The Acholi Parliamentary Group and Operation Wealth Creation have agreed to mobilise funding for customary land certificates and promote private-sector partnerships in commercial agriculture to address land disputes, unemployment and low household incomes in the sub-region.
Members of Parliament from the Acholi sub-region, under the Acholi Parliamentary Group (APG), have agreed to work with Operation Wealth Creation (OWC) and the Ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development to secure funding for the issuance of Certificates of Customary Ownership (CCOs).
The resolution followed a consultative meeting between the legislators, led by their chairperson, and OWC Chief Coordinator Gen. (Rtd) Caleb Akandwanaho, commonly known as Salim Saleh, at Kirema Heritage Farm in Kapeka, Nakaseke District, over the weekend.
The meeting focused on interventions to accelerate economic transformation in Acholi, promote agricultural commercialisation and industrialisation, address unemployment and strengthen land ownership rights.
Under the proposed initiative, OWC and the APG will mobilise resources to support the demarcation of customary land, identification of boundaries and registration of land ownership in collaboration with district land institutions, customary leaders and affected communities.
The initiative is intended to reduce land disputes, improve land productivity and enable communities to participate more effectively in investment and enterprise development.
The meeting also identified unemployment as a major challenge affecting the region’s development, with the participants calling for partnerships with private-sector investors and agricultural off-takers to create economic opportunities.
The proposed partnerships are expected to provide farmers with reliable markets, technical support and opportunities for value addition, with potential participation from enterprises including Equator Seeds, Bukhona, AK Purongo and Jolly Laker, among others.
The meeting further resolved to pursue agricultural industrialisation through public-private partnerships involving OWC, the APG, private investors, agricultural producers, cooperatives and other stakeholders.
The proposed partnerships would support commercial farming, structured production, aggregation, storage, agro-processing, value addition and access to reliable markets.
Priority will be given to viable agricultural value chains, particularly maize and coffee, where private-sector investment could strengthen market linkages, expand opportunities for agro-processing and increase farmers’ incomes.
The proposed interventions are intended to link land security with agricultural investment and enterprise development, enabling communities to benefit from more organised production and stronger market access.