CASH COW: Oyam Farmers Embrace Coffee Growing As Parish Development Cash Tickles In

By Our Reporter

OYAM, Uganda [SHIFTMEDIA NEWS] Locals in Oyam district have been advised to get hold of the government program, the Parish Development Model to bolster their household incomes.
The call was made by the Resident District Commissioner Oyam Rtd ASP Hope Atuhaire during the celebrations to mark the Coffee Field Day held in Loro.
The Uganda Coffee Development Authority (UCDA) facilitated and organized the field day event.
Speaking at the event John Owot, the Chairperson Loro Cooperative Society hailed UCDA for donating 1 million coffee seedlings to the locals in Oyam. Owot said the seedlings will be distributed to the communities in Oyam district.

At the same event, presents were given to the best farmers. While the community leaders received farming equipment.
The RDC, Hope Atuhaire urged the farmers in Oyam to embrace cash crops such as coffee. “Communities are excited to take on coffee planting as they are sure there is money and a new coffee factory to be built in Loro,” said Atuhaire.
She said the locals were ready to grow coffee that is needed to sustain the coffee factory.
Minster warns on PDM
Similarly, in Oyam North, during a Parish Development Model sensitization meeting, the Minister of State for Gender. Labor and Social Development Hon Okello Engola Macodwogo directed the DPC to arrest all officials involved in PDM program fraud.” I want them arrested, and if you don’t, I will arrest you myself,” said the Col (Rtd) Engola. He was addressing stakeholders in the district regarding the new government programme, the Parish Development Model.
Government issue guidelines on PDM
On Friday government issued guidelines regarding the Parish Development Model cash release. In the Financial Year 2022/2023, Government released UGX 1 trillion to be distributed among the 10, 594 parishes across the country.
Each parish will receive shs100 million as a revolving fund earmarked for the purchase of agriculture inputs by households still in the subsistence economy.
Addressing the media, Minister for Cooperatives Fredrick Gume said that to ensure accountability and transparency in the management of the resources, the Government has instructed all banks that will be used for distribution of the funds to the parishes to send alerts to member including posting and withdrawal of the money by responsible signatories.
“When the money reaches the account, the signatories in this case, the principle signatory, who is the parish chief and two others people, there will be an alert messages (sms) to the responsible people,” said Fredrick Ngobi Gume.
Gume said that when the shs100m is sent to the parish account, the bank will immediately send an alert message during each stage of the transaction to all the responsible members in a particular parish.
“The message alerts will also be sent to the district (LCV) chairperson, the district internal security officers, Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), and the Chief Administrative Officers (CAO).
According to Government, unlike other funds for other government programmes, the PDM cash will not go through the district accounts, but rather directly to the parish chiefs for disbursement.
The PDM is designed under seven pillars which include: production, storage, processing and marketing. Others are infrastructure, economic services, financial inclusion, social services and mindset change.