Parliament has adopted a motion urging government to scale up support for smallholder farmers under the National Smallholder Farmers Transformation and Climate Resilience Programme, after MPs argued that the main challenge facing farmers is poor implementation rather than a lack of laws.
The motion, moved by Sironko District Woman Representative Hon. Asha Mafabi on Tuesday, 06 October 2026, was initially seeking a legal framework for the programme but was amended following concerns from government and several MPs that existing laws and policies already provide for support to smallholder farmers.
The debate centred on how to make existing interventions more effective, particularly in providing farmers with inputs, irrigation, financing, extension services, markets and other support.
Kigulu County North MP Hon. Samuel Kungu, said Parliament should avoid creating another law when the Ministry of Agriculture already has sufficient legislation.
“Uganda and the Ministry of Agriculture have enough laws. The only issue we have here is policy implementation. We do not want to congest the Ministry with rules which are not going to be implemented,” Kungu said.
Nyabushozi County MP Hon. Wilson Kajwengye also opposed a new law, saying the country instead needed to implement existing policies and laws.
“What we are lacking is implementation of the existing policies and laws,” Kajwengye said.
Leader of the Opposition Hon. Joel Ssenyonyi supported the objective of the motion but proposed that it be improved to address government’s concerns.
“It is generally a good motion. We want to see how we empower the smallholder farmers,” Ssenyonyi said.
Government Chief Whip Ruth Aceng said the Parish Development Model already provides extensive support to smallholder farmers and pointed to several existing laws that could be used to strengthen interventions.
Among them, she cited the Agriculture Extension Policy, Seeds and Plant Act, Plant Protection and Health Act, Agricultural Chemicals Act, Climate Change Act, National Environment Act, Water Act, Land Act and Warehouse Receipt Systems Act.
Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa, however, said the concerns raised by Mafabi reflected challenges MPs were encountering in their constituencies.
“Now it is we MPs who are being harassed to provide seedlings,” Tayebwa said, citing requests from constituents for coffee seedlings, fertilisers and tea inputs.
Adjumani District Woman Representative Hon. Jesca Ababiku said smallholder farmers were still not benefiting adequately from existing financing programmes, with larger farmers taking a greater share of available resources.
She said the funding provided under PDM was also inadequate and called for deliberate support covering land preparation, seeds, irrigation and financing.
The State Minister for Agriculture (Animal Industry), Bright Rwamirama agreed that the major challenge was the scale of government interventions rather than the absence of legislation.
“The farmer needs irrigation. The farmer needs fertilizers. The farmer needs extension services,” Rwamirama said, adding that the question was whether current funding was adequate.
“We do not need the law. I think we should see how best we can increase intervention for small holders to match the required speed,” he said.
Mafabi accepted the amendment, but urged Parliament to further examine the issue through the Agriculture Committee.
She said Sironko District had received more than Shs80 billion under PDM but questioned whether the investment had translated into visible improvements for rural communities.
She explained that her proposal for a legal framework was intended to bring together different ministries and programmes addressing the same challenges so that they could work more efficiently.
The amended motion was subsequently adopted, with Parliament resolving to urge government to scale up support for the National Smallholder Farmers Transformation and Climate Resilience Programme.
