Government has rolled out a new model in renewed efforts to deepen awareness and also build skills and competence under the Parish Development Model (PDM) program by introducing parish training centers and recruiting community based facilitators.

The parish training centers will provide essential business skills, technical development, and financial literacy to PDM beneficiaries to help them move from subsistence to cash-based livelihoods.

Community-Based Facilitators (CBFs) are local individuals under Uganda's Parish Development Model (PDM) who help bridge the gap in government extension services by directly supporting Pillars of the PDM, particularly Enterprise Groups, to promote agricultural productivity, income generation, and transition from subsistence to cash-based economies. They provide guidance on improved farming practices, organize community groups, facilitate access to markets and financial services, and mobilize communities for mindset change towards development and resilience.

During the dissemination of the new model in Maracha District on Thursday, September 04, 2024, Mr. Rashid Kawawa, Yumbe District Production and Marketing Officer, and a PDM regional trainer, said the livelihood program has reached its third phase of implementation, sustainability, hence the decision by the government to ring the changes.

“This will address the issue of accusing extension workers of not being on ground and not joining our beneficiaries,” he stated.

He added the beneficiaries will have to go through the parish training centers before they receive loans under the program.

“These centers are going to help us they are a point of convergence where all of us extension workers, service providers, community based facilitators, we graduate the beneficiaries in these centers before they can access the money, at the end of the day you carry a certificate,” he revealed.

With the addition of community based facilitators who will volunteer, the Principal Human Resource officer, Mr. Cosmas Mukili said this will be a boost to the human personnel pool that implements the program which he said was a hindrance to achieving some of the targets.

“I happy that the parish training centers are bringing on board more manpower, in the challenge has been thrown more to the parish chiefs, this integration and now complementary effort of community based facilitators and extension workers,” he pointed out.

He observed the deliberate inclusion of extension workers under the new model will address some of the structural challenges of the program.

“I happy that they are bringing on extension workers to make a complementary effort and I think this is going to streamline PDM,” he told stakeholders.

Maracha Deputy Resident District Commissioner, Ms. Monica Koliba Kotevu  tasked the lower local governments to establish demonstration sites at their respective headquarters which can be a starting point to pilot the parish training centers.  Kotevu commended the production department for developing a tool for data capture which said will eliminate the lack of data on the impact of the program.

“Every time I have been asking how many cows have been bought, how many goats have been bought, there is no record, you say we are giving you too much work, how can we explain 27 billion shillings (funds disbursed in Maracha District) in terms of output, in terms of impact,“ she said.

She accused the parish chiefs of abdicating the mandate of documentation on the operations of the program to the parish Saccos chairpersons, which leads to loss of records.    

“When we ask for reports it like we have brought heaven down on earth. If you are given work and you don’t have reports it is equal to giving nothing, there is no value for money,” she asserted.

Maracha District Production Officer Dr. Alex Candia dismissed demands for allowances from some departments arguing the implementation of PDM is part of their routine work and they should work hard to implement the pillars attached to them.

“We have budget conferences from lower local governments up to the district, what have we been planning?, government is sending money through the departments. There is no separate money coming in the name of PDM to support,” he underscored.

He said with the empowerment of the parish chiefs on the new model they will be assigned to train the community based facilitators on its implementation.