By President Yoweri Museveni has emphasized the urgent need to integrate rural communities into the formal money economy to drive economic growth.
In his recent address in Bugisu, Museveni highlighted the economic hardships faced by rural areas, where families struggle to afford necessities like bedding and clothing.
He pointed out that children in rural households often have to share a single blanket, illustrating the extent of poverty.
Museveni stressed that unlocking rural economic potential is crucial, enabling these communities to access the broader money economy.
He called on leaders from various sectors to prioritize empowering the 37% of the population still outside the money economy. By increasing their purchasing power, these communities can participate more actively in the market, stimulating demand for essential goods.
“The majority of the people are in agriculture; wake up those people so they can join the money economy so that every household is earning money,” Museveni said. He emphasized the strong link between rural purchasing power and urban development, noting that rural transformation is key to urban prosperity.
“Rural transformation is very crucial for urban transformation because it will equip rural areas with purchasing power, which will drive demand for industries in your shops,” he added. Museveni cited the example of textile consumption per household, highlighting how greater purchasing power in rural areas would lead to increased demand for consumer goods, benefiting both rural and urban markets.
The government has initiated several programs to promote economic inclusion, such as the Parish Development Model (PDM), Emyoga, and GROW programs.
These programs aim to create wealth-generation opportunities at the grassroots level. Infrastructure development, including road initiatives, is also critical to Uganda’s transformation, but it must be paired with efforts to improve the purchasing power of all citizens.
Museveni’s call to integrate rural communities into the money economy aligns with Uganda’s broader Local Economic Development (LED) policy, which emphasizes local empowerment, poverty reduction, and creatithe on of economic opportunities. His approach promotes deliberate, sustainable, and community-driven development, where the government plays a facilitative role rather than offering a quick fix.
