Joyce Namugambe
The National Agricultural Research Organisation NARO has partnered with Buganda Kingdom to improve on the yields from the farmers through using scientific methods so that they can earn more from their farms.
While signing the 3 years Memorandum of understanding between Buganda Kingdom and NARO, the Buganda Prime Minister Owek Charles Peter Mayiga commended NARO for expressing interest in developing farmers in the kingdom and pledged good cooperation with them
Owek Mayiga appealed to people in the kingdom and the country at large to engage in scientific and modern farming methods so that they can harvest more from their farms and improve on their livelihoods.
Owek Mayiga noted that applying scientific farming methods is to help farmers fully utilize the small land they have with high productivity as a way of improving financially thereby improving on their livelihood. He added that the kingdom needs to tap into NAROs resourcefulness to help BUCADEF carryout the mandate to improve the lives of people in the region.
Minister in charge of Agriculture, cooperation and business in Buganda Kingdom Owek Haji Hamis Kakomo has as well welcomed NARO’s partnership and pledged to work with them in developing the kingdom farmers in different ways, such as providing Research services and production, moblise communities to participate in research and scientific farming, moblise farmers for trainings, moblise farmers to engage in agricultural events among others.
The NARO Director General Yonah Baguma noted that NARO has over 10 types of coffee which are pest resistant and stated that these coffee seeds are to help farmers yield better than the local seeds.
Baguma said that they are to join the kingdom Mwanyi terimba project to help farmers engage in scientific farming such as growing coffee so that they can improve on their production and their livelihood as well. He revealed the products that NARO processes from coffee which can help farmers to improve on their livelihood through earning, such as Scrub, fungai cream, skin toning cream, lotions, powder among others.
In the same way, NARO Director in Mukono Barbra Zawedde Mugwanya noted that NARO had for a long time wanted to partner with the Kingdom since it has developmental projects such as farming. She added that they aim at training people who have small pieces of land in town to be able to grow crops for their sustainability such as through growing greens, poultry keeping, and piggery, among others.
This function was attended by Buganda ministers and representatives from the National agricultural research Organization.
