The new plan, which would be supplanting the bombed “Vision 2025″ has been largely blamed for its timing as elections less than a year away neither allows to check the efficacy of the program nor could be implemented to any degree. The NDP is expected to transform Uganda from a peasant to a prosperous country within the next 30 years with emphasis on agriculture, infrastructural development and food security.

The failure for “Vision 2025″, launched in 1999, is cited as lack of funds and absence of constitutionally mandated body, such as National Planning Authority (NPA) who drafted the NDP, to coordinate it. Though repeated failures of several plans haunt the Ugandan psyche, experts believe that this one would materialize particularly as the Ugandan economy is better placed than it was 10 years ago, and since the economic growth would be further boosted by oil profits.

The NDP fundamentally departs from the failed Structural Adjustment Policies (SAPs) which was initiated in the late 1980′s with the recommendation from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Under SAPs, the government sold most of the state-owned enterprises to the private sector including co-operative banks which supported agriculture sector that employed 73 percent.

SAPs literally brought the Ugandan economy to a standstill with no progress in infrastructure and other spheres those required constant care. Nonetheless, the NDP that advises a conversion from market economy to a quasi- market economy will be more of public-private partnership than government becoming a namesake watchdog of the economy.

During the recent launch of the new plan, the President of Uganda Yoweri Museveni presented evidence as to how these milestones would be achieved. He observed the projected oil earnings and tax revenues would suffice for tiding over fiscal deficits and developmental plan implementation.

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On the day one of a Kefri training session the farmers were greeted with the message – “Are you going hungry? Well, you need not suffer from hunger pangs any more if you have bamboo growing on your farm or in a nearby forest.” It is estimated that more than 10mn Kenyans either go hungry or survive on a single meal a day; scientists believe bamboo shoots would be able to assuage the situation as it is found to be a cheap fibre-rich food substitute.

The scientists who trained the farmers treated them with bamboo shoot cuisine and taught how to prepare them. Nevertheless, Peter Kungu, a technologist, cautioned the attentive farmers that not all types of bamboo shoots were edible as some contained cyanide, a highly toxic chemical that could kill humans within hours.

Bamboo is the world’s fastest-growing plant and has been known to surge skyward as much as 121 cm in 24 hours. Bamboo is a regular dish among Asian countries particularly in Japan and Far East countries but relatively a new food concept in Kenya.

Besides including bamboo as a food supplement in daily diet, Kenya will attempt to extend its usage into handicraft and furniture products. Currently bamboo is widely used in the flower industry for support purposes, and pea farmers use them to support plants.

The Kenyan government imposed the decree following a finding that eucalyptus trees are chief water-depleting agent in the river basin. Kangema environment officer Isaiah Gichuru informed the removal of eucalyptus was bearing fruit as water levels in rivers and springs in the region have risen. However, farmers still have the option of growing the fast-maturing eucalyptus trees away from river banks.

The Tree Biotechnology Trust, a semi–government agency, has received $3.65mn from former UK minister for Science and Technology, Lord David Sainsbury to further bamboo project across Kenya. Sainsbury suggested the project would contribute significantly both to the economy as well as the environment. He also said that he is engaged in similar programmes in Tanzania and Uganda.

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