NELSON K
Rukungiri fish farmers on Tuesday received 50,000 fish fingerlings and 200 tons of fish feed from the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries as part of efforts to support fish farming and production in Rukungiri District.
The event, spearheaded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries, took place on Tuesday afternoon at the Rukungiri District Farming and Production Offices in Rukungiri Municipality. The initiative aims to boost fish farming among registered and sensitized fish farmers in the district.
Rukungiri District Production Officer, Pius Kwesiga, expressed his gratitude for the project and confirmed that only verified farmers who had been registered and trained about the initiative were selected as beneficiaries. He urged them to take advantage of the program to improve their household incomes, maintain proper records of profits and progress, and act as ambassadors to sensitize their communities about fish farming. He also encouraged residents near wetlands to prioritize fish farming instead of degrading these ecosystems through crop production.
Rukungiri District Fisheries Officer, Mr. Mugyenyi Dan, appreciated district leaders, including the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Resident District Commissioner (RDC), and LC5 Chairperson, for their support in promoting fish farming. He noted that 25 farmers who had already prepared their ponds received the Malli/Gaff fish species, emphasizing that this was a government grant, and beneficiaries were not required to pay anything back. He called for accountability and project sustainability to ensure long-term success.
Nyarushanje District Councillor and District Health Minister, Hon. Mwesigwa Mathias Rwabugumi, who is also a beneficiary and founder of fish farming in Bwanga Parish, Nyarushanje County, encouraged fellow farmers to take advantage of government programs and use wetlands productively for income generation to fight poverty.
Rukungiri Deputy RDC, Wilberforce Ongom, commended the farmers for embracing government projects but criticized the general lack of seriousness and commitment among some Ugandan citizens in supporting government programs. He urged responsible teams to monitor the project and ensure proper record-keeping. Ongom emphasized that both the government and citizens share the responsibility of fighting poverty and warned that he would conduct regular monitoring and sensitization sessions to ensure accountability and project success.
Rukungiri LC5 Chairperson, Geoffrey Kyomukama, appreciated the government’s efforts in combating poverty and encouraged leaders to shift from subsistence to large-scale commercial farming for faster economic growth. He urged fish farmers to work hard to become major suppliers of fish in Uganda and called on residents near wetlands to engage in fish farming instead of using the land for unsustainable crop production.
The fish species distributed to farmers were young Malli/Gaff fish species.
