Farmers in Namayumba sub-county in Wakiso district have been advised to embrace commercial agriculture.
Operation Wealth Creation director for Horticulture Brig Gen John Baptist Mulindwa asked the farmers to avoid fragmenting their lands to enable them to cultivate for commercial purposes.
Mulindwa was presiding over the commemoration to mark World Food Day organized by Hunger Free Zone cooperative societies in Nakedde.
The four cooperatives were formed by Hunger Free World Uganda to help the community grow enough food for both domestic consumption and sale.
“The traditional food reserve mechanisms in most household level collapsed, under your umbrella, you are very lucky that you have a tractor, do not subdivide your land, this makes the tractor plough a bigger area for more production,” Mulindwa advised.
He also asked the farmers to make the best use of the available stores to avoid post-harvest losses and plant fruits in their gardens and compounds to supplement food security.
“The causes of food insecurity are post-harvest losses, poor food safety, low household incomes, unregulated cross-border trade in food productions, and lack of household and national food reserves,” he said.
He said Government has brought Parish Development Modal (PDM) and money shall flow from the treasury to the parish SACCOs, urging them to get registered into the enterprise group to be considered.
The demand for food in the country has surpassed the supply because of rapid population growth overtaking food production, which has stagnated at 2% for over a decade.
Food security is uneven within the country, some areas are faced with food surplus amidst scarcity in others.
The few available food reserves are small and are private sector-owned.
