Ex-MP Ogama urges Madi-Okollo residents to embrace commercial agriculture

ARUA | RedPepper Digital– Ismail Alli Ogama, the former Lower Madi-Okollo County Member of Parliament (MP) has appealed to the residents of Madi-Okollo district to embrace commercial agriculture if they are to alleviate poverty in their homesteads.

According to Ogama, with the coming of Arua City, the demand for food has increased, an opportunity the locals should use to venture into commercial farming.

“Arua City has finally come and the people there need food, so produce enough food to feed the city and use the money to develop yourselves,” Ogama advised on Saturday.

Ogama made the appeal while presiding over the post Covid-19 lockdown leaders’ cocktail party organized by the officials of Rigbo sub-county at the sub-county headquarters.

The party, also attended by hundreds of locals within Rigbo and the neighboring sub-counties of Rhino Camp, Ewanga and Ogoko, was aimed at uniting the locals and their leaders to fully resume work after the two years of lockdown.

During the function, Ogama took time to sensitize the locals on the need to get empowered economically so as to feed their children and also pay their school fees with ease.

“Go for commercial agriculture and you can start with the state of a four-acre module. Out of the four acres, you can use one acre for growing food stuff, the other for growing fruits, another acre for rearing animals like goats or cows and use the fourth acre for doing commercial farming (growing commercial crops). If this advice is embraced, Madi-Okollo will become a module district in the West Nile region,” Ogama said.

He advised that the locals who have the capacity to go for a full-scale commercial agriculture can do so while for those who cannot, they should get support from the various government programs like EMYOOGA and the newly introduced Parish Development Model to embrace commercial farming.

“Make use of Matangacia market to attract people from Arua City to buy your produce. This is the time you can make money; use this opportunity to embrace commercial farming to get out of poverty,” Ogama emphasized.

Michael Ruben Candia, the Councilor representing Rigbo sub-county to Madi-Okollo district said the government intends to inject shs100m in each parish through the Parish Development Model. He urged the locals to get organized in groups so as to benefit from the program.

“You can use the money to grow crops, do fish farming, Apiary or venture into goat keeping or cattle rearing to transform your lives,” Candia said.

Wilson Agele, the Rigbo sub-county chairperson, used the occasion to highlight the achievements, challenges and the aspirations of the sub-county during and after the lockdown period.

The day was marked under the theme: “From Covid-19 crisis to stability.”