NAADS: CIVIL SOCIETY NEEDS BASIC FACTS: CSOs have been at the forefront fighting GMOs and it is disappointing that they are rooting for NAADS, one of the channels for establishing GMOs in Uganda. Whereas we understand and appreciate the concern of CSOs for the rural farmer, CSOs need to have the following basic facts about Naads. They can thereafter make informed decisions and focused advocacy. WHAT WE NEED IS THE RESTORATION OF THE AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION STRUCTURES AND SYSTEMS AS EXISTED ANTE-1986. NOT NAADS. NOT SOLDIERS. We need the District Farm Institutes, and the Agricultural, Veterinary, Fisheries Officers at district and sub-county levels. CSOs can also play another crucial role by raising the cooperative movement debate to its proper perspective, beyond Saccos. AGRICULTURE IN UGANDA NEEDS TO CRUCIAL FACTORS FOR IT TO SUCCEED: a) The revival of cooperatives as farmer-controlled enterprises(FCEs), with no government involvement or interference. Actually the ‘killing’ of cooperatives by NRM was a felix culpa, since they had been turned into de facto UPC structures. Those arguing for ‘government to restore cooperatives’ risk resurrecting the UPC-type control of cooperatives. Cooperatives are independent, private, farmer-controlled enterprises, guided by the same structure and creed globally. For the purposes the CSO fraternity in Uganda, the following are the basic facts about NAADS: The Naads Programme in Uganda has performed beyond expectations. We only were ignorant of its purpose, the reason we are up in arms. Simply look at these facts: Naads is 98% foreign funded, by countries whose governments subsidise their farmers to the level of buying grains to pour into the sea, to keep the farmers in business. Naads simply had the mission of strangling our agriculture and eliminating our food security. One fact that has always baffled the Western world is how these poor countries like Uganda, survive calamities. The secret is in the capacity of the peasant to feed himself, January to December. NAADS came to eliminate this capacity and this it has achieved by:- -Killing our indigenous seeds and biodiversity: replaced by improved seeds ( read GMOs) -Killing our indigenous livestock genes: replaced with improved goats (with dog ears and bulls that cant mate) -Killing our initiative: people now must wait for NAADS everything -Killing our scientists: turned them into advocates for GMOs and other fake things -Killing our institutions and infrastructure: DFIs, and their subordinate structures at sub county level Am sure CSOs do not need such a situation, do they? Sandra Birungi, Kampala.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 16:19:03 +0000
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