NGOs advised to follow government policies

Chiradzulu District agriculture development officer (Dado) Sheila Kang’ombe has advised non-government organisations (NGOs) to follow government policies when implementing development projects.

Kang’ombe made the remarks in reaction to Save the Children’s report presented to District Executive Committee (DEC) at the boma which indicated that lead farmers trained by the organisation managed more than one agriculture technology.

“This is a total deviation from what government policy stipulates. Agriculture policy clearly stipulates that one lead farmer should be responsible for one farm technology. Lead farmers are volunteers and if they are given too much work, they might get discouraged to discharge their [voluntary] work as expected,” said Kang’ombe.

She said the plates of volunteers are already full with personal matters, as such giving them more work can compromise project impact.

Kang’ombe observed that such anomalies occur because some NGOs do not work closely with relevant sectors after rolling out projects.

In his remarks, council director of planning and development Christopher Nawata urged NGOs operating in the district to share their work plans with the council and relevant sectors to avoid conflicts.

He said: “Communities can be served better if we all move on the same page in implementing development policies.”