By Isaac Tayebwa and Annet Nakanwagi,
NATIONAL
The minister of state for cooperative Hon. Ngobi Gume has disclosed that 21.4 per cent of Ugandans are living in extreme poverty
“As you may be aware, 21.4% of our people live in absolute poverty, according to the Uganda National Household Survey of 2019/20 (UBOS 2020),” Ngobi said
According to the minister, majority of these households earn their livelihoods from hand to mouth making it difficult to afford to live to better standards
He made the remarks on Thursday while speaking to journalists on the personalization and performance of cooperatives in Uganda at Media Centre in Kampala.
Although there is increased poverty level in the country, Ngobi says that government has put in place several interventions to alleviate poverty in households.
“To address this challenge, the Government has implemented a number of interventions that include the National Agricultural Advisory Services, Entandikwa, Bona Bagagawale and the ongoing Emyooga Program and now the Parish Development Model.” He said
Ngobi however noted a likelihood of people living in rural communities to continue living in poverty because the problem has persisted.
He says that the evolvement of the PDM into a cooperative will help in alleviating poverty through financial inclusion, job creation and reducing of hunger.
He has urged Ugandans to participate in the programme since it is the epicentre of development.
“Parish Development Model (PDM) is therefore a multi-sectoral strategy, to create social economic transformation by transforming, into money economy, the 39% of Ugandan households that are stuck in the subsistence economy,” said Ngobi
The minister further hailed the role of cooperatives in fosteting national unity and cohesion. He disclosed government plans to reinstate cooperative bank one way of filling the agriculture financing gaps.
“It is in this spirit that government is kin on re-establishing the Cooperative Bank. This will help fill the existing agricultural financing gap.” Ngobi explained
