NUTOFA SACCO LTD held engagement meetings with farmer groups across Purongo, Lungulu, Amuru and Pabo Sub-Counties in Nwoya and Amuru Districts. Fourteen farmer groups turned out, with more than 210 members present altogether, to meet Mrs Allen, the regional coordinator of the National Oil Seeds Project (NOSP) under the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF).
The groups met the team wherever they could gather. Some sessions were held under mango trees, others inside store buildings with produce sacks stacked at the back, and others under grass-thatched shelters built for village savings meetings. One session ran into the late afternoon, with members meeting on tarpaulins spread under the open sky once the day’s fieldwork was done.
Mrs Allen said she was touched by what she saw in the groups, and promised that NOSP would walk the journey with all of them.
Three commitments came out of the meetings. NOSP will support demonstration gardens for five of the fourteen farmer groups. It will help the groups find a market for their produce once it is aggregated and brought together in one place. And Mrs Allen said she would bring her mission team to visit the same groups, either before the end of this year or early next year.
These are commitments made at the meetings, not support already delivered. The cooperative will stay in touch with NOSP to see them followed through for the farmer groups involved.
Much appreciation to everyone who made the exercise a success across the four sub-counties.
For updates on this collaboration, or to connect a farmer group in Nwoya or Amuru, contact the secretariat.