Namutamba Parish Local Economic Development Model

 

NAMUTAMBA PARISH LOCAL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT MODEL.

September 18, 2021

You are most welcome to Namutamba Parish which is found in Mityana District of Uganda within Eastern Africa region.

LOCATION OF MITYANA  DISTRICT IN UGANDA

Coordinates:  00°27′N 32°03′E

Area: 1,579.3 Sq km or 608.8 Sq miles

Population Estimate (2012) - 311,600

Time Zone UTC +3 (EAT)

The Map of Mityana District in Uganda

Namutamba Population as per 2018 Census

No.	Particulars	Statistic
1	Number of Males	1,483
2	Number of Females	1,408
3	Total	2,891
4	Number of Households	668
5	% Female headed Households	33.7

Villages in Namutamba Parish:

1. Kyetume

2. Kiwanda

3. Butumbiizi

4. Lweyo

5. Kabungo

6. Mbiro

My name is William Kituuka Kiwanuka. I am the Chairman of the Board of Directors of AGALI AWAMU SSINGO DEVELOPMENT MODEL (AGASDEM) LTD, A Company Limited by Guarantee. This Company is to implement "Namutamba Parish Local Economic Development (NAPALEDEM)". The development challenges of Namutamba are enormous, but given my background in Rural Economy and Development Economics as well as my innovativeness, together with those I have joined hands with, if we get supported, I am confident that Namutamba Parish can be changed for the better and also serve as a model for other areas in Uganda to learn from.

THE COMMUNITY AS THE EPITOME FOR LOCAL DEVELOPMENT
We want to have the Local Community set – up (at Parish level) as the engine for local development initiatives. Community initiatives will be Learning centered, Problem solving, Self-discovery and Action Oriented.  The people will be inducted into Community Dialogue – which will be a continuous mutual exchange of views, ideas and opinions between people and or groups of people aimed at developing mutual understanding and seeking solutions. They will, under the guidance of Community Dialogue Facilitators (skilled in Agricultural Extension services, animal husbandry, market analysis and nutrition aspects), recognize existing Knowledge, Skills and capabilities of the community that can be used to improve or change their situation for the better. Ideas as developed at Local Community level which in this case is Namutamba Parish, plus learning from Demonstration undertakings including gardens and domestic animal management skills, are believed to be an integral part of the agenda to be put in place to see the local people take on better and improved means of undertaking various agricultural and animal enterprises for good profit at the market level as well as a good boost to balanced diet at family levels. 
The Community Driven Initiatives will also see to the popularization of Self Help Initiatives as vehicles for the promotion of savings and financial empowerment for participating members.I look forward to seeing community based developments in Namutamba Parish a big success. This is what I can contribute having been brought up in the area for the bigger part as I grew up yet it is currently in a very sorry state given the human development indicators. 

THE PROBLEM

i. Majority of the people of Namutamba can be rightly taken to be living in poverty circumstances. Poverty in Namutamba Parish can be described as the absence of those ethical, social and material resources needed to develop the moral, intellectual and social capacities of individuals within the area;

ii. High prevalence of illness among members of the Namutamba Parish Community, which hinders productivity by reducing productive hours of work (in case of Malaria, more than 1 working week is lost), eating in income that would be put on better welfare alternatives and eventually reducing life expectancy, yet there is lack of well facilitated health services in the area which calls for high transport costs to Mityana and other medical facilities beyond Mityana town;

iii. Many youth and professionals from the area have left for economic opportunities elsewhere; this is so due to the prevailing poverty which situation does not generate employment opportunities (Poverty is not just material deprivation but a continuous process of “Dis-empowerment” that includes denial of choices / rights / opportunities, discrimination, disparity, domination, displacement, de-humanization).

v. It is surprising that the cattle farmers at Namutamba are yet to get modern. Through the 1970's to date, one sees the cattle keepers at Kyetume village  using traditional methods. The fencing using natural vegetation materials (hedges) which at the same time exploit the soil nutrients. The "Busitani‟ trees were there when we were young and today one sees the same! Why are we not having trees which are food for cattle? Why don’t we have fewer cattle and emphasize quality vis a vis quantity? Why don’t we see farmers practice zero grazing for cattle?

vi. Namutamba Demonstration School is a pillar school in the area, however, it is in appalling situation. The school has a number of infrastructures in poor shape; the teachers' houses are in appalling situation, many of the school facilities are in a poor shape hence cannot enhance academic excellence of the children, the school does not have a single computer, children don’t grow food yet there is land that can be utilized to see them have food, the sports grounds are in a poor shape and need to be worked on, sports equipment lacking, toilets need to be worked on, water is fetched from the valley yet there can be water harvesting from the school buildings, the welfare of teachers is poor, there is need to boost it, a Sick bay needs to be equipped and a school nurse in place, there is need to increase on the non-teaching staff from a force of only two, there is need to procure a machine to help in the production of children’s periodical examinations, putting up a kitchen worth the status of the school given that it is 84 years now since it was started. There boarding facilities and lighting at night for the children are really poor;

What is the significance of having Namutamba Parish Local Economic Development Model as the Concept for this approach? 

Namutamba Parish Local Economic Development Model is made out of three parts:

1) Namutamba Parish;

2) Local Economic Development; and

3) Model.

Namutamba Parish was initially an icon for Education and Christianity. The Malcolm Wilson Family played a big role in the early development of Namutamba Parish. The family started A Tea Estate and Dairy Farm. The Farm employed a number of people more so labor from Rwanda. The family also helped the early establishment of Namutamba Demonstration School where many children of the employees at the estate went for Primary Education.  

So, the Economic activities by the Malcolm family were the initial pillars that helped Namutamba Parish to grow. The Malcolm family also associated itself with the East African Revival Movement (the Saved) under Church of Uganda. This Movement spread the Gospel to the whole of East Africa region and Namutamba was one of the bases. So, Namutamba became popular and known in Uganda. In addition to the above, Namutamba Primary Teachers’ College (NTC) was putting out excellent Grade II Primary Teachers. This also added to the fame of Namutamba as good teachers were on high demand countrywide.

Insecurity in Uganda became unbearable to the Malcolm Lea Wilson family who were the owners of Namutamba Tea Estate and Dairy Farm. The family decided to sale the estate and left Uganda in 1972 and went to United Kingdom. The Estate was sold to the John Nagenda family members and some others. The buyers of the estate did not measure up to the challenges, so production levels fell, many workers left and the Dairy Cattle were eventually no more. The factory that was processing Tea eventually got technical issues and production was stopped.

Shortly after, Namutamba Primary Teachers’ College was dropped as a Government aided Teachers’ College and it was changed to a Vocational undertaking which unfortunately did not take off. However, The Church of Uganda Mityana Diocese who own the College and the Demonstration School took over and decided to run a Private Teachers' Training College for Grade III teachers. However, the College has challenges as the funding depends on the tuition the students pay, and has constraints.

The Demonstration School was negatively affected by the introduction of Universal Primary Education (UPE) policy, so the school declined in many areas including academic performance, infrastructure including the Teachers' Houses  are in a sorry state and some structures have actually collapsed. .

So, Namutamba Parish was initially progressing, and suddenly its status fell to the sorry state it is today. It is the historical significance of Namutamba that we want to get back using a different approach.

“Local Development”.

This identifies that the area has the potential that needs to be stimulated so that it acts as the engine of growth for the whole parish. This includes:

1. Land that can be productively exploited;

2. The Cattle breeds which can be improved and managed scientifically;

3. Resources like Stone that can be crashed by the locals to provide Stone for tarmacking the roads in the area;

4. Harnessing rain water (water harvesting) that may help domestic use as well as for irrigation purposes.

5. The innovation has the component of Marketing of the Agricultural products grown in the area first through the use of Agricultural Extension personnel to advise farmers on better packaged production of marketable Agricultural produce and then channeling / transportation to market including to Mityana Municipality and Kampala City.

6. There is the component of improving the Health Infrastructure through promotion of Primary Health Care (PHC) at household levels as well as;

7. Putting up a Health Centre for treating the sick.

8. Boosting employment prospects by encouraging many with arable land to use it productively following advice by extension staff;

9. Promotion of Fish Farming in places where the local people have running water resources readily available;

10. Have a Fuel Station opened in the area to help the fuel needs given that fuel is bought 13 miles or more away from Namutamba Parish.

11. Namutamba Business Centre (NABUCE) - Locals do most of the shopping at Mityana which is anything between 12 - 16 miles, and it is a big cost in terms of time and cost by Commercial Motor Cycle Transporters who charge anything shs 8,000 and more, yet it is risky means of transport. So, NABUCE is necessary to boost business in Namutamba Parish.

12. Namutamba Parish has problems of locals accessing clean water within easy rich. We shall identify partners to help in this area at the same time,we shall encourage rain water harvesting after teaching the locals and supporting them to undertake the harvesting. 

In a nutshell, Namutamba Parish has natural resources which can be conserved as well as exploited to help the growth and eventual development of the area.

The third aspect is the word “Model”.

In Uganda, it is generally poverty in most of the rural parishes. NAPALEDEM in practice will serve as a Model that can be copied or emulated by other parishes countrywide. The parish can then countrywide be a basis for Local Economic Development (LED). Namutamba Parish Local Economic Development Model (NAPALEDEM) concept in practice should therefore serve as a Learning Model for the rest of Uganda, that a parish can be a basis for promoting better livelihoods and support for those who stay in it.

PLEASE NOTE: We shall strictly observe the COVID - 19 guidelines as given by Uganda's Ministry of Health to ensure that our activities do not spread COVID - 19.

PROJECTS TO BE UNDERTAKEN AT BOTH NAMUTAMBA PRIMARY TEACHERS' COLLEGE AND NAMUTAMBA DEMONSTRATION SCHOOL WILL AMONG OTHERS INCLUDE:

We shall seek authority from Mityana Church of Uganda Diocese to utilize some of Namutamba Primary Teachers' College buildings which are redundant yet some need to be renovated. The authorization will help to have initial staff accommodation, offices, stores and land for demonstration purposes for the students and the residents of Namutamba Parish.

We are sure of working well with the current head of Namutamba Primary Teachers' College so that the extended facilities facilitate as well as ease our initial work in Namutamba Parish.

We already have good working relations with Namutamba Demonstration more so that we shall to help them with infrastructure developments and or renovation. We would like to see the school as a model for Primary Education in Uganda. We would like the agricultural land which the school has to be used for growing food for children and also serve a demonstration purpose where children will learn growing certain crop enterprises as well as animal husbandry. We shall also ensure that more practical subjects are a reality, improve teacher welfare as well as introduce Information and Communication Technology (ICT) application by the learners.

 OTHER INTERVENTIONS WE ARE TO GET INVOLVED IN SHALL INCLUDE:

1. Easing of transport to and fro Mityana. Currently, if one misses the very early vehicles to Mityana, he/she has to hire a commercial motor cyclist for 12 or more miles at the cost of shs 8,000 or more that is US$2.3. This means that there should be improved taxi availability so that people are sure of getting a taxi to and fro Mityana at anytime they wish to travel;

2. There is need to use a better health facility as a magnet to attract people to be party to the innovations that may eventually change them, this, to offer services at highly discounted rates is in the right direction and also offer a number of services including maternity, antenatal, laboratory, admissions and a full time doctor and other specialized medical personnel. People to be encouraged to have savings with the facility and also be allowed to get treatment on credit or even pay in kind using what they produce in their gardens may all go a long way in promoting the health facility;

3. Addressing people’s ills and endeavouring to cater for them will go along way in easing the lives of the people at Namutamba.

These will include:

i. Availing a Filling station having: Petrol, Diesel and Paraffin in close vicinity. Currently, those with vehicles can only fill from Mityana which is 12miles or more depending on one's location in Namutamba Parish!

ii. A big mobile money facility in terms of volumes of money it can handle. Currently, people doing relatively big business have to travel Mityana Municipality to get cash or to send. Getting these services to the people is critical and very time saving more so, at a time when we want to boost business in the area;

iii. There are a variety of goods which people have to buy from Mityana Municipality yet they would buy them from some big shop around in the area and save, this calls for opening up such a shop with a hardware component among other outlets. This undertaking we have it in plan as Namutamba Business Centre (NABUCE);

iv. Setting up collecting centres for agricultural products from the area and then use our transport means to get the produce to market in Mityana Municipality and or Kampala city;

4. We shall deploy paid staff to oversee most of the community mobilization in the area and extension advisory services to the local producers. These will:

a) Encourage the formation of Self Help Groups (SHGs) as a vehicle to enhance the savings culture among the people and the working in group arrangement for their betterment;

b) Help with better innovations, for example the area has many cattle keepers who need to move from quantity of animals kept to quality as well as undertake zero – grazing, we shall have demonstration areas set up for the purpose as well as on - farm innovations and interactions with the people; 

c) To encourage better innovations which will help farmers to improve their harvest in size of produce and quantity and where the produce can be processed, this will be encouraged to get a bigger margin from what is produced. We want local people to mill the Groundnuts, Maize to mention a few given that machine done milling gets elements of metal in the flour which endangers lives. We also want to get into packaging Tea leaves of Tea produced in the area as a Memory for the Lea Wilson earlier developments of the area;

d) Serve as a clearing house, provide farmers, traders and other interested public's information they need to make rational decisions on planning, investment, marketing, research and training;  

e) The locals will be availed with services to include soil management, that is re - knewability, tasting soil to establish its mineral content as well as enterprise management, all of which will be aimed at getting the poor and vulnerable from the current deplorable state they are in.

5. There is need to work on the roads. The road from Mityana Municipality gets bad when one starts climbing Namutamba Hill after Bakijjulula. If there is away this road can be worked on, chances are that greater economic activity will be undertaken.In this case, we shall mobilize the locals with stone in their lands to crash it, then we shall buy the stone from them and use it in tarmacking the roads after enlarging them to undertake easy flow of traffic and this will indeed boost business in the area as well as attract settlements.

THE NEED TO SEE MALNUTRITION AS HISTORY

A good number of people in Namutamba Parish suffer from some form of malnutrition, hence cannot sustain healthy, active lives. The result is devastating illness and death, as well as incurable loss human potential and social development. Many suffer from diseases caused by unbalanced diets as well as vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Malnutrition puts women at greater risk of complications and death during pregnancy and child birth. Micronutrient deficiencies have to be solved:

1) Ensure that pregnant women don‟t get Iron Deficiency Anemia (IDA) which causes:

a) Poor school performance and less energy for play in children;

b) Higher risk of death during child birth in pregnant women;

c) Diminished work capacity and productivity in adults.

2) Vitamin A Deficiency (VAD) this takes its toll on children:

a) It is the most common cause of preventable blindness;

b) It carries a higher risk of illness and death;

3) Reducing chances of goiter development as a result of lack of Iodine:

a) This increases the risk that children will be born mentally handicapped;

b) Reduced growth and mental development in children. Micronutrients availability to be increased through encouraging the growing and eating a food rich in micronutrients such as fruits, vegetables, fish and livestock products.

FOCUS ON WOMEN PRODUCTIVITY.

Women in Namutamba Parish on average work for about 15 hours a day, however, their labour hour input is inversely proportional to the value of the output, so, low yields are realized due to ill-advised practices. We will empower the women through Self Help Groups (SHGs) of 15 - 20, where they will learn interventions that can help boost productivity and also focus on market to earn income. We shall enhance women empowerment using the Self Help Groups (SHGs) initiative as a vehicle to see them get command over some income and be involved in decision making, the two foundation stones on which the (SHG) principle is based are: Every human being has tremendous potential in her/himself. This hidden potential in the poor can be unleashed if the right environment is provided and, as an individual, the poor are voiceless, powerless and vulnerable. By bringing them together as a homogenous collective, they have tremendous strength. Poverty is not just material deprivation but a continuous process of “Dis-empowerment” that includes denial of choices/rights/opportunities, discrimination, disparity, domination, displacement, de-humanization.

INTERVENTIONS TO COUNTER HIV/AIDS.

While there is knowledge about HIV/AIDS countrywide, specific interventions are needed in Namutamba Parish with objectives as:

1. To see to reduced contraction of HIV;

2. To see to counseling and care of those affected and infected by HIV/AIDS;

3. To see to medication of those who are HIV positive and also have them active in work to earn a living;

4. To see to increased life span of those who are HIV positive;

5. To put in place interventions to care for the orphaned and vulnerable children and ensure their education and social security catered for. 

 OUR VISION

A Namutamba Parish uplifted from poverty of the majority to better social and economic conditions as depicted by greatly improved living standards.

OUR MISSION

Awakening the intellectual and decision making potential of the people of Namutamba parish so that they change their circumstances for the better.

OUR GOAL

To see development a reality among the community members in Namutamba Parish and enjoyed sustainably.

THE PROJECT VALUES

1. Love, justice and compassion for all.

2. Encourage autonomy and self sufficiency.

3. Act professionally; with fairness, integrity and understanding.

4. Uphold Human Rights and challenge inequality and injustices.

5. Environmental protection.

6. Commitment and service to the poor.

CONTACT:

AGALI AWAMU SSINGO DEVELOPMENT MODEL (AGASDEM) LTD

Implementing Namutamba Parish Local Economic Development Model (NAPALEDEM)

P.O. Box 105083 KAMPALA - UGANDA

KINDLY SHARE OUR APPEAL TO OTHERS WHO MAY EQUALLY HELP