization of Agriculture, among others, with special reference to using
what the people are, what they have for themselves and by themselves, as a
basis for sustainable development.
The components outlined below are inter-related, but for the purpose of
effectively managing intervention they can be categories thus:
1)
Social Sector Programmes
This includes all those programmes intended to promote social
development that include community development (as a primary unit of
development action), health and education services, water and sanitation,
Communal work, and Culture and Heritage.
2)
Economic Sector Programmes
This
sector embraces all those programmes and endeavours intended to create and
expand income-earning opportunities, which include Sustainable Agricultural
Development, Investment and Industrial promotion, Micro Enterprise development,
and Land as an Investment Asset.
3) Social Assistance Sector Programmes
These programmes are specifically intended to assist those disadvantaged
social groups who have low access to social services, productive assets, and
are generally weak to compete for opportunities. The target categories will
include the women and the youth, and other categories of that nature.
4) Production Support Sector Programmes
These comprise all those programmes that support or facilitate effective
implementation of the three programmes outlined above. These will include
Micro-finance, Appropriate Technology Development, Training, Sensitization and
Mobilization, Information and Communication Technology development.
Those programmes have been selected with a view of
the appropriate mix between employment and income generating activities on one
hand, and socio-cultural development on the other. If resources allowed, these
programmes will be implemented as an integrated package, with one or a
combination of components reinforcing the others.
RAV-2005
is an integrated rural community development programme, intended to revive the
traditional ‘African Village System’. The ‘African Village System’ used to be a
comprehensive village unit comprising self-sufficient homes served with
well-maintained social and economic infrastructure. The family, as the smallest
unit, and the village as one’s sphere influence, provided the necessary
socialization process instilling the values of work ethics, human values and
morals, trustworthiness, and nationalism. In other words, the ‘African Village
System’ as micro-economy served both economic and social goals.
The proposed RAV-2005 is intended to revive the
“African Village System” by blend the traditional efficient socio-economic
values and practices with the contemporary knowledge, in order to overcome poor
environmental health, food insecurity and malnutrition, unemployment, disease,
illiteracy, immorality, and environmental degradation through the
implementation of the functionally linked projects of BKDS.
The
RAV Concept is of great relevance since 89% of the population resides in rural
areas in backward conditions. Whereas the successful implementation of BKDS the
programme will result into improved rural conditions, it is necessary to have
an independent component “the RAV-2005 Programme”, because past experience has
indicated the problems associated with the assumption of trickle down approach.
The proposed revival of African Village Programme will therefore be both a
means and an end for achieving development at the grass root level. RAV-2005
has two sub-components namely: “The Sustainable African Village Project (SAVP)”
and “The Viable African Home Project (VAHP)” to facilitate its implementation.
The Sustainable African Village Project
(SAVP) and The Viable African Home Project (VAHP)
The
SAVP and VAHP derive their importance from the perspective that majority of the
people in Buganda region do not have access to basic necessities of life
including a decent home, balanced food, food storage, energy supply, market
channels, water and sanitation facilities. The problem with the existing
service delivery approach is that the provision of these functionally linked
facilities is based more on sectoral than on integrated approach. The SAVP and
VAHP will involve facilitation of the community in setting up an integrated and
sustainable village concept with:
(i)
Basic physical
infrastructure of well-maintained network of access roads linking with feeder
roads, water sources, recreation grounds, general purpose building for
community development programmes and administration;
(ii)
Where necessary,
establishment of basic social infrastructure such as community schools and
health centres;
(iii)
A community
co-operative society produce store and a mix of middlemen or collective marketing;
(iv)
A village community
knotted together in the ideal “moral and ethical fabric”;
(v)
A decent hygienically
acceptable individually owned homes with kitchen, animal husbandry stays,
produce sun-drying racks, store, pit latrine/toilet, rubbish pit, bath-shelter,
cup-board, clean court-yard, drinking water collecting facility, etc;
(vi)
A well-laid out and
planned farmland, that containing both nutritious food in plenty and cash
produce for domestic income, which will be code-named ‘omusiri gwa kabaka’,
where sustainable agriculture and organic farming will be focal points; and
(vii)
Fuel utilisation and
saving facility, that is environmentally friendly, backed with appropriate
agro-forestry.
A model home will be established by BUCADEF in every
county as a demonstration venture. RAV-2005 will be catalytic to the reduction
of the menace of rural to urban migration among the youths.
The health sector plays a great role in poverty
reduction process. A healthy body and mind means improved productivity,
increased saving due to reduction in health care costs, and improved social
stability and development. For the next ten years the intervention priority
areas related to promotive and preventive health services, mainly through
health education, cultural practices and norms, sensitisation, and community
support. These components will include:
(i)
Facilitating equitable
access to health services through construction of community health centres and
provision of basic drugs,
(ii)
Promoting environmental
health practices,
(iii)
Controlling
communicative diseases and epidemics,
(iv)
Promoting increased
immunisation coverage,
(v)
Promotion of acceptable
Nutrition Practices through the concept of ‘Mwanamugimu’,
(vi)
Providing Sexuality and Reproductive Health
services partly through the Concept of ‘Senga’
and ‘Jjajja’,
(vii)
Setting up a
quasi-medical insurance community scheme,
(viii)
Promoting research in
traditional medicine.
The
Buganda Kingdom region experiences poorly distributed education services. Most
of the best schools in Uganda are based in Buganda within Kampala district and
its hinterlands but not necessarily used by the students from Buganda’s rural
areas. Secondly, quite a large number of adults lack functional skills that can
enable them to look after themselves and their families, effectively interact
with the immediate environment, and efficiently extracting a living from
nature. Improvement in education standards will increase efficient use of the
employment and income generating opportunities created by the positive
development process in Uganda. The ELP intends to:
(i)
Advocate for and
participate in putting in place new and maintain existing education
institutions irrespective of ownership provided it promotes equity in access.
Priority will given to the balance in equitable access to both Primary and
secondary schools;
(ii)
Induce increased school
enrollment through Expanded School
Enrolment Campaign;
(iii)
Facilitate equitable
access to education through extension of Bursaries to the destitute children;
(iv)
Promote the concept of
computer literacy;
(v)
Promote teaching of
Luganda, history and culture in schools as a basis of civilization and
nationalism;
(vi)
Integrate Adolescent
Reproductive Health issues in school curriculum through school based ‘Senga’ and ‘Musajjamukulu’;
(vii)
Integrate civics
education in school curriculum at both primary and secondary levels;
(viii)
Revitalise science and
vocational training, through special support to science disciplines in schools,
apprenticeship and vocational training programmes;
(ix)
Enhance the
administration of the kingdom's schools and co-ordination of education
activities in liaison with national education department; and
(x)
Promote village
based functional adult literacy schemes, for instance through training in
modern farming, craftsmanship, petty business administration, home economics
and nutrition, primary health practices, public obligation and rights etc. Most
of this will be implemented on the basis of peer
educator scheme;
The practice of community work should be emphasised,
as it enhances community ownership of the facilities, complements government
intervention, and fosters the spirit of collectivism and nationalism. The
revitalisation of the old tradition of community work will restore the
conditions of basic social infrastructure at the community level, for instance;
roads, water sources and resources, schools, health centres and recreation
grounds.
It
is also envisaged to be a training forum, whereby students and school leavers
can pick community development experience through the ‘volunteer schemes’.
In line
with the Central Government’s policy on access to safe water, this component
will facilitate the village members to have access to safe water and public
health within the confines of each village. The programme aims at reducing
water borne and hygiene related diseases in communities, improvement of access
to safe water, and the promotion of acceptable sanitation and hygiene practices
in homesteads and local institutions.
The
mini components will include;
(i)
Protection of the
spring sites or shallow wells;
(ii)
Increase of schools
access to safe water through construction of rainwater collection and storage
tanks;
(iii)
Promotion of schools
and community sanitation and positive hygiene behaviours among school children
and in homesteads through the concept of Muvubuka
Agunjuse; and
(iv)
Community capacity
building through training, especially training of Health workers, Water User
Committees, Water Source Caretakers (Kalinda
Luzzi), Pump Mechanics.
This programme aims at:
(i)
Awareness raising and
education in matters of the national constitution, civil rights and
obligations, the rule of law, democracy, and human rights.
(ii)
The promotion of
traditional local governance blended with modern management principles and
practices.
This programme aims at identifying the major
causes of immorality in society and formulate and implement schemes to:
(i)
Inculcate the sprit of
love within society and sensitize the communities on the ideal human values and
dignity;
(ii)
Sensitise the general
public on obligations and right to individual and national property, as a basis
of safeguarding against their abuse;
(iii)
Sensitise the public
about devotion to ones nation, society, culture and heritage, family;
(iv)
Fight corruption in the
society;
(v)
Fight against use of
narcotic drugs;
(vi)
Create awareness and
emphasis on the importance of cultural identity and cultural heritage;
(vii)
Protect, preserve,
enhance, and consolidate buganda's cultural heritage including the family and
clan systems, cultural norms, beliefs and values, customs, traditions, crafts
e.g. Bark-cloth making, literature, history, philosophy, music, dance, and
theatre, architecture, art, historical sites and monuments;
(viii)
Mobilize the people to
organize themselves along cultural institutions, particularly within families
and clans to participate in economic and social activities, namely in
education, health, sports, production, marketing, banking and training;
(ix)
Safeguard and promote
the buganda cultural heritage, notably through establishment of cultural data
banks and libraries for the collection of oral traditions and the enhancement
of such traditions; and
(x)
Conserve the historical
and cultural monuments and promote traditional architecture, as a basis of
earning income from tourism.
The thrust
of this programme will be the development and implementation of agricultural
development projects. The rationale for emphasising agricultural development
are that;
(i)
Agriculture is the backbone
of Uganda’s economy and main source of income,
(ii)
Buganda region has
conducive climate and soil conditions, and
(iii)
There is a need to
ensure household domestic income and food security.
This programme places emphasis on shifting from
farming for subsistence to farming for profit (as a business) by enabling
farmers to learn to critically examine the costs related to production and
marketing and the benefits that occur through improved efficiencies from making
informed operational and management decisions.
It is also geared at increasing the incomes of the
rural poor economy such that the people will be able to raise incomes and thus
improve their standards of living in terms of housing, food security and basic
household needs while contributing to the larger goal of making the transition
from a subsistence to a cash economy or the creation of wealth.
Annually
progressive targets for minimum annual per capita food stock and per capita
income within an average home will be set over the 10 years of BKDSs horizon.
The priority intervention areas will be arable farming with emphasis on organic
farming, livestock production, fisheries, environmental conservation, and
appropriate farm technology. The sub-components include:
(i)
Introduction of
commercially viable high value crops in every homestead, in agricultural zones
to benefit from comparative advantage, in order to guarantee adequate household
incomes for meeting basic necessities, household capital saving, and investment
in secondary commercial ventures;
(ii)
Promotion of
Agriculture by developing a school garden for every school;
(iii)
Encouragement of major
large scale farming with out-grower schemes;
(iv)
Production of
hunger-crops, for instance cassava, yams, and cereal crops, in order to ensure
food security at the household level, and establishment of proper harvesting
and post-harvest management methods;
(v)
Establishment of
demonstration farms at schools, institutions and community headquarters;
(vi)
Diversification through
arable and livestock farming, fish farming and aquatic culture;
(vii)
Introduction of
appropriate mechanized farming and animal traction system;
(viii)
Broadening the
accessibility to inputs through inducement of private stockist centers within
the sub-county through BUCADEF initiatives or individual private proprietors;
(ix)
Developing research and
technology (R&T) capacity through investment in community based
demonstration farms at the different levels, appropriate technologies for
instance draught power, low cost irrigation schemes, valley dam construction,
etc;
(x)
Development of
community based extension service through training, integration of indigenous
and modern pest and disease control methods;
(xi)
Facilitating the
establishment of agro-processing, in order to add value to produce, reduction
of transportation costs, and increasing longevity of produce, etc…; and
(xii)
Facilitation of
community based farming and marketing associations following a co-operative
movement spirit and system.
In order to
complete the cycle of sustainability, agro-forestry will be an integral
component of agricultural development. agro-forestry will not only ensures
sources of food, but will also promote environmental and ecosystem
preservation, ensure source of fuel and building material, provide cheap
medication derived from herbs, but also preserves culture and antiquities.
This programme places focus on:
(i)
Enhancement of
small-medium scale investments and commercial undertakings in the Kingdom;
(ii)
The promotion of
business management skills and entrepreneurship spirit among the business
fraternity;
(iii)
The development and
promotion of industry and commerce, industrial and vocational training,
enterprise and entrepreneurial development, extension advisory and training
services; and
(iv)
Identification and
registration of all the Kabaka’s land and evolving of viable investment
ventures for its commercial use.
Micro-enterprise stimulate local economic development
through creation of job opportunities, financing agricultural production,
enhancement of household income, provision of supplement incomes in time of
lean production, social cohesion through the process of group formation, and is
a foundation for technological development and rural industrialization. Uganda
has a myriad of micro enterprises and needs such that addressing these varied
needs and interests becomes almost impossible. For effective targeting, this
strategy draws a distinction between the categorical component of ‘Processing,
Construction and Repair Enterprises’ and ‘Business Enterprises’. The two
sectors experience different needs and constraints, hence need different nature
of interventions.
(i) Processing,
Construction and Repair Enterprises (PCRE)
The concept of artisan among the Baganda predates
colonial period. To those people in urban areas, it has served a major source
of income, intermediate and final products for industrial and construction
sector, and served as a workshop for technological innovations. The following
actions will be undertaken to promote the evolvement and development of the
Processing, Construction and repair Enterprises:
·
In collaboration with
the central government, undertake physical planning for the existing artisan
workshops, for possible relocation on Kingdom land;
·
Promote the development
of rural based micro-enterprises through facilitation for establishment of
agro-processing enterprises;
·
Provide elementary
Business and Financial Management training;
·
Promote science
subjects as a foundation vocational training in the country; and
·
Advocate for fiscal and
legal regulatory policies (tax and patent rights) for effective operation of
these enterprises.
(ii) Business
Enterprise Management (BEM)
The
development of indigenous business sector, in particular, is undermined by a
host of problems that range from limited knowledge in investment appraisal,
sales management, public relations and advertisement, marketing, accounting,
and effective profit management. While the medium and large business
enterprises are equipped and have benefited from the seminars occasionally
organised by the investment authorities, the small entrepreneurs are left out
and at worst suffocated in the process of competition and taxation.
This
strategy intends to undertake action to promote the development of the
indigenous Business enterprises in the following ways:
·
Supporting nascent
through advocacy for fiscal and legal reforms; and
While many of the BKDS
programmes outlined herein are expected to induce change in the social and
economic conditions of the poor, they may by-pass the disadvantaged groups
namely; the women, youth, children the disabled, orphans, the old, isolated,
fishermen, the chronically ill, and others. This is primarily because these
groups face differential constraints within the production cycle. Therefore,
special considerations must be given to these groups in the implementation of
the programmes/projects spelt out in BDKS through a targeted and/or
multi-sectoral approach.
This project
focuses at providing for the disabled, aged, orphaned, and destitute and at
their protection in society, using the traditional based approach to the extent
possible.
Women are the most under-privileged sections of
society, yet they represent the biggest proportion of the population and they
are the producers of wealth. In Buganda region, whereas women do not have land
ownership rights, they may have access to their husband’s land only that the
opportunity of benefiting from their efforts is questionable. Despite of their
involvement in the triple role of reproduction, production, and community,
women are still poverty-prone largely because they bear asymmetric rights and
obligations in those arenas.
The implementation of the BKDS intends to ensure
that:
(i)
Efforts will be made to
review the cultural obstacles to women’s progress, but not necessarily stifling
the cultural norms in which a Muganda woman derives her integrity and
self-dignity;
(ii)
In quest for improving
women living conditions and expanding their economic and social gains, a gender
is an integral component in each of the BKDS proposed programme components, for
instance; mainstreaming women’s access to land, agricultural inputs, income,
credit and services, education, extension, health as well as other
opportunities;
(iii)
Special intervention
projects will be designed to assist poverty-prone women groups, for instance
female headed households, in order to broaden their opportunities to economic
and social services;
(iv)
Where deemed necessary,
special developmental assistance will be extended to women; and
(v)
The Gender Policy will
be the reference point mainstreaming gender in the implementation of the BKDS.
Youths hold
the potential and reserve of the human resource. However, the youth have
limited access to productive assets, specifically land, capital and skills.
Some of the school-going age lack school requirements. This drives the youth to
the urban setting, where even the economic and social infrastructure is not
adequate to cater for their needs, thus the majority ending up with degraded
morals.
Special interventions will be developed to cater for
the holistic development of the youth in order to enable them to meet their
social, economic and political goals. These projects will include; Royal Youth
Education Fund, Adolescent Reproductive Health Project that is under way,
Credit tailored to the demands of the youth, etc…
One of the greatest
challenges in implementing poverty reduction in Africa in the recent time, has
been underplaying the role of production supportive institutions at the
sub-national and micro levels. In respect to Uganda, majority of the poor lack
initial capital just as the lower local administration structures lack
capacities for effectively mobilization of the communities for project
identification, designing, monitoring and evaluation. Therefore it is the
conviction of the BKDS that a Production Support be instituted to service the
implementation of the Economic, Social, and Social Assistance programmes.
Recent
studies have indicated that limited and/or lack of access to credit is one of
the constraints to the development of the rural economy. Most of the banking
facilities are located at district headquarter and the poor living in the rural
areas are unable to access these institutions due to distance and ignorance.
The few who are aware lack collateral that is required by the formal baking
institutions, and sometimes are scared of the short grace period and the higher
interest rates on loans. In addition, the existing credit schemes have tended
to target the myriad small enterprises without appraising the availability of their
production and without giving due consideration to capacity of the intermediary
agencies to provide the technological input in the production cycle. The end
result has been poor loan recovery.
The Royal Micro-Finance scheme
intends to set up a self sustaining micro finance institution that will, in
addition to co-operating and collaborating with existing micro-finance
organizations, provide savings and micro credit services to select commercially
and economically viable ventures with special reference to regional endowment,
availability of lucrative markets, high profit returns, and the prevailing
national policy priority.
The Royal
Micro-finance Institution intends to:
(i)
Mobilise locally and internationally financial resources at
low interest rates for the establishment of a revolving credit that will
gradually evolve into a Royal Development Bank (RDB);
(ii)
Train loan officers;
(iii)
Prepare the potential borrowers to manage and use of credit,
assist in formation of guarantee groups, training in areas related of
production, repayment and saving;
(iv)
Select those potential borrowers meeting the lending
requirements; and
(v)
Co-operate, collaborate, and network within the existing
non-governmental micro-credit schemes to evolve synergy.
The
level of success in achieving the targets for each of the four proposed BKDS
Components, the Production Support component inclusive, will depend on the
efficiency and effectiveness with which advocacy, training and community
mobilization for development has been conducted.
This
programme aims at catalysing rural development through awareness creation,
developmental guidance, advice, training, mobilization and support being
directed in respect of all the envisaged community economic and social
development programmes.
This
programme is intended to:
(i)
Publicize the goal,
mission, objectives, and the strategies of the BKDS;
(ii)
Promote capacity
building through training of Local Government and Kingdom Officials and participating
NGO’s in participatory community mobilization methods and tools (for instance
through Participatory Rural Appraisal). This will result into community
acceptability and integration of the community knowledge and resources thus
empower the communities in the planning and implementation of BKDS;
(iii)
Through those agents,
help the communities analyse, plan, and implement their projects as part of
achieving the BKDS intentions;
(iv)
Evolving suitable codes
of conduct by and for the communities to enable creation of a disciplined
society;
(v)
Working with the Local
Administration System to formulate appropriate positively coercive laws and
by-laws that will help induce ethical living, hard work, etc…;
(vi)
Enlist the entire
community’s commitment towards development using all traditional and
conventional means including music, dance and drama;
(vii)
Institute the “Royal Recognition Award System” for
the acknowledgement of the Kingdom’s excellent performers at all levels;
(viii)
Establish linkages with
the Ugandan Diaspora.
(ix)
Seek partnership
with the central government, local government, Non-governmental Organisations,
donor community.
The
management natural of resources through protection of flora and fauna serves as
an insurance for satisfying the basic needs of the current and future
generation. Despite the fact that Buganda region still has rich and fertile
land and a favourable climate, the current practices are likely to result into
environment degradation and subsequent degradation. Encroachment on tropical
rainforest, vegetation cover, and wetland is increasingly becoming common, and
its negative effects on rainfall seasonal patterns, water reservoirs, crop
yields, fuel reserves, food security, and living standards is becoming obvious.
In particular, the energy situation in the region has started to worsen due to
increasing dependency fuel- wood.
The
Sustainable Management of Natural Resources Programme will be implemented
through:
(i)
Mobilization of
communities for sustainable land exploitation and conservation;
(ii)
Awareness creation of
Land as an investment asset and sensitisation of people about land as a
production good;
(iii)
Encouragement of the
securing of land leases and convenient access as a step of land asset consolidation;
(iv)
Establishment of a
central Land Transfer Desk;
(v)
Physical planning of
large elements of land for appropriate land use;
(vi)
Undertaking innovations
in cost effective fuel saving schemes (solar, hydro, wind, animal products);
(vii)
Mobilization of
communities for agro-forestry practices;
(viii)
Advocacy for wetlands
conservation; and
(ix)
Advocacy for enhanced
rural electrification.
Hand-in-hand with the ATMDP, this programme aims at
identifying the major causes of poor work habits in society and mobilise and
counsel the general public to reverse the poor work attitudes, work ethics and
integrity.
Under this
programme, the communities will be enabled to appreciate the spirit of working
together with the aim of benefiting from all those synergies that accrue to a
group such as reduced costs, value addition, operational efficiencies and
greater market access. These prospective Associations/Unions shall be entities
owned and controlled by farmers and managed under sound business principles.
This
programme therefore, places focus on:
(i)
The provision of
efficient marketing services for poverty eradication under the “Improved
Marketing for Poverty Eradication Project (IMPEP)”. Under this project, a
Public Liability Company will be established by the Kingdom for, among others,
processing and securing lucrative markets for produce
(ii)
The revival and
promotion of the co-operative movement system as a catalyst to effective
marketing in particular, and community development in general; and
(iii)
Provision of
information related to services and markets.
This programme will put emphasis on developmental
information dissemination to the communities by putting in place efficient
forms of media, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) centres
equipped with computers with access to the internet. This component is intended
to support production because the rural areas will be in position to share
valuable information concerning their own production specialty. Training in
computer literacy will be an integral component ICT infrastructure.
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