Minister Babalanda Hosts Best PDM Beneficiaries from Budiope West, Tips Them on Four-Acre Model

What the report says

Uganda’s Minister for the Presidency and Budiope West MP, Babirye Milly Babalanda, has hosted Parish Development Model (PDM) beneficiaries from all 277 villages in Budiope West Constituency, Buyende District, according to Watchdog Uganda. The meeting, held yesterday in Budiope West, brought together the best-performing beneficiaries from across the constituency’s 38 parishes and 8 sub-counties.

Watchdog Uganda reported that the participants included farmers, traders, youth, women and men who used the Shs1 million PDM revolving-fund allocation to start or expand ventures such as poultry, piggery, goat rearing, dairy, retail shops and crop farming. Babalanda said the purpose of the engagement was to hear their experiences, recognize success stories and identify challenges affecting implementation of the government’s poverty-alleviation program. She also passed on greetings from President Yoweri Museveni, First Lady Janet Museveni and senior officials in the Office of the President.

The minister praised the beneficiaries for discipline and innovation, and urged them to share what they have learned with others in their villages. She cautioned against using the money for non-productive spending and stressed the need for timely repayment so the revolving fund can support more people. She said she would continue monitoring PDM implementation in the constituency.

Babalanda also encouraged households to consider the President’s Four-Acre Model as a practical path out of poverty, with different plots dedicated to cash crops, fruits, food crops and pasture. The broader significance, as framed by the report, is that the government wants PDM to move rural households from subsistence farming into the money economy.