Nebbi PDM Farmers Switch to Cabbage, Onions

What the report says

Thirty Parish Development Model beneficiaries in Nebbi Municipality are being trained to grow cabbage and onions after local officials found that many of the urban farmers who had chosen cassava did not have enough land to carry out that enterprise. According to Nile Post, the training took place on Thursday, October 15, in Nebbi Hill Ward and was led by PDM community-based facilitators. The aim is to help the groups move into crops that mature more quickly and can generate income sooner.

The report says the beneficiaries came from five enterprise groups and had originally planned to do cassava growing and poultry keeping. However, limited farmland and prolonged dry spells in West Nile have made those options difficult, especially for people living in a town setting. Nebbi Municipality production officer and PDM focal person Andrew Yangchon said the shift was meant to support short-term earning opportunities, noting that cabbage and onions can be harvested in about three months, while cassava takes much longer.

Beneficiaries welcomed the adjustment, saying the vegetables could bring faster returns than cassava. Yofesto Okecha, chairperson of the Nebbi Hill PDM SACCO, said follow-up visits showed that many farmers had no gardens for the enterprises they selected. The development comes amid wider concern about PDM loan recovery in Nebbi.

In Nebbi Hill Ward, the article says Shs369 million has been disbursed to 369 beneficiaries, but only Shs1.2 million has been recovered. Officials also said district-wide recovery remains low, with questions raised about beneficiary selection, missing records and the use of some funds outside production activities.