The Parish Development Model (PDM) has the potential to transform Uganda into a cash-based economy if managed properly, surpassing its current state, experts and political actors revealed.
This comes barely a month after President Museveni completed his countrywide tour, during which he called the programme a complete success.
With Uganda having 70 percent of its population engaged in agriculture, which contributes 24.7 percent to the country’s GDP, experts believe that PDM, the government’s latest poverty alleviation programme aimed at uplifting the 39 percent population from a subsistence to a money economy, could be a game-changer if key reforms are made before it naturally dies like its predecessor programmes.
Former Finance minister Prof Ezra Suruma, who first mooted the PDM idea about 20 years ago, as highlighted in his 2014 book Project MUSE: Advancing the Ugandan Economy, notes that the government rushed the PDM implementation, thereby making it lose its intended focus.
Aim
Launched on February 27, 2022, by President Museveni in Bukedi Sub-region, PDM is the latest government poverty alleviation programme that seeks to transform 39 percent of Ugandan subsistence households into a money economy, enhance their overall quality of life, alleviate poverty, and reduce vulnerability across the country.
The programme has seven pillars: production, storage, processing, and marketing; infrastructure and economic services; financial inclusion; social services; mindset change; parish-based management information system; and governance and administration.
The government injects Shs100 million annually into each parish-based Sacco, where the money is lent to beneficiaries at a one percent interest rate.
A flat amount of Shs1 million is lent to each beneficiary, who starts repayment after three years, turning it into a revolving fund. Between FY2021/22 and FY2024/2025, the government committed Shs3.6 trillion to the programme. In FY2023/24, the vote fell to Shs1.09 trillion, further reduced to Shs1.059 trillion in FY2024/25, before rising again to Shs1.59 trillion in the current financial year.
Poverty vs PDM
By the time of PDM’s launch, an estimated 42 percent of Ugandans were experiencing multidimensional poverty, according to the 2022 Uganda Bureau of Statistics (Ubos) Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI). Three financial years after rollout, PDM had reached 832,746 households, according to the 2024 National Population and Housing Census (NPHC).
Still, 3.5 million households-about 33.1 percent of the population-remained in subsistence. This is the same cohort PDM targeted at launch in 2022, raising questions about whether the programme is moving at the necessary pace. Shadow Finance Minister and Kira Municipality MP Ibrahim Ssemujju Nganda argues that the modest budget undermines the project.
‘You cannot give Shs12 trillion to 400,000 government employees in terms of salaries and other things such as cars, and give Shs1 trillion to 14 million poor Ugandans and expect the latter to liberate themselves from poverty,’ he said. Other experts echo concerns that planning gaps have diluted effectiveness.
Mr Aloysious Kittengo, the programme coordinator, financing for development at SEATINI Uganda, observes that anchoring the programme to agro-industrialisation is critical.
‘If farmers are producing where industries guarantee ready markets, the initiative creates value. Otherwise, production without market access leaves beneficiaries stranded,’ he said. Mr Richard Ssempala, an economist and lecturer at Makerere University, stressed the importance of a whole-society approach.
‘PDM cannot be standalone. Commercialisation gains may be offset by structural bottlenecks such as poor roads, limited electricity, or high medical costs. These reduce household resilience even when farmers succeed at production,’ he said.
Structural concerns
A new study by the Economic Policy Research Centre of Makerere University (EPRC) urged the government to improve fund disbursement timeliness, enhance market access, and strengthen women’s participation. Recommendations include: financial literacy training, faster fund releases, cooperative strengthening, storage expansion, and gender-sensitive enterprise selection.
The EPRC proposals mirror what Prof Suruma had recommended in his book, years before PDM’s implementation. He had suggested training parish leaders through the National Advanced Leadership Institute at Kyankwanzi, preparing them in record-keeping, cooperative management, microfinance, irrigation, and savings discipline. He also recommended manuals for rural cooperative management, produced by the Uganda Cooperative Alliance.
In his later speech at a SEATINI Uganda event in September 2024, Prof Suruma criticised the government for rushing implementation and sidelining these preparatory steps. He argued that the Shs100 million allocations should have been channelled through financial institutions with grassroots infrastructure, not directly through unprepared parish structures.
Political reactions
Nakaseke South legislator Paulson Luttamaguzi Semakula, questioned the logic of disbursing money before putting strong systems in place. ‘If you look at the PDM where he is inspecting empty kraals, it is not helping because how can you start giving people money to liberate them from poverty instead of putting in place systems that work.and even the one million is not given to intended beneficiaries,’ he said.
In response, ICT Minister, Dr Chris Baryomunsi, defended the government.
‘When the President promised that he would start PDM, the question should be did the PDM start-yes it is there. If people are stealing money on the ground, you cannot blame it on the President. He has even directed security to arrest those mishandling it,’ he said. State Minister for Finance (General Duties) Henry Musasizi maintained that the programme is steadily improving rural livelihoods.
President Museveni himself toured all 18 sub-regions between November 2024 and July this year, assessing progress. At each stop, he declared the PDM a success with only minimal challenges, such as theft by parish chiefs.
Beneficiaries speak out
On the ground, beneficiaries report mixed experiences. Peter Mukose, a boda boda rider and tomato farmer from Kaliro District, said: ‘The PDM money helped me in getting extra land for my tomatoes, secured pesticides, and paid labour. Since then, my business has expanded.’ Ms Florence Amoro of Moroto District also invested wisely.
‘I put part of it into business and also bought a cow at Shs500,000, which I later sold profitably. The PDM has improved my family’s livelihood because we are no longer living on empty stomachs. My children are in school, I can dress them, and I can buy medicine when needed,’ she said. But others remain excluded.
Mr Joseph Opio Lometo, the speaker of South Division in Lwechede Village, said his group of 15 people never received funds.
‘They told us we shall receive the money after the election, so we are waiting. Some people benefited but misused it. Some used it for rent or debts,’ he said.
In Bukedi, Busoga, Lango, and Karamoja, field visits revealed reluctance among many recipients to repay, treating the money as a government gift rather than a revolving loan.
Ms Margaret Mudong, the Nakadel Parish Chief, acknowledged the problem.
‘Some are progressing, and some are not. We are telling those who first received the money to plan to return it because their time is done,’ she said.
The PDM remains a contested programme. On one hand, it has enabled households such as Mukose’s and Amoro’s to shift from subsistence to modest commercialisation.
On the other, slow fund release, poor planning, structural bottlenecks, and misuse raise doubts about sustainability.
Experts stress that Uganda’s transition from subsistence to cash-based economy requires more than cash injections. It requires coherent policy alignment with agro-industrialisation, infrastructure improvement, literacy campaigns, and stronger institutions.
About programme
The Parish Development Model (PDM) was launched on February 27, 2022, in the Bukedi Sub-region with the goal of moving 39 percent of Ugandans from subsistence farming into the money economy. The programme targets 3.5 million households and allocates Shs100 million annually to each parish, managed through Savings and Credit Cooperatives (Saccos).
Each beneficiary is entitled to a flat loan of Shs1 million at an interest rate of one percent, with repayment beginning after three years to create a revolving fund.