By Arikos Peter
Assistant Resident District Commissioner, Kaberamaido District
Uganda is entering a defining chapter in its development journey. Across the country, the conversation is increasingly shifting from simply asking what Government is providing to asking a more fundamental question: How do we turn Uganda’s enormous potential into sustainable wealth, productive jobs and better household incomes?
This is not a small question. It is the question that will shape the future of millions of Ugandans.
Uganda has enormous opportunities in agriculture, tourism, minerals, culture, technology, manufacturing and trade. The Fourth National Development Plan identifies value addition, agriculture, tourism, minerals, ICT, finance and the monetisation of the economy among the major areas capable of driving transformation. Its stated goal is higher household incomes, employment and sustainable socio-economic transformation.
The challenge, therefore, is no longer simply identifying Uganda’s opportunities. The greater challenge is converting those opportunities into productive economic activity at household and community level.
The farmer must become an entrepreneur
For decades, agriculture has been the backbone of Uganda’s economy. But producing more without addressing markets, storage, processing, quality and value addition will continue to limit the income of many farmers.
A farmer who produces raw coffee earns differently from one who participates in processing, branding and export. A farmer selling milk as a raw product operates differently from one connected to a functional dairy value chain. The same principle applies to fruits, honey, livestock, fish and other agricultural products.
Uganda’s agricultural transformation must therefore move beyond production alone.
It must be about production, processing, packaging, branding, marketing and accessing markets.
Recent government discussions on agriculture have similarly emphasised the need to connect farmers to agro-processing, value addition, markets, technology and investment.
Government support must reach the intended beneficiary
Government programmes such as the Parish Development Model are designed to support economic transformation at the grassroots. But the success of any programme should ultimately be measured by what happens to the ordinary citizen.
Did the household increase its income?
Did the farmer acquire productive assets?
Did the youth establish a sustainable enterprise?
Did the community create employment?
Did the beneficiary move from subsistence to a more commercial form of production?
These are the questions that matter.
Public resources are not political gifts. They are resources entrusted to institutions and leaders to serve the public interest. Wherever Government money is allocated, there must be accountability, transparency and measurable results.
This is why monitoring should not be viewed as an attempt to undermine Government programmes. Proper monitoring protects the programmes, protects beneficiaries and protects the taxpayer.
Uganda’s greatest resource is its people
Uganda’s young population represents one of the country’s greatest opportunities. But a youthful population becomes an economic advantage only when young people have the skills, capital, technology and markets necessary to participate meaningfully in the economy.
The answer cannot be for every young person to wait for a Government job.
Neither can the answer be to tell young people simply to “work hard” without creating an environment in which enterprise can survive.
We need a culture where young people are encouraged to build businesses, acquire practical skills, enter agriculture commercially, embrace technology, participate in manufacturing and develop solutions to local problems.
At the same time, society must restore dignity to productive work.
A young person running a successful farm, welding business, salon, transport enterprise, ICT company, tailoring business, food-processing enterprise or cultural business is contributing to Uganda’s economy just as surely as someone working in a formal office.
Culture can also create wealth
For a long time, culture has sometimes been treated primarily as something to preserve rather than something that can generate economic value.
That thinking is changing.
Recent discussions in Uganda have highlighted efforts to position the cultural and creative industries as contributors to job creation, household incomes, tourism and wealth creation.
Uganda’s cultural diversity is therefore not merely something to celebrate. It can also become an economic asset.
Our music, crafts, fashion, traditional knowledge, food, languages, festivals, heritage sites and cultural institutions can create opportunities for artists, designers, manufacturers, tour operators, young entrepreneurs and local communities.
The opportunity is to preserve culture while also creating dignified livelihoods around it.
The responsibility is shared
National transformation cannot be left to Government alone.
Government must provide sound policies, infrastructure, security, education, health services, financing mechanisms and an environment in which businesses can grow.
Leaders must provide responsible leadership and accountability.
Civil servants must protect public resources and deliver services professionally.
The private sector must invest and create jobs.
Farmers must embrace commercial production and value addition.
Young people must acquire skills and pursue productive opportunities.
And citizens must demand accountability without destroying the very institutions and programmes designed to serve them.
Uganda’s development must therefore become a partnership between Government, communities, the private sector and individual citizens.
From consumption to production
One of the most important changes Uganda needs is a stronger culture of production.
We cannot build a prosperous country merely by consuming imported goods while exporting raw materials.
We must increasingly produce what we consume, process what we produce and compete for markets beyond our borders.
This is particularly important as Uganda seeks to expand its participation in regional and international markets.
The country’s development partners are also placing emphasis on private-sector-led transformation, infrastructure, jobs, human capital and stronger institutions. The World Bank’s current partnership framework for Uganda, for example, places significant emphasis on economic transformation and employment creation.
Accountability is part of development
There is another important lesson Uganda must embrace: development without accountability is difficult to sustain.
Every shilling lost through corruption is a lost classroom, a lost health service, a lost road, a lost agricultural opportunity or a lost chance for a young person to build a livelihood.
Accountability should therefore not be understood merely as punishment.
It is also about prevention.
It is about ensuring that the person entrusted with public resources understands that those resources belong to the people.
It is about creating confidence that Government programmes can actually deliver what they were designed to deliver.
The Uganda we want is built locally
National transformation begins in villages, parishes, schools, health centres, farms, businesses and communities.
A road that connects a farmer to the market contributes to national development.
A health worker who reports to duty contributes to national development.
A teacher who properly prepares learners contributes to national development.
A civil servant who refuses a bribe contributes to national development.
A young person who creates five jobs contributes to national development.
A farmer who moves from subsistence production to commercial agriculture contributes to national development.
And a citizen who protects public property and demands accountability contributes to national development.
This is how big national ambitions become real.
The next Uganda must be measured by livelihoods
Uganda’s development story should ultimately not be measured only by the number of programmes launched, funds allocated or projects commissioned.
It should be measured by what changes in the life of the ordinary Ugandan.
Can families afford decent food?
Can children access quality education?
Can young people find productive work?
Can farmers earn better incomes?
Can small businesses access affordable capital?
Can communities benefit from their natural and cultural resources?
Can public institutions deliver services without discrimination or corruption?
These are the questions that should remain at the centre of our national conversation.
Uganda has the people, resources and opportunities to build a stronger economy. The task before us is to turn potential into productivity, productivity into wealth, and wealth into improved livelihoods.
The next chapter must therefore be about more than politics.
It must be about production, accountability, innovation, enterprise, service and national responsibility.
And perhaps the most important mindset change is this:
We should not only ask what Uganda can do for us. We should also ask what each of us can productively contribute to Uganda.
As Scripture reminds us: “Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with all your might.” — Ecclesiastes 9:10.
The Uganda of tomorrow will be built by the choices, discipline and work we undertake today.