Ugandans have been urged to utilise idle land by engaging in commercial farming.
“There is a lot of idol land in Adjumani and other districts of Uganda which is fertile. Why would someone leave a bush to grow on land and afterward you start saying that you don’t have food to eat? Utilise this piece of land for agriculture,” Raphael Magyezi, the Minister for Local Government, said.
Magyezi said this during his visit to Majji II Settlement in Adjumani district, adding that the more people leave land idle, the more this attracts wild animals and land grabbers who think that it has no owner attached to it.
“We need to start using our land for agricultural purposes. We need to fight malnutrition and hunger in the country,” he added.
According to the nutrition national statistics, a third of the children in Uganda are stunted, approximately 5% of the children have lost weight, 10% of the children are underweight and almost half of the children in Uganda have anemia
Magyezi also said Ugandans are known to be among the most hardworking people in the world but they need to have a mindset change so as they can learn how properly they can utilise their land instead of leaving it to lie idle.
“You cannot have 30 to 40 acres of land and say you are poor. You have the biggest asset a person will ever need. Our weather in Uganda is predictable if it’s hot we have water sources to irrigate the plants and it’s a wet season, we also when to plant,” he said.
Magyezi also applauded Action Against Hunger for donating nutritious seeds to the refugees and host communities in Adjumani district.
