PDM parishes can be turned into light value-addition nodes

What the report says

The Observer published an opinion piece arguing that Uganda’s Parish Development Model (PDM) should evolve from a funding mechanism into a network of parish-level value-addition hubs. The article says that, by June 2026, the government reported more than three million PDM beneficiaries and that Shs 4.4 trillion had been sent to all 10,589 parishes since the programme began in 2022. It argues that production alone is not enough to raise household incomes if farmers continue selling unprocessed goods at low prices and losing produce after harvest.

The writer says Uganda has already invested in agro-industrialisation in previous programmes through facilities such as maize mills, milk coolers and coffee hullers, but many of these assets have not been fully used because of weak electricity supply, poor maintenance, limited management capacity and thin market connections. The piece links these challenges to the 2026/27 national budget, which it says allocates major sums to agro-industrialisation, transport, energy and rural electrification.

Rather than building large plants in every parish, the article proposes shared, smaller-scale infrastructure such as solar dryers, grain mills and milk coolers managed by parish SACCOs and producer groups. It says public and private actors should focus on reliable infrastructure, market information and technical training so that parish production connects more effectively to processors, industrial parks and broader markets. The writer cites an Economic Policy Research Centre assessment saying 39 percent of beneficiaries had changed enterprises in search of better market opportunities, which the article presents as evidence that market demand should guide PDM investments.