By Temiteo Okwakol
What you need to know in summary.
- VP Jessica Alupo praised IDI-U for its socio-economic impact in Kumi and other districts through agriculture and livelihood projects.
- She emphasized the importance of value addition in agriculture, particularly cassava, and urged replication of IDI-U’s successful projects across Uganda.
- IDI-U’s work aligns with Uganda’s National Development Plan, aiding in community transformation and economic empowerment.
KUMI: The Vice President Maj. (Rtd) Jessica Alupo has commended the International Development Institute-Uganda (IDI-U) for supporting the socio-economic advancement of the Ugandan people.
Since inception in 2006, the Korean organization has continued to transform lives in the districts of Kumi, Amuria, Mayuge, Kamuli, Luuka and Kabarole among other districts.
Some of the organisation’s work includes thematic focus areas on; Child Focus Community Transformation (CFCT), Disease Prevention Program, Livelihood Projects in Agriculture, holistic development programs as well as aspects of spiritual, educational, physical, economic, social, emotional support for community development.
In Teso Sub Region, alone, the organisation has executed a 3-year agriculture project for 600 farmers in Ngora and Kumi districts with focus on cassava production and value addition which was handed over in 2023.
The vice president said this work of IDI-U is commendable because it is aligned with the Government of Uganda National Development Plan and the National Resistance Movement (NRM)’s manifesto (2021-2026) theme, ‘Securing Your Future’.
“The good work that IDI-U does in the communities here and the impact that we see on ground is evidence that non-government organisations can play a complementary role in the development of our country if they are ideologically well-oriented,” Alupo said shortly after touring some of the development and livelihood projects supported by IDI-U in Kumi district.
The Katakwi Woman MP lauded IDI-U for supporting the government of Uganda in making steady progress in taking Uganda to modernity through job creation and inclusive development in its own significant way as a non-government institution coming all the way from Korea to work in our communities.
“It is my sincere hope that the success story of the IDI-U’s efforts here in Kumi, other parts of Teso and parts of Busoga will be replicated in other parts of Teso and progressively the rest of the country,” she said.
Alupo emphasized that these efforts will contribute to more socio-economic transformation that has been achieved under the NRM government. She further thanked IDI-U for helping to awaken Ugandans in this part of the country to meaningfully participate in wealth and job-creation, supporting them to graduate from subsistence farming into and join the modern economy.
She extended gratitude to the technical and political leadership of Kumi district for ensuring that this organisation’s work is supported in the areas of its operation. She however encouraged all leaders to embrace the kind of social-economic development initiatives that IDI-U has done. “We should do everything humanly possible, as a matter of urgency, to accelerate these efforts and interventions with a view to multiplying their presence and impact in other parts of Uganda using the Teso and Busoga sub-regions as a nucleus and model center of excellence,” Alupo said.
She stressed that the cassava value addition project is properly aligned with the vision and continued patriotic call by His Excellency the President of Uganda for us to embrace value addition.
That way, as the president has always articulated, we retain jobs here as opposed to exporting job opportunities to countries that do value addition of unprocessed goods from Uganda, she said.
The vice president emphasized that the success of the cassava project in Kumi can be extended to other crops which are grown by the people here in Teso including sweet potatoes, millet, sorghum, sun-flower and citrus fruits adding that they would achieve so much if this model is replicated whose results can be seen and felt to other crops and areas of Teso and Uganda in general.
“It is through these efforts that society will transform in our lifetime and families that have been stuck in poverty and subsistence farming due to historical reasons, will transition into the modern cash-economy. An economically empowered community is a cornerstone for national development because it is these building blocks that are consolidated into national economic development,” Alupo said.
She informed the gathering that some of the challenges that continue to afflict our people such as early and unplanned childbirth, teenage pregnancy, children not completing the education cycle even when government introduced Universal Primary Education and Universal Secondary Education, and lately the youth wasting their young and productive years in drug abuse and alcoholism coupled with petty crime, will only be solved through economic emancipation of our people from the chains of poverty and through inclusive development.
Alupo told the leaders from Teso and other parts of Uganda, that it is our duty to make the world and our communities a better place adding that no one else will transform our societies. “It is our everyday duty to work so hard to ensure that prosperity is fostered, people are lifted out of subsistence farming and the chains of poverty are untied from families where the cycle of poverty runs through generations,” she said.
She emphasized that with the right support networks and partnerships such as those we are witnessing here in Kumi through the work of IDI-U, backed up by a conducive political stability environment and the right support from the Government which is there, surely, we can transform our communities.
The vice president concluded that the NRM Government under the leadership of H.E the President will continue to support entities like IDI-U in their efforts to empower and transform our people through the many interventions and programs that they are already doing.
Myung Hyun Lee the Manager of IDI-Uganda thanked the government led by president Museveni for partnering with the Korean government and offering favourable conditions for the functioning of the Korean organization and NGOs for the development of communities in Uganda.
IDI-Uganda has a holistic approach for development including; spiritual aspect for church development, Health and Sanitation, Education aspect by advocating for improvement in academic performance, and agriculture/livelihood projects.
