Mukono District Production and Marketing Officer, Dr. Fred Mukulu hailed Kyampisi sub-county leadership for energetically involving all players saying this is what made the show assume not only a district but a national outlook.
Mukono district production department has kick started an annual agricultural value chain show geared at sensitizing farmers on the best and most cost-effective methods of production in the agriculture, veterinary, fisheries and entomology sectors.
The inaugural show held at Kyampisi sub-county headquarters in Mukono North Constituency, attracted investors including private sector players, schools, stakeholders in the animal and agricultural sectors, the banking sector, low-cost investors using local technology, improved fisheries production systems, animal vaccination and many other production lines. The two-day event ran from Thursday August 7, to Friday August 8, 2025.
Rare exhibitions included small and medium scale irrigation, coffee value chain right from harvesting to domestic production of aromatic coffee, free soil fertility testing services by the district, safe honey and venom extraction from bee hives, genetic improvement of cattle through artificial insemination, veterinary lab technology and a long list of other production related services.
The chief guest was Mukono Deputy Chief Administrative Officer (DCAO) Stephen Muhumuza who was impressed by, among other things, production of ornamental items, table mats, garments, ladies’ beauty decoration items like bracelets and earrings, all made out of fresh banana fibers.
Muhumuza hailed the sub-county chief for Kyampisi sub-county, Harriet Namatovu for getting in touch with the district production department and organize a very successful agricultural show, and expressed disgust at sub-county and town clerks who he said stubbornly refused to comply with his personal and physical invitation to attend and get skills of organizing it in their sub-counties.
He angrily said he would take reprimand action against the uncompliant, and advised them to tender their resignation if they are not willing to move together as a team in the bid to respond to President Museveni’s poverty reduction call through community involvement.
“We have seen many ways of food security, poverty reduction and value addition; imagine getting aromatic coffee picked right from the garden and processed at home without going to super markets for imported coffee! Why should our farmers miss out on all this because of civil servants who are not willing to show accountability for salaries paid to them?” the DCAO said.
He advised PDM beneficiaries to get on board by using their one million shillings to get involved in the various production lines exhibited, asking them to ignore people he called prophets of doom who keep claiming that sh1m is too small for starting up business ventures.
He directed that henceforth, all sub-counties shall be required to organize exhibitions in their sub-counties, in addition to participating in the general district exhibition, the replica of the current one at Kyampisi.
“This is an order and not a request; Dr. Mukulu is here to guide everybody and no excuse can be entertained for non-compliance. That is my work style,” Muhumuza said.
Various production department staff hailed the Director for Production Dr. Fred Mukulu for commitment to ensure the arrangement gets to a meaningful and fruitful conclusion, and congratulated him for having scooped the annual public service extension award from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).
The Agriculture Officers for Nama sub-county Nyanja Paul and for Katosi Godfrey Biso exhibited a Dutch-made soil fertility testing technology which they said is monitored online, and used to advise farmers on the best products depending on the fertility levels of their particular soil.
They also exhibited a coffee processing machine before they are dried up, roasted and ground into aromatic fine coffee which is blended, sealed and taken to the market.
Fred Isingoma, Mukono district Agricultural Engineer demonstrated small and medium scale irrigation technology, saying the solar powered system can irrigate up to a 2.5 acre farm a day.
Atuhairwe Miriam, an entomologist, exhibited stages in honey extraction, and preparation of venom drawn from bees for medical purposes including treatment of cancer, bone problems and HIV, adding however that some of these qualities are yet to be scientifically proven.
Ssekitoleko Bernard, a veterinary lab technologist explained the operation of a lab for blood and animal waste testing to establish types of diseases and how to deal with them. “We have a whole programme researching on causes of diseases and their resistance to drugs, and after research, we disseminate findings to fellow extensionists who subsequently disseminate the same to farmers,” he said.
Mukono District Production and Marketing Officer, Dr. Fred Mukulu hailed Kyampisi sub-county leadership for energetically involving all players saying this is what made the show assume not only a district but a national outlook.
He displayed a public service extension award in agriculture provided annually by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) which he recently won for being the best player countrywide.
The host sub-county chief for Kyampisi, Harriet Namatovu attributed the show’s success to team work by all players, and added that their prime goal was to show that there are exhibitors in villages who have the capacity to boost production if wisely handled.
Namatovu thanked the extension workers who she said mounted a door-to-door approach to mobilize and empower exhibitors that there are all equally important and relevant players.
Among the exhibitors, Ruth Nakabuye of Texfad Company, located at Kasaayi village in Kyampisi sub-county showcased products they make from banana plant materials (ebigogo); among which, are; door mats, table mats, hair extensions, ear rings, among others.
Nakabuye said they also make charcoal briquettes from the waste materials and make a contribution on saving the trees which would be cut for preparing charcoal.
Nathan Wampi, the minister for production on the district executive, acknowledged the district production department for having worked hand in hand with Kyampisi sub-county leadership to put in place something similar to this.
“This is what our local people need, getting access to all the extension officers in the district, good planting methods, seeds and advise on how to better handle their farms and gardens. I support the ACAO’s idea of having this kind of arrangement in each sub-county,” Wampi said.
Kyampisi sub-county chairperson, Jamir Yiga said that being a semi-urban sub-county, where over 80 percent of the residents depend on farming and animal rearing, the locals have positively benefited from the two-day exhibition, getting advice, good yielding and pests resistant seeds for the in-coming planting season.
Yiga however showed dismay that they are greatly facing a challenge of thieves who have stolen people’s cattle transporting it in saloon cars to the nearby Kalerwe market.
“We need a security intervention to start manning roadblocks which will save us from this big challenge. People have lost their businesses which they started from the PDM money. The government’s efforts to get our people out of poverty is therefore going to waste, if such thieves are not dealt with,” he said.
