President Museveni inspecting a PDM beneficiary By Prisca WanyenyaThe Minister of Agriculture, Frank Tumwebaze, has raised concerns over diversion of funds beneficiaries receive under the Parish Development Model (PDM), calling for stronger regulations to ensure all funds are used in the agriculture sector.He raised the concerns while presenting the Status of the Agriculture Sector report during the plenary sitting on October 21, 2026, revealing that since inception of PDM, government has injected Shs4.4 trillion.“Difficulty in tracking and ensuring that beneficiaries of PDM use funds for agricultural production activities as agreed in their SACCOs. The final decision on how to spend money is in the hands of the recipient,” Tumwebaze said.“Ministry of Agriculture, however, as leader of pillar one, is engaging the PDM secretariat and Ministry of Local Government to agree on a mechanism that discourages diversion of funds by recipients from intended purpose. It is on this note that I appeal to you colleagues; while carrying out your oversight role in constituencies, pick interest and interrogate more on how PDM fund beneficiaries spend their money in regard to input acquisition,” he added.The Minister said for the last five years, the main flagship strategic intervention for smallholder farmers has been PDM, describing it as a financial revolution that will improve livelihoods.“Substantial amounts of money continue to grow in PDM SACCOs at parish level, thus enabling those who have hitherto been financially un/underserved to gain access and engage in the money economy. To date, government has cumulatively injected up to Shs4.4 trillion. This money is within the parish financial ecosystem as you all know colleagues,” Tumwebaze said.“For medium and large-scale farmers not covered under PDM, government, through MAAIF and other agro-industrialisation MDAs, continues to roll out other support interventions following the Agriculture Value Chain Development Strategy.”Coffee Seedlings for Northern UgandaMeanwhile, Parliament was informed that the blanket ban on supply of coffee seedlings – after government decided all such funds should be accessed through PDM – was relaxed for Northern Uganda, where farmers are being given free seedlings to boost production and rectify colonial injustices that left the region lagging in economic development.“Despite the policy shift from free distribution of inputs to PDM where farmers are expected to acquire money from SACCOs to buy inputs on their own, during FY 2025/26, the President approved an exception for an affirmative action intervention for Northern Uganda to promote coffee growing. Consequently, the Ministry received funds for the Northern Uganda Coffee Programme covering Mid North (Acholi and Lango) and West Nile,” Tumwebaze noted.Parliament was informed that following the lifting of the waiver, 24,437,367 seedlings were distributed to 49,695 beneficiaries in Northern Uganda. Of these, Mid North received 12.26 million seedlings for 24,510 beneficiaries, while West Nile received and distributed 12.17 million seedlings among 25,355 beneficiaries.“I am happy to note that so far, performance of coffee in the northern part of the country, a region which traditionally was regarded not to be a coffee-growing area, is performing well. As budget resources enable us, as a Ministry, we shall continue rolling out similar affirmative action programmes in sub-regions without a perennial cash crop due to earlier colonial distortions (Teso, Bukedi etc.),” he said.Special Fund for Fishing CommunitiesIn a related development, the Ministry revealed plans to establish a special fund to finance activities in the fisheries sub-sector and aquaculture to help fishing communities secure alternative livelihoods alongside capture fisheries.“The Ministry continues to sensitise fishing communities and enhance fisheries compliance enforcement across major water bodies to curb illegal fishing and fish trading activities. Going forward, a dedicated fund for affirmative action for fishing communities will be rolled out. This fund will support fishing SACCO groups, provide them with proper fishing gear, and generally shift a substantial number of fishing communities to aquaculture, thereby lessening pressure on large water bodies,” Tumwebaze said.He listed interventions the Ministry is undertaking in the fisheries sector, including restocking of some water bodies and acquisition of an amphibious excavator and two support long-boom excavators for aquatic weed control.“The government has acknowledged the need for affirmative action targeting these communities, and the following interventions are currently being implemented under the agricultural sector and will remain a priority in the short to medium term.Other MDAs offering public services like Education and Health have also been directed by Cabinet to plan relevant affirmative interventions for fishing communities,” he added.The post Shs4.4 Trillion Injected: Govt Wants PDM Funds Ringfenced for Agriculture Amid Diversion Concerns appeared first on Business Focus.