President Museveni has urged residents of Kiruhura District to fully utilize their land for commercial dairy farming, saying the cattle corridor has the potential to become Uganda’s largest hub of milk-driven wealth creation if farmers shift from free-range grazing to intensive production systems.
Addressing thousands of supporters at Nyakasharara Playground on Friday, the President, accompanied by his daughter Patience Rwabwogo, commended the community for gradually transitioning from nomadic herding to commercial dairy farming but insisted that greater transformation remains possible.
“The people of Kiruhura and the entire cattle corridor, thank you for heeding our advice on working and grazing cows for wealth creation. But do not stop,” he said.
“Free-range grazing underutilizes land. On one square mile, you are managing about 130 cows. But with zero grazing, you can keep thousands on the same land.”
He emphasized that wealth creation—rather than merely owning land or livestock—remains central to Uganda’s household prosperity agenda.
The President illustrated his message with success stories from across the country. One example is Joseph Ijala, a former taxi driver who now runs an integrated farm on 2.5 acres.
Ijala began with poultry and expanded into dairy, keeping 10,000 layer chickens that produce 310 trays of eggs daily, earning more than Shs 3 million. On 1.5 acres, he also practices zero-grazing dairy farming with eight cows, earning a combined monthly income of about Shs 6.8 million from eggs and milk.
“Ijala keeps eight cows on one acre. If that were a square mile, he would keep more than 4,000 cows,” Museveni noted.
Another example is Richard Nyakaana from Kabarole, whose 1.2-acre Kana Farm runs poultry, zero grazing, feed processing, and manure production. With six milking cows, Nyakaana produces 120 litres of milk daily, earning Shs 110,000 per day—amounting to Shs 20 million in annual profit. The President urged residents to use their land as profitably.
He also highlighted the success of George Matongo from Ngoma in Nakaseke, who, despite having no formal education and living far from major infrastructure, produces over 900 litres of milk daily and earns about Shs 21 million monthly.
“Matongo is extremely prosperous, yet he lives far from a tarmac road or electricity,” Museveni said, contrasting it with households living next to major roads but still trapped in poverty.
He repeated his long-held message that wealth is created by individuals, not the government, and that infrastructure alone does not guarantee prosperity.
He reminded residents that when the current government took power in the 1980s, its priority was to mobilize Ugandans to join the money economy.
“In the 1996 manifesto, we introduced the four-acre model: one acre for coffee, one for fruits, one for food crops, and one for zero grazing. Then use the backyard for poultry, piggery, or fish farming.”
Kiruhura remains one of Uganda’s leading milk-producing districts. The President encouraged farmers to pursue even higher productivity by planting pasture for zero grazing.
He also cited regional examples of successful agro-enterprises, including poultry farmer Joseph Basangwa of Kamuli, who produces about 200 trays of eggs daily, earning an estimated Shs 20 million per day and employing more than 300 workers.
He stressed that job creation stems from agriculture, factories, services, and ICT—not the government. While government delivers infrastructure and security, he said households must take responsibility for building their own wealth.
Museveni also highlighted the rapid growth of industrial parks, including the Sino-Mbale Industrial Park with over 75 factories and the Namanve Industrial Park with more than 270 factories—employing far more Ugandans than government institutions, which have only 480,000 jobs for a population nearing 50 million.
Reviewing social services, he noted that Kiruhura has 74 government primary schools and 165 private primary schools, along with 7 government and 11 private secondary schools.
He said the large number of private schools is proof of improved household incomes. In health services, the district has one Health Centre IV and 13 Health Centre IIIs across its 14 sub-counties. Akayanja Sub-County lacks a health facility, but the President assured residents that a new HCIII will be constructed. He also pledged improvements to the regional road network.
Earlier, Speaker of Parliament Anita Annet Among welcomed the President to Kiruhura and thanked residents for supporting the ruling party. She credited him for restoring peace and introducing free education, noting that many Ugandans, including herself, have benefited from these reforms.
The event drew hundreds of leaders, including ministers, Members of Parliament and party flag bearers.