By Carol Kasujja Adii
The Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Industry, and Fisheries (MAAIF)’s, under Secretary Ronald Ssegawa, has called on farmers to be innovative to be able to reap big from their products. “I am grateful to Vision Group for organising such a great expo. We do not come here to enjoy only, but to learn. If you come and spend two to three hours without learning anything, it means that you have made a loss. If you come here, you must go back with skills and knowledge and start earning more than you have been earning,” Ssegawa said.
Ssegawa also noted that farmers need to add value to their products to be able to get markets locally and internationally. “The government of Uganda is emphasising value addition. In every tent I have visited, I have found that farmers have added value to their products. For instance, milk is now used as Vaseline, and coffee is now consumed as oil. These investors at the expo are not here for fun; they are here to get clients whenever they attend this expo,” Ssegawa said.
Ssegawa thanked the Government for providing an enabling environment for all Ugandans to be able to plant and sell their products in a peaceful country. He made the remarks today (February 24) after officially launching the eighth Harvest Money Expo at the Netherlands Village at Kololo Independence Grounds in Kampala.
After launching the event, he proceeded to tour other stalls in company of Vision Group heads, who included the Chief Executive Office at Vision Group, Don Wanyama, Vision Group Deputy Managing Director Gervase Ndyanabo, and the New Vision Editor-in-Chief, Barbara Kaija.
Ssegawa commended the Netherlands Embassy for passionately supporting, talking, and walking the talk of farming. Supported by the Kingdom of the Netherlands, the village at the expo has several stalls conducting skills’ training. Speaking at the event, Karin Boven, the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to Uganda, said the Netherlands wants to develop agriculture as a business in Uganda. “Through this expo and Vision Group’s best farmer competition, the Netherlands is glad to share its knowledge and exchange know-how and experience with Uganda. At the end of the Netherlands village, there is a recycling corner where we showcase and explain how to make agricultural products out of separated waste,” Boven said.
The Kingdom of the Netherlands is one of the big sponsors of the Harvest Money Expo organised by Vision Group. Others are the agriculture ministry, DFCU, Private Sector Foundation Uganda, National Agriculture Advisory Services (NAADS), Pepsi, Engineering Solutions Ltd. (ENGSOL), Uganda Warehouse Receipt System Authority, and State House.
