A 34-year-old single mother of four who once struggled to raise even one hundred thousand shillings has transformed a Parish Development Model (PDM) loan into a thriving farming enterprise, emerging as one of Arua City’s latest PDM success stories. Florence Amviko, a resident of Lini Cell in Anipi Ward, Ayivu Division, received the funds in 2023 after joining a PDM savings group.
At the time, she had been abandoned by her husband, who left her to care for their four children alone. Rather than spend the money on immediate household needs, Amviko invested in two goats and one sheep. Three years later, she owns seven goats, three sheep, more than 30 local chickens, two acres of cassava and a flourishing vegetable garden.
She said the income from the projects has enabled her to support her family and plans to complete repayment of the PDM funds by October, making her eligible for another loan.”When life became hard, my husband abandoned us and went to stay with another woman. I invested the PDM money in livestock, poultry and crops, and the projects have changed my life,” she said.
Amviko said her improved financial situation even prompted her husband to return last month, and he now helps manage the family projects. Despite her success, she said poor market access remains her biggest challenge, noting that she sometimes sells a sack of cassava for as little as Shs60,000.
Her story is echoed by Joyce Pimer of Muni in Ayivu East Division, who invested her PDM funds in poultry before expanding into horticulture and piggery using an integrated farming system that maximises farm waste.”PDM has made my childhood dream of becoming a business entrepreneur come true, and I am now able to educate my children using income from the projects,” Pimer said. Retired civil servant Shalom Molly said many PDM beneficiaries are now producing more, but poor market access continues to limit their earnings, forcing farmers to rely on middlemen who often dictate low prices.
She urged the city’s production department to strengthen market linkages and improve farmers’ access to market information. Arua City Mayor Lawrence Alionzi described the beneficiaries’ progress as evidence that the programme can reduce poverty when resources reach the intended recipients.”
The President was right. Poverty has no political party, and neither should the fight against it. Nothing is more powerful than putting money in the hands of ordinary citizens,” Alionzi said. Arua City Production Officer and PDM Focal Person Dr Luke Taban said the city’s immediate priority is recovering funds already disbursed to enable more households to benefit from the revolving programme.
He said more than 22.2 billion shilings has so far been disbursed to 19,261 enterprise groups across Ayivu and Central divisions, while an additional 2.7 billion shillings is expected to be released in July.
Taban, however, said more funding will be required if the programme is to drive full commercialisation and improve household incomes across the West Nile sub-region.
According to Arua City records, only about twelve million shillings have so far been recovered from beneficiaries in the city’s 23 wards, underscoring the challenge of sustaining the revolving fund as government seeks to expand the programme-URN. Give us feedback on this story through our email: kamwokyatimes@gmail.com
