By Pascal Kwesiga
Hoima was part of the former Bunyoro district which in 1974 was divided into north Bunyoro and south Bunyoro districts. The south became Hoima district in 1980 and the north, Masindi. Hoima district borders Kibaale in the south, Kiboga in the east, Masindi in the north-east and Lake Albert in the west.
Agriculture is the major economic activity of the people who mostly grow food crops, such as maize, millet, cassava, groundnuts, sweet potatoes and beans. The main cash crops are rice, coffee and tea, while fishing has become a lucrative business on Lake Albert.
However, rice has over-taken all other cash crops as the leading source of income for the farmers in the district. According to Dr. Scola Bwali, the district coordinator, National Agricultural Advisory Services (NAADS), rice was not a commercial crop until 2003 when the Government chose to focus on it as a priority crop.
 A farmer packs rice in a sack at Kiziranfumbi in Hoima | She says they started promoting rice under NAADS with small groups of farmers using high yielding crop varieties of suparica 1, and 2, Nerica 1, 4 and 10. These varieties mature in three months and are resistant to diseases. The old rice varieties could mature after five months. Bwali says there are currently 1,650 rice farmers’ groups representing over 24,000 households in the district.This excludes other groups of farmers who grow rice individually and are not |
beneficiaries of the NAADS programme. She explains that a total of sh18bn was earned by rice farmers in 2006 in two seasons. The earnings increased to sh79bn in 2009. Sh38bn was got from coffee
According to Bwali, a farmer harvests 2,000kgs of rice from an acre. On average, a farmer also earns sh2.5m from an acre of rice after input expenses.
Rice is grown in two seasons throughout the year; March to June and July to December. High yields are realised in the July-December season due adequate rainfall. The crop is almost grown in the entire district save for some parts of Buseruka subcounty that are close to Lake Albert.
“People are closing shops to cultivate rice and every year a big number come on board,” Bwali says.
Walter Iriama, the district chief administrative officer says their goal is to enable the rural poor poor transform their lives so as to reduce the proportion of people living in abject poverty by 10% by the end of this year.
Efforts have been made to encourage young people attend school. The number of pupils who completed primary seven rose to 7,670 in 2010 from 6,141 in 2007.
A total of 15 classroom blocks and 40 latrines have been constructed at various schools in the district. About 400 four-seater desks were procured and 60 staff houses accommodating over 60 teachers constructed in the last two years.
Over 600 teachers have been confirmed on the job and 110 promoted to senior education assistants. The teacher pupil ratio has been reduced from 1:56 in 2007 to 1:54 currently.
Hoima works closely with development partners to supplement the Government’s development programmes and bring services nearer to the people. For instance, the Uganda Red Cross Society has drilled 16 boreholes in water stressed areas of Buseruka, Kabwoya and Kyangwali subcounties.
A 17 tap stand gravity water flow scheme was constructed by Heritage Oil at sh300m. The facility serves the communities of Buhuka parish in Kyangwali subcounty. Tullow Oil company has also constructed Kyeihoro health centre II and Sebagoro health centre III, Kyeihoro and Kaiso primary schools in Buseruka sub-county.
Whereas safe water coverage stands at 76.1%, there are plans to improve sanitation by rehabilitating boreholes and constructing shallow and spring wells as well as improving water supply in rural growth centres by providing piped water. However, efforts to improve water coverage are being affected by environmental degradation as a result of cultivation around water catchment areas. This has led to the drying up of some of the water points.
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