By Eye Media Uganda | Lira | August 5, 2026
District leaders from across the Lango sub-region on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, endorsed President Yoweri Museveni’s 4-Acre Model after touring the State House demonstration farm at the Lango Zonal Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub in Lira, describing it as a practical solution for improving household incomes and transforming agriculture in the region.
The leaders visited the integrated demonstration farm as part of a State House initiative aimed at equipping local government officials with practical knowledge in modern farming. The initiative is intended to enable leaders to mobilise communities to embrace commercial agriculture and replicate successful farming practices in their respective districts.
The demonstration farm was established following President Museveni’s directive that every Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub should have a model farm operating alongside vocational training centres to demonstrate profitable farming enterprises that can be undertaken on small pieces of land.
The Presidential Industrial Skilling Hubs were created to equip vulnerable and unemployed youth who missed out on formal education with vocational skills to enable them to create jobs and improve their livelihoods. The addition of demonstration farms is intended to complement vocational training by exposing both trainees and surrounding communities to modern agricultural practices that can generate sustainable incomes.
At the Lango Zonal Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub in Lira, the leaders toured various enterprises under the President’s 4-Acre Model, including coffee, bananas, dairy cattle, fish farming and other income-generating activities designed to demonstrate how small-scale farmers can maximise productivity from limited land.
The delegation comprised district chairpersons, Resident District Commissioners (RDCs), District Internal Security Officers (DISOs), commercial officers, youth leaders, women leaders and other local government officials from across the Lango sub-region.
The leaders were guided through the farm by the Head of the President’s Farms, Dr. Morris Ochen, who explained that the demonstration farm was deliberately established in Lango to challenge the long-held belief that crops such as coffee and bananas cannot thrive in the region.
“The President wanted the people of Lango to see for themselves that coffee and bananas can grow and perform well here when modern farming methods are applied,” Dr. Ochen said.
He added that the knowledge and technologies demonstrated at the farm are freely available and should be replicated by farmers across the region.
The visit changed the perception of several leaders, including Oyam District LC V Chairperson Nelson Adea Akar, who admitted that he had previously believed coffee and bananas could not do well in Lango.
“I have always believed that coffee and bananas could not grow in Lango, but after seeing this farm, I have changed my mind. I have seen today that given land and time, the President’s 4-Acre Model can make us rich. I will now go back and teach our people that these enterprises are possible and profitable,” Adea Akar said.
Kwania District Commercial Officer Catherine Akello commended President Museveni for establishing the demonstration farm, saying it had transformed leaders’ mindsets about modern agriculture.
Akello revealed that after an earlier visit to the farm, she replicated the same farming practices at her home, where she has since become a model farmer and a case study within her community.
“This model farm has transformed the way we think about farming in Lango. It proves that with the right knowledge and management practices, farmers can diversify into enterprises that many believed were impossible in this region,” she said.
Meanwhile, Amolatar District LC V Chairperson Morris Ogwal Omara praised President Museveni for establishing the demonstration farms but appealed to government to support farmers with irrigation technologies.
“We appreciate the President for this initiative, but farmers also need support with irrigation technologies because that is key to sustaining modern agriculture, especially during prolonged dry spells. Amolatar District is surrounded by the lake, but the water has not been fully utilised for production due to lack of irrigation schemes,” Ogwal said.
After touring the demonstration farm, the leaders also visited the Lango Zonal Presidential Industrial Skilling Hub, where they inspected vocational training facilities and interacted with trainees undergoing various skills programmes.
Speaking after the tour, the Director of Presidential Projects and Presidential Industrial Skilling Hubs at State House, Eng. Raymond Kamugisha, urged the leaders to fully support the President’s programme, saying it offers a lasting solution to unemployment and poverty.
“I urge all leaders to support this programme because it is one of the most effective interventions for improving the livelihoods of vulnerable youth and transforming household incomes through skills development and modern agriculture,” Eng. Kamugisha said.
State House officials said integrating vocational training with demonstration farming is intended to ensure that communities not only acquire practical vocational skills but also embrace commercial agriculture as a pathway to wealth creation, increased household incomes and socio-economic transformation.
