Vice president Mr. Edward Kiwanuka Ssekandi signs on a training manual for facilitators as Minister for Agriculture, Vicent Bamulangaki Ssempijja witnesses, on Friday October16th 2020 (Photo/Courtesy).
The Minister of Agriculture, Animal Industry and Fisheries (MAAIF) Mr Vicent Ssempijja has said government is going to set up 10 regional mechanization centres starting with Agwata the eastern part of the country and Buwama to ensure food security and supply across the country.
Ssempijja made the remarks during the 41st world food day celebrations at the MAAIF offices in Entebbe.
The minister added that government will also partner with private entities to build storage facilities in 193 areas where the food will be kept after it’s produced.
“The disasters will not end but if we get disasters like Covid 19 we will have in place enough stored food for the country, we will be able to distribute food from areas with plenty to areas that scarcely have food and also export to other countries,” he said.
The Vice president Mr Edward Ssekandi who delivered President Museveni’s speech at the celebrations added that sustainable food production is important for people’s survival.
Ssekandi said the food security analysis of Uganda indicates that 83.6 percent of the population are classified in Phase one as being food secure.
“Majority of Ugandans have adequate food to cover their minimal food energy requirements, more Ugandans are now able to feed themselves, this is a positive trend that will continue to grow as we double our efforts to fully commercialise the agricultural sector,” he said.
Ssekandi said a growth achieved by the three subsectors of crop, livestock and fisheries due to the deliberate interventions through operation wealth creation saw a growth of 4.2 percent in the financial year 2019/20 with the country earning $ 2,500 million from agriculture which is 49 percent of the total merchandise export.
